It is also an inland province,in northern China.Area, about 195,800 sq km; population 36,050,000 (2000).ShaanXi comprises three distinct physical regions: from north to south,they are a semiarid, loess-covered plateau that is deeply eroded; the fertile alluvial valley of the Wei River; and the lofty and rugged Qin Ling mountains. Crops are wheat, millet, soybeans, cotton, rice and tea(especially important in the extreme south). Coal and petroleum resources are extensive, but remain unexploited because of a lack of transportation. It is said that Chinese civilization has originated in the easily cultivated loess soils of the Wei River valley and its environs more than 4,000 years ago. Major cities are the capital, Xi??an.It is the industrial and cultural center of rich Wei River valley. And Baoji, transportation hub with rail connections to northwestern and southwestern China, a center of commercial and industrial.