Gansu is located on the upper reaches of the Yellow River, in a region where the Loess Plateau, Inner Mongolia Plateau, and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau meet. It is one of the birthplaces of Chinese nationality and its culture. The province covers an area of 425,800 square kilometers and has a population of 26.0334 million. Gansu province has under its jurisdiction 12 municipalities, 2 autonomous prefectures and 86 counties. Its plane figure shows a dumbbell-like shape, with 1655 kilometers from east to west and 530 kilometers from north to south.