Jilinis a province of the People's Republic of China located in Manchuria,the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north,Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west.

Jilin lies in the central part ofnortheastern China, bordering Russia and North Korea inthe east and southeast respectively. Jilin has a total area of 190,000 km2(73,000 sq. mi) and a total population of 27.3 million.Its capital Changchun,which lies 113 km (70 mi) west of Jilin City.Jilin is rich in natural mineral deposits with 136 different types of minerals,of which 70 have already been extracted. Jilin has abundance of Traditional Chinese medicine resources, with approximately 27,000 kinds of wild plants and 9,000 kinds ofmedicinal herbs. Also the province is rich in large reserves of oil, gas, coal,iron mine, nickel,molybdenum,talc, graphite, gypsum, cement rock, gold and silver; its reserves of oil shale arethe largest in the country.

Jilin is highest in altitude in thesoutheast, and drops gently towards the northwest. The Changbai Mountains run through itssoutheastern regions, and contains the highest peak of the province, Baiyun Peak at 2691 m. Other mountain rangesinclude theJilinhada Mountains, Zhang Guangcai Mountains, and Longgang Mountains.

Jilin is drained by Yalu and Tumen Rivers in the extreme southwest (which together form the border between the People's Republic of Chinaand North Korea), by tributaries of Liao River along the southern border, and by the Songhua and Nen rivers, both eventually flowing into the Amur.

Jilin has a northerly continental monsoon climate, with long, cold winters and short, warm summers. Average Januarytemperatures range from -20 to -14°C. Rainfallaverages at 350 to 1000 mm.

Major cities in this province include Changchun, Jilin City, Baishan, Baicheng, Siping, Yanji, Songyuan, Tonghua and Liaoyuan.