453.1 Social and Economic Background
Ansai County is located to the north of Yan’an City in Shannxi. It covers an area
of about 3000 km^2 and includes 12 towns and townships, more than 200 village
committees and over 1000 village groups. The total population of the county is
over 160,000 of which over 85 % are engaged in agriculture. About 46 % of the
population are female and men outnumber women by about 14,000. Since 2008
the population has started to decline after a long period of slow growth. It seems
likely this trend will continue as the effects of a low birth rate become apparent.
Ansai has the typical characteristics of the hilly areas of the Loess Plateau in
northern Shaanxi, with a warm semi-arid climate. Its average elevation is 1200 m,
and average annual temperature is about 9 °C. The population density is low and
land in the valleys is potentially fertile and is suitable for the integrated develop-
ment of agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry. The main products are maize,
millet, buckwheat, beans and other grains, with an annual output of about 30,000
tons.
Since 1990 oil and gas resources have been exploited and have brought new
wealth to the area. Very substantial quantities of oil are being extracted and the
extensive reservoir of natural gas is beginning to be brought into production. The
strategy is to “build a strong oil county, making people rich by development of
industry”. Economic and social development has been rapid with economic
growth in most years well above 10 %. Industrial output is about 60 % of output,
with the service sector accounting for about 23 %. Income per capita in urban
areas is now about 16,000 yuan and rural per capita income exceeded 2600 yuan.
From being one of the poorest 300 counties nationally in 1990 Ansai was ranked
number 6 in Shaanxi Province’s economic and social development top ten counties
in 2007. Urban residents had incomes comparable to Tongzhou, a dramatic con-
trast with 1990.
Chapter 3
Nine Year Compulsory Education
in a Poor District Ansai in Yan’an, Shannxi
© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016
L. Wang and K. Lewin, Two Decades of Basic Education in Rural China,
New Frontiers of Educational Research, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2120-6_3