Zhejiang lies in the sub-tropical zone with monsoon climate, abundant sunshine duration and distinct four seasons.

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Zhejiang is also a multinational province. Besides the Han nationality, there are totally 49 different ethnic groups with a population of 310,000, accounting for 0.7% of the province's total. Among them, the She nationality has a population of 200,000, the Hui 20,000.

Grain and edible oil are the major products besides cash crops like cotton, mulberry leaves, tea and fruit with ample supplies of farm produce. In 1999, the gross grain output hit a record of 13.93 million tons. Zhejiang stands first in the cultivated area, output and export volume of tea, and comes out second in the production of silkworm cocoons. Zhejiang is also an important producer of seawater fish and one of the three largest producers of freshwater fish in China.