Fukien
or FOKIEN, a province of China, situated on the sea-coast. It has an area of 46,320 square miles and an estimated population of 8,560,000. The capital is Foochow. Formosa, formerly a part of the province, was separated from it in 1886. Low mountain ranges cross from southwest to northeast. The only level tracts are found near the mouths of the Min and Lung rivers.
The soil is well adapted to cultivation and produces large quantities of tea, rice, sweet potatoes, wheat, indigo, sugar, etc.
There is also an important lumbering industry in the interior. Tea is grown widely. The province has been for centuries noted for its production of porcelain. The two treaty ports are Foochow and Amoy. In 1889 another port, San Tu Ao, was voluntarily opened to foreign trade.