China's western regions, sprawling 6.87 million square kilometers and home to 382 million people, have emerged from the shadows of the country's more developed regions over the years. The western regions consist of six provinces (Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai), five autonomous regions (Xizang, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Guangxi) and the municipality of Chongqing, covering over 70 percent of the country's land area and containing 27 percent of the total population. It has abundant renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy and various underground mineral resources such as rare earth, bauxite, coal and natural gas, which account for more than 70 percent of the country's total reserves.