Editing Sichuan (section)

===People's Republic of China===
The People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, and it split Sichuan into four areas and separated Chongqing municipality. Sichuan was reconstituted in 1952, with Chongqing added in 1954, while the former [[Xikang]] province was split between [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]] in the west and Sichuan in the east.<ref name="Tara"/>

The province was deeply affected by the [[Great Chinese Famine]] of 1959–1961, during which period some 9.4 million people (13.07% of the population at the time) died.<ref name="cao">{{cite book |last1=Cao |first1=Shuji (曹树基) |script-title=zh:大饑荒：1959－1961年的中国人口 |trans-title=Great Famine: China's population from 1959 to 1961 |publisher=香港時代國際出版有限公司 |location=Hong Kong |language=zh-hant |year=2005}}</ref>

In 1978, when [[Deng Xiaoping]] took power, Sichuan was one of the first provinces to experiment with the market economic enterprise.

From 1955 until 1997, Sichuan had been China's most populous province; the population hit the 100 million mark shortly after the 1982 census figure of 99,730,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.citypopulation.de/China-UA.html |title=Citypopulation.de:China |access-date=19 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704001241/http://www.citypopulation.de/China-UA.html |archive-date=4 July 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> This changed in 1997 when the [[Sub-provincial city]] of Chongqing as well as the three surrounding prefectures of [[Fuling]], [[Wanxian]], and [[Qianjiang District|Qianjiang]] were split off into the new [[Chongqing|Chongqing Municipality]]. The new municipality was formed to spearhead China's effort to economically develop its western provinces, as well as to coordinate the resettlement of residents from the reservoir areas of the [[Three Gorges Dam]] project.

In 1997, when Sichuan split, the sum of the two parts was recorded to be 114,720,000 people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/statisticaldata/yearlydata/YB1998e/D4-3E.htm |title=National Statistics Agency Tables:4-3 Total Population and Birth Rate, Death Rate and Natural Growth Rate by Region (1997) |access-date=19 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091113223314/http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/statisticaldata/yearlydata/YB1998e/D4-3E.htm |archive-date=13 November 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2010, Sichuan ranks as both the [[List of Chinese administrative divisions by area|3rd largest]] (the largest among Chinese [[List of People's Republic of China administrative divisions by population|provinces with a population greater than 50 million) and 4th most populous province]] in China.<ref name="bare_url">{{cite web |url=http://thechinaperspective.com/topics/province/sichuan-province/ |title=Sichuan Province: Economic News and Statistics for Sichuan's Economy |publisher=Thechinaperspective.com |access-date=2011-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008050304/http://thechinaperspective.com/topics/province/sichuan-province/ |archive-date=8 October 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On 12 May 2008, [[2008 Sichuan earthquake|an earthquake]] with a magnitude of 7.9/8.0 hit just {{cvt|79|km}} northwest of the provincial capital of Chengdu. Official figures recorded a death toll of over 87,000 people, and millions of people were left homeless.<ref name="data">{{cite news |url=http://news.sina.com.cn/pc/2008-05-13/326/651.html |date=2008-06-08 |access-date=2008-07-06 |title=Casualties of the Wenchuan Earthquake |publisher=[[Sina.com]] |language=zh-hans |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080519003228/http://news.sina.com.cn/pc/2008-05-13/326/651.html |archive-date=19 May 2008 |url-status=live}}, and {{cite news |url=http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2008-07-06/162615881691.shtml |date=2008-07-06 |access-date=2008-07-07 |title=Wenchuan Earthquake has already caused 69,196 fatalities and 18,379 missing |publisher=[[Sina.com]] |language=zh-hans |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610125546/http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2008-07-06/162615881691.shtml |archive-date=10 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>