Haikou is situated on the north coast of Hainan Island, by
Haikou Bay, facing the
Leizhou Peninsula across the
Qiongzhou Strait that stretches west from
Beibu Bay near
Vietnam to the
James Shoal bordering the
South China Sea to the west. Most of the city is almost completely flat and only a few metres above sea level. It has an area of . The
Meishe River winds through the east side of the city flowing northward to the
Haidian River. The northern part of Haikou City, the district of
Haidian Island, is separated from the main part of Haikou by the Haidian River, a tributary of the
Nandu River. The district is accessed by one of four bridges, the largest being
Haikou Century Bridge, which connects the Guomao district with Haidian Island at the estuary of the Haidian River. From east to west the remaining three road connections are provided by the Renmin, Heping and Xinbu Bridges. Directly to the northeast of Haikou and to the east of Haidian Island is
Xinbu Island.
Climate Haikou is on the northern
tropical zone, and is part of the
Intertropical Convergence Zone. April to October is the active period for tropical storms and typhoons, most of which occur between August and September. May to October is the rainy season with the heaviest rainfall occurring in September. The city has a
tropical wet and dry climate (
Köppen Aw). Extremes since 1951 have ranged from on 12 January 1955 to on 30 April 2024. all-time extreme temperatureall-time August recordall-time March record }}
Environment , Haikou has the second best air quality among major cities nationally, preceded only by
Lhasa,
Tibet. In 1995, the Haikou city government began an initiative to improve the quality of life for its residents. With the approval of the
World Health Organization, and
Ministry of Health, a ten-point plan was undertaken to address such issues as: • Community
health care •
Vaccinations for children •
Waste recycling •
Green belts and urban trees •
Environmentally friendly construction • Public toilets (These are available throughout the city, are staffed, and well maintained.) •
Sewage treatment •
Communications •
Noise pollution The
groundwater is of
international standard, and is classified as
mineral water. By 2004, the city had established 43 new community health service centers reaching 85 percent of the population. The initiative has increased the size of Haikou's green spaces to 2,000
hectares, with trees lining 40 percent of its roads.
Noise pollution has dropped from 61.1
db to 58.2db and 300 public toilets have been built. All industrial effluents,
industrial waste water and solid waste, and all live
sewage, is now processed through
centralized treatment centers, and is disposed of without
environmental impact. These improvements and others have increased
life expectancy in Haikou to 78.26 years. Haikou city has also built 163 model
ecological villages. Now, over 200,000 villagers in 933 villages have tap water in their homes.
Comprehensive city-improvement campaign During 2015 and 2016, large-scale city improvements have taken place as part of a province-wide initiative called "double create" (). It is described by government sources as a campaign to create a cleaner city and create a more civilized city. It is focused on traffic and commerce, but has also improved the overall appearance of the city, tackling air pollution from industry emissions, aiming to ensure the safety of drinking water sources, improving public security in such places as hospitals, schools, malls, and visitor attractions. Details of these improvements include: • Traffic: Many new street crossings with traffic lights were installed around the city to improve two-wheel vehicles (consisting mainly of electric motorbikes) and pedestrian travel. Throughout the city, teams of police have been stationed at major intersections to ensure that two-wheel vehicles obey the law. Although there are many side lanes for these bikes, the actual pedestrian sidewalks serve as legal, one-way routes. Police at intersections stop vehicles either going the wrong way, or running red lights and the offenders may be forced to wear a red sash, stop other offenders, and lecture them. • Commerce: Around August 2015, teams of officers physically removed nearly all illegal structures used for business in the city (a province-wide campaign) which were commonly made of corrugated metal or cinderblocks and were shop extensions or simply unused space that had been built upon. Street vendors were banned (most of whom sold vegetables or fruit), as was the night operation of roadside BBQ sites and the placement of tables onto the sidewalks by restaurants. These night time food operations were once common throughout the city. • Roads and sidewalks: Many small roads have been repaved including narrow lanes in old neighbourhoods. Also, many sidewalks have been upgraded with new brick. Bricks are used as sidewalk material in Haikou because of the large amount of ficus trees, the roots of which deform the surrounding sidewalk. • Demolition and reconstruction: A number of entire neighbourhoods within the city have been, and are being, entirely demolished with new buildings and roads being built. • Starting around the beginning of 2018, the city government funded painting and
cladding of a number of buildings in the city centre.
Water and sewage treatment The treatment of Haikou's wastewater, and the supply of tap water is operated by the French company
Veolia Water. The partial privatization agreement gives 49 percent ownership to Veolia Water in a 30-year joint venture with Haikou Water Group (2012–2042). ==Demographics==