Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to the south, Yunnan to the west, Sichuan to the northwest, the municipality of Chongqing to the north, and Hunan to the east.

[7] After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong promoted the relocation of heavy industry into inland provinces such as Guizhou, to better protect them from potential foreign attacks.

[citation needed] Located in the hinterland of the southwestern inland region, Guizhou is a transportation hub in the southwest area and an important part of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Notwithstanding, Guizhou is considered a relatively undeveloped province, with the fourth-lowest GDP per capita in China as of 2020.

[18] During the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, the character 矩 (ju, "carpenter's square") was changed to the more refined 貴 (gui, "precious or expensive").

[18] Evidence of settlement by humans during the Middle Palaeolithic is indicated by stone artefacts, including Levallois pieces, found during archaeological excavations at Guanyindong Cave.

[7] During the Three Kingdoms period, parts of Guizhou were governed by the Shu Han state based in Sichuan, followed by Cao Wei (220–266) and the Jin dynasty (266–420).

[7] During the 8th and 9th centuries in the Tang dynasty, Chinese soldiers moved into Guizhou (Kweichow) and married native women.

[21] Kublai Khan and Möngke Khan conquered the Chinese southwest in the process of defeating the Song during the Mongol invasion of China, and the newly established Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) saw the importation of Chinese Muslim administrators and settlers from Bukhara in Central Asia.

[7] It was during the following Ming dynasty, which was once again led by Han Chinese, that Guizhou was formally made a province in 1413.

[7] Chinese-style agriculture flourished with the expertise of farmers from Sichuan, Hunan and its surrounding provinces into Guizhou.

Wu Sangui was responsible for the ousting the Ming in Guizhou and Yunnan during the Manchu conquest of China.

[25] After the overthrow of the Qing in 1911 and following Chinese Civil War, the Communists took refuge in Guizhou during the Long March (1934–1935).

[7] While the province was formally ruled by the warlord Wang Jialie, the Zunyi Conference in Guizhou established Mao Zedong as the leader of the Communist Party.

As the Second Sino-Japanese War pushed China's Nationalist Government to its southwest base of Chongqing, transportation infrastructure improved as Guizhou was linked with the Burma Road.

[26] After the end of the War, a 1949 Revolution swept Mao into power, who promoted the relocation of heavy industry into inland provinces such as Guizhou, to better protect them from Soviet and American attacks.

After the Chinese economic reform began in 1978, geographical factors led Guizhou to become the poorest province in China, with a GDP growth average of 9 percent from 1978 to 1993.

[26] Regional history In the 26th year of the Republic of China (1937), Guizhou established six administrative supervision areas, each in charge of several counties.

In 1965, the city status of Duyun was restored, serving as the capital of the Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture.

The unique climatic characteristics make Guizhou an ideal place for leisure travel and summer retreats.

Additionally, the climate is unstable, with a variety of disastrous weather conditions such as droughts, autumn winds, freezing, and hail, which can have a significant impact on agricultural production.

Beginning on 3 April 2010, China's premier Wen Jiabao went on a three-day inspection tour in the southwest drought-affected province of Guizhou, where he met villagers and called on agricultural scientists to develop drought-resistant technologies for the area.

The potential of hydropower resources is 18.745 million kilowatts, ranking sixth in China,[39] of which 16.833 million kilowatts are exploitable, accounting for 4.4% of China's total, with many concentrated river sections with large water level drops, and favorable development conditions.

The proportion of arable land with thick soil layers, high fertility, and good water conditions is low.

Plant species endemic to this region include Abies ziyuanensis, Cathaya argyrophylla, and Keteleeria pubescens，Davidia involucrata, Guizhou Cycas.

[60]: 298 The digital economy has grown significantly since 2015 and as of at least 2023 continues to develop Guizhou's growing reputation as a center for big data in China.

[36]: 61 Guizhou's rail network consists primarily of a cross formed by the Sichuan–Guizhou, Guangxi–Guizhou and Shanghai–Kunming railways, which intersect at the provincial capital, Guiyang, near the center of the province.

The Liupanshui–Baiguo, Pan County West and Weishe–Hongguo railways form a rail corridor along Guizhou's western border with Yunnan.

[74] The reports did not give figures for other types of religion; 67.83% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in worship of nature deities, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, folk religious sects, and small minorities of Muslims.

Heritage-based tourism provides ethnic minority groups with an opportunity to preserve their unique heritage while still making a living.