宜昌市位于湖北省西部，地处长江中上游结合部，渝鄂湘三省市交汇地。长江黄金水道流经市城232公里，宜昌港口为长江八大港口之一，枝城港为全国四大煤炭中转港之一。万里长江第一坝——葛洲坝电站就在宜昌城区，举世闻名的三峡工程仅离城区38公里。
宜昌物华天宝，地灵人杰，资源富集，最有代表性的有水能、矿产、生物、旅游四大优势资源。
The construction of the Gezhouba (Gezhou Dam) changed this sleepy first-century town into a thriving metropolis. Situated at the entrance to the Xiling Gorge, it is the cultural center of the western Hubei Province. In addition to the soaring locks of the Dam, the three Travellers Cave, just six miles northwest of the city, is awe-inspiring. Here, both Tang-dynasty and Song-dynasty poets inscribed poems on the cave’s walls. Throughout the ages, other visiting literati have offered their own contributions.
If completed, the $24 billion Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze will be the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. It would span nearly a mile across and tower 575 feet above the world’s third longest river. Its reservoir would stretch over 350 miles upstream and force the displacement of close to 1.9 million people. Construction began in 1994 and is scheduled for completion by 2009.
The project is currently facing massive corruption problems, spiraling costs, technological problems and resettlement difficulties. One million people have been displaced by the dam as of early 2005; many are living under poor conditions with no recourse to address outstanding problems with compensation or resettlement.
Said one peasant from Kai county, "We have been to the county government many times demanding officials to solve our problems, but they said this was almost impossible. They have threatened us with arrest if we appeal for help from higher government offices."
Despite protests by Chinese citizens and media scrutiny of the project’s impacts, private banks and export credit agencies have provided considerable financial support for the Three Gorges Dam. IRN has worked to call attention to the project’s enormous environmental and social impacts and to lobby financial institutions to refrain from supporting the project.