The Hakka, also referred to as Hakka Chinese or Hakka-speaking Chinese, are a Han Chinese sub-ethnic group whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China and who speak a language that is closely related to Gan, a Chinese language spoken in Jiangxi province. They are differentiated from other southern Han Chinese by their dispersed nature and tendency to occupy marginal lands and remote hilly areas. The Chinese characters for Hakka literally mean "guest families".