The Haidian main campus of Hainan University is located in Haidian Island, Haikou City, covering an area of 2,500 mu. The lake is surrounded by the sea, which enters the lake and blends with the sea, forming a beautiful tropical scenery. It is an ideal place for learning and seeking knowledge. Hainan University, referred to as Haida for short, is located in Haikou City, Hainan Province. It is a university jointly established by the Ministry of Education and the People's Government of Hainan Province, and also jointly established by the People's Government of Hainan Province and the Ministry of Finance. It is a comprehensive key university in Hainan Province and a key university supported by the construction of first-class universities in Hainan Province.

The school's predecessor was the former South China University of Tropical Agriculture founded by 1958 and the former Hainan University founded by 1983. In August 2007, the two universities merged into the new Hainan University.

The school has three campuses, Haidian, Chengxi and Danzhou, with a total area of 5049.9 mu and a building area of 13 18000 square meters. There are 32 colleges (departments) and 97 undergraduate majors; There are 6 post-doctoral research stations, 1-level doctoral programs 10, 32-level master programs, and 7 professional master programs10; There are more than 38,000 full-time students, including more than 33,000 undergraduates, more than 4,300 graduate students, more than 300 doctoral students and more than 400 international students. More than 2000 full-time teachers.