Jinan

Coordinates: 36°40′N 116°59′E / 36.667°N 116.983°E / 36.667; 116.983

Jinan is the capital of Shandong province in Eastern China. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of the region from the earliest beginnings of civilization and has evolved into a major national administrative, economic, and transportation hub. The city has held sub-provincial administrative status since 1994. Jinan is often referred to as the "Spring City" for its well-known 72 artesian springs inside urban area. Its population was 6,813,984 at the 2010 census whom 4,335,989 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made up of 6 urban districts.

Names

The modern-day name "Jinan" literally means "south of the Ji (Waters)" and refers to the old Ji River that had flowed to the north of the city until the middle of the 19th century. The Ji River disappeared in 1852 when the Yellow River changed its course northwards and took over its bed. The current pronunciation of the character "Ji" with the third tone ("jǐ") was established in the late 1970s. Prior to this, it was pronounced with the fourth tone ("jì"). Older texts spell the name as "Tsinan" (Wade-Giles romanizaton) or "Chi-nan".