About Nanjing City
Nanjing, abbreviated as "Ning" and formerly known as Jinling and Jiankang, is a prefecture level city, provincial capital, sub provincial city, mega city, and core city of the Nanjing metropolitan area in Jiangsu Province. It has been approved by the State Council as an important central city in eastern China, a national important scientific research and education base, and a comprehensive transportation hub. As of 2022, the city has 11 districts under its jurisdiction, with a total area of 6587.02 square kilometers, a built-up area of 868.28 square kilometers, a permanent population of 9.4911 million, an urban population of 8.258 million, and an urbanization rate of 87.01%.
Nanjing is located in the eastern part of China, downstream of the Yangtze River, and near the sea. It is the headquarters of the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army of China, an important gateway city planned and positioned by the State Council to drive the development of the central and western regions through the radiation of the Yangtze River Delta, and an important node city at the strategic intersection of the eastern coastal economic belt and the Yangtze River economic belt.
Nanjing is one of the first national historical and cultural cities, an important birthplace of Chinese civilization, and has long been the political, economic, and cultural center of southern China. Nanjing already had Nanjing ape people living in Tangshan 350000 to 600000 years ago, with a civilization history of over 7000 years, a city building history of over 3100 years, and a capital building history of nearly 500 years. The excavation of Changgan Ancient City pushed the history of Nanjing's city building forward to the late Shang Dynasty over 3100 years ago.
Nanjing is an important center of science and education in the country. Since ancient times, it has been a city that values culture and education. It is known as the "cultural hub of the world" and the "first school in the southeast". More than half of the top scorers in Ming and Qing China came from the Jiangnan Gongyuan in Nanjing. As of 2022, there are 68 types of higher education institutions in Nanjing, including 13 Double First Class universities, 10 111 Plan universities, 8 211 universities, and 97 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, all second only to Beijing and Shanghai; In the 2023 Nature Index - Research City Ranking, Nanjing ranks 6th globally and 3rd in China.
