Contents
Chongqing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
重庆
— Municipality —
Municipality of Chongqing · 重庆市
Coordinates: 106°30′25″E / 29.55°N 106.50694°E / 29.55; 106.50694
Country
People's Republic of China
County-level divisions 40
Township divisions 1259
Settled ca. 316 BC
Government
- CPC Chongqing Bo Xilai Committee Secretary
- Mayor Huang Qifan
Area (ranked 26th)
- Municipality 82,300 km2 (31,776.2 sq mi)
Elevation 435 m (1,427 ft)
Population (2006)
- Municipality 31,442,300
- Density 382/km2 (989.5/sq mi)
- Urban 5,087,197
- Ranks in China Populations: 20th; Density: 12th
- Major nationalities Han - 91%
Tujia - 5%
Miao - 2%
Time zone China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Postal code 4000 00 - 4099 00
Area code(s) 23
License plate prefixes 渝 A, B, C, F, G, H
ISO 3166-2 CN-50
GDP (2009) CNY 652.7 billion
- per capita CNY 22,909
HDI (2006) 0.764 (18th) — medium
Website (Chinese) www.cq.gov.cn
(English) english.cq.gov.cn/
Ficus lacor
Camellia (Camellia japonica)
Chongqing
Simplified Chinese 重庆
Traditional Chinese 重慶
Transliterations
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin Chóngqìng
- Postal Map Chungking
Chongqing (simplified Chinese: 重庆; traditional Chinese: 重慶; pinyin: Chóngqìng; Postal map spelling: Chungking; Wade-Giles: Ch'ung-ch'ing) is a major city in central-western China. Administratively, it is one of the People's Republic of China's four provincial-level municipalities, and the only such municipality in western China. The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the sub-provincial city administration that was part of Sichuan Province. The municipality of Chongqing has a registered population of 31,442,300 as of 2005.[1] The boundaries of Chongqing municipality reach much farther into the city's hinterland than the boundaries of the other three provincial level municipalities (Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin), and much of its administrative area, which spans over 80 000 km², is rural. It has jurisdiction over 19 districts, 17 counties, and four autonomous counties. The population of the urban area of Chongqing proper was 5.09 million (2000).[2]
The municipal abbreviation, Yú (渝), was approved by the State Council on 18 April 1997. Chongqing was also a municipality of the Republic of China administration, serving as its wartime capital during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Its abbreviated name is derived from the old name of a part of the Jialing River that runs through Chongqing and feeds the Yangtze River.
History
Chongqing is said to be the semi-mythical State of Ba that the Ba people supposedly established during the eleventh century BCE. By 316 BCE, however, it had been overrun by the State of Qin. The Qin emperor ordered a new city to be constructed, which was called Jiang (江州) and Chu Prefecture (楚州).
Chongqing was subsequently renamed in 581 CE (Sui Dynasty) and l;;1102, to Yu Prefecture (渝州) and then Gong Prefecture (恭州). It received its current name in 1189, after Prince Zhao Dun of the Southern Song Dynasty described his crowning as king and then Emperor Guangzong as a "double/repeated happy celebration" (simplified Chinese: 双重喜庆; traditional Chinese: 雙重喜慶; pinyin: shuāngchóng xǐqìng). Hence, Yu Prefecture became Chongqing subprefecture to mark the occasion.[citation needed]
In 1362, (Yuan Dynasty), Ming Yuzhen, a peasant rebelling leader, established the Daxia Kingdom (大夏) at Chongqing for a short time.
In 1621 (Ming Dynasty), another short-lived kingdom of Daliang (大梁) was established by She Chongming (奢崇明) in Chongqing as its capital.
Between 1627-1645, with the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Chongqing, together with Sichuan, were captured by the Revolts who overthrew the Ming Dynasty across the nation. Later during the Qing Dynasty, immigration to Chongqing and Sichuan took place with the support of Qing emperor.
In 1891, Chongqing became the first inland commerce port open to foreigners.
From 1929, Chongqing became a municipality of the Republic of China. During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), it was Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's provisional capital and was heavily bombed by the Japanese Air Force. Luckily, due to its mountainous environment, many people were saved from the bombing. Many factories and universities were moved from eastern China to Chongqing during WWII, transforming this city from inland port to a heavily industrialized city. In late November 1949 the Nationalist KMT government fled the city.
In 1954, the municipality was demoted to a provincial city within the Sichuan Province of the People's Republic of China. On 14 March 1997, the Eighth National People's Congress decided to merge the city with the neighbouring Fuling, Wanxian, and Qianjiang prefecture-level districts that it had governed on behalf of the province since September 1996. The resulting single division was the Chongqing Municipality, containing 30,020,000 people in forty-three former counties (without intermediate political levels). The municipality became the spearhead of China's effort to develop its western regions and coordinate the resettlement of residents from the reservoir areas of the Three Gorges Dam project. Its first official ceremony took place on 18 June 1997.
In 2009, Chongqing hosted the Second "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition For Foreign Secondary School Students, organised by Hanban, from the October 16 to October 31.
Chinese simple Chongqing（简体中文：重庆）
Chinese traditional Chongqing（繁体中文：重慶）
Geography
Located on the edge of the Yungui Plateau, Chongqing is intersected by the Jialing River and the upper reaches of the Yangtze. It contains Daba Shan in the north, Wu Shan in the east, Wuling Shan in the southeast, and Dalou Mountain to the south.
The city is very hilly and as such it is the only major metropolitan area in China without significant numbers of bicycles.
Administrative divisions
Chongqing Municipality is divided into forty county-level subdivisions (three abolished in 1997), consisting of nineteen districts, seventeen counties, and four autonomous counties.