1.
List of largest cities
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Determining the worlds largest cities depends on which definitions of city are used. The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities may be classified using the same criteria, cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropolitan regions. A city can be defined by its administrative boundaries, UNICEF defines city proper as the population living within the administrative boundaries of a city, e. g. Washington, D. C. A city proper is a locality defined according to legal or political boundaries, cities proper and their boundaries and population data may not include suburbs. The use of city proper as defined by administrative boundaries may not include areas where an important proportion of the population working or studying in the city lives. A city can be defined as a contiguous urban area. A city can be defined by the habits of its population, as by metropolitan area, labour market area
List of largest cities
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Population tables of world cities
2.
Megacity
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A megacity is usually defined as a metropolitan area with a total population in excess of ten million people. A megacity can be a metropolitan area or two or more metropolitan areas that converge. The terms conurbation, metropolis and metroplex are also applied to the latter, as of 2017, there are 37 megacities in existence. The largest of these are the areas of Tokyo and Shanghai, each of these having a population of over 30 million inhabitants. Tokyo is the worlds largest metropolitan area, while Shanghai has the worlds largest city proper population, the UN predicts there will be 41 megacities by 2030. This is the list of worlds largest cities and metropolitan areas by population as of 2016, the term megacity entered common use in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, one of the earliest documented uses being by the University of Texas in 1904. Initially the United Nations used the term to describe cities of 8 million or more inhabitants, in 1800, only 3% of the worlds population lived in cities, a figure that rose to 47% by the end of the twentieth century. In 1950, there were 83 cities with populations exceeding one million, by 2007, the UN forecasts that todays urban population of 3.2 billion will rise to nearly 5 billion by 2030, when three out of five people will live in cities. This increase will be most dramatic on the continents, Asia. Surveys and projections indicate that all urban growth over the next 25 years will be in developing countries, one billion people, almost one-seventh of the worlds population, now live in shanty towns. In many poor countries overpopulated slums exhibit high rates of disease due to conditions, malnutrition. By 2030, over 2 billion people in the world will be living in slums, over 90% of the urban population of Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda, three of the worlds most rural countries, already live in slums. By 2025, Asia alone will have at least 30 megacities, including Mumbai, India, Shanghai, China, Delhi, India, Tokyo, Japan and Seoul, lagos, Nigeria has grown from 300,000 in 1950 to an estimated 15.2 million today. For almost five hundred years, Rome was the largest, wealthiest and its population passed one million people by the end of the 1st century BC. Baghdad was likely the largest city in the world shortly after its foundation in 762 AD until the 930s. Chinese capital cities Changan and Kaifeng also experienced population booms during prosperous empires. From around 1825 to 1918 London was the largest city in the world, with the population growing rapidly, in 1950, New York City was the only urban area with a population of over 10 million. Geographers had identified 25 such areas as of October 2005, as compared with 19 megacities in 2004 and this increase has happened as the worlds population moves towards the high urbanization levels of North America and Western Europe
Megacity
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Population tables of world cities
Megacity
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Tokyo, Japan, is the world's largest megacity
Megacity
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Delhi, India
Megacity
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Mumbai, India
3.
Megalopolis (city type)
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A megalopolis is typically defined as a chain of roughly adjacent metropolitan areas. S. Extending from Boston, Massachusetts, through New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, the latter is sometimes called the BosWash megalopolis. Megalopolis is a Western deformation of the Greek word that derived from Greek, μέγας - great and Greek, πόλις - city and this term is closer in meaning to megacity. Because in Greek, πόλις is feminine, the term is megalopolis. A megalopolis, also known as a megaregion, is a network of cities. Gottmann defined its population as 25 million, doxiadis defined a small megalopolis a similar cluster with a population of about 10 million. America 2050, a program of the Regional Plan Association, lists 11 megaregions in the United States, literally, megalopolis in Greek means a city of exaggerated size where the prefix megalo- represents a quantity of exaggerated size. Megapolitan areas were explored in a July 2005 report by Robert E. Lang, a later 2007 article by Lang and Nelson uses 20 megapolitan areas grouped into 10 megaregions. The concept is based on the original Megalopolis model, modern interlinked ground transportation corridors, such as rail and highway, often aid in the development of megalopolises. Using these commuter passageways to travel throughout the megalopolis is informally called megaloping and this term was coined by Davide Gadren and Stefan Berteau. Cairo–Giza–Qalyubia–Helwan–6th of October City, Egypt The area around the Nile is also densely populated. Nile River Delta Governorates have a population of 41,045,135. The total area of these Governorates is 18,199 square miles making the population density 2,255.4 per square mile, the Nairobi Metropolitan Region consisting of the counties of in Kenya, which have a combined population of 8 million people. Pearl River Delta Megalopolis, if Shantou/Quanzhou added 70,000,000, within 150 km from its center Shenyang, it has Fushun, Anshan City, Benxi, Liaoyang, Yingkou, Panjin, and Tieling, with a total population of 23 million. And it can be extended to Dalian, Fuxin and Dandong. This area used to be the most industrialized region in China and it declined during 1980s-1990s, but in recent years, it has rapidly revived. Taiheiyō Belt – Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, Gifu, Mie, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, Wakayama, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, the total population is 24 million according to the 2011 estimate. Kathmandu valley, which consists of 5 municipalities namely Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kirtipur and Madhyapur Thimi, along with the cities of Banepa, Panauti
Megalopolis (city type)
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Population tables of world cities
Megalopolis (city type)
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Dhaka,
Bangladesh; part of the emerging chain of cities in the Bengal region
Megalopolis (city type)
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Quebec City in
Quebec City – Windsor Corridor
Megalopolis (city type)
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Phoenix in the
Arizona Sun Corridor
4.
Urban area
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An urban area is a human settlement with high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, in urbanism, the term contrasts to rural areas such as villages and hamlets and in urban sociology or urban anthropology it contrasts with natural environment. The worlds urban population in 1950 of just 746 million has increased to 3.9 billion in the decades since, in 2009, the number of people living in urban areas surpassed the number living in rural areas and since then the world has become more urban than rural. This was the first time that the majority of the population lived in a city. In 2014 there were 7.25 billion people living on the planet, Urban areas are created and further developed by the process of urbanization. Urban areas are measured for various purposes, including analyzing population density, historian John Gurda writes, I have tried to uncover Milwaukees civic bedrock - the shifting foundation on which individuals have built their lives and the community has constructed its identity. There is no doubt that the deepest layer of bedrock is economic. In every age, people have chosen to live in areas not because of their climates or landmarks or cultural attractions. It was economic opportunity that brought people to Milwaukee, and it is economic opportunity that keeps them there, I define cities as concentrations of people animated by concentrations of capital. More simply put, money is the root of all cities, official definitions vary somewhat between nations. The ten largest metropolitan areas account for half of the population, about 3 million people live in Buenos Aires City and the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area totals around 13 million, making it one of the largest urban areas in the world. The metropolitan areas of Córdoba, Rosario, Mendoza and Tucumán have around 1.3 million inhabitants each and La Plata, seven other provinces have over one million people each, Mendoza, Tucumán, Entre Ríos, Salta, Chaco, Corrientes and Misiones. According to IBGE urban areas already concentrate 84. 35% of the population, while the Southeast region remains the most populated one, with over 80 million inhabitants. The largest metropolitan areas in Brazil are São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte — all in the Southeastern Region — with 20,12, and 5 million inhabitants respectively. The majority of state capitals are the largest cities in their states, except for Vitória, the capital of Espírito Santo, and Florianópolis, there are also non-capital metropolitan areas in the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. According to Statistics Canada, an area in Canada is an area with a population of at least 1,000 people where the density is no fewer than 400 persons per square kilometre. If two or more areas are within 2 km of each other by road, they are merged into a single urban area. Accordingly, the new definition set out three types of population centres, small, medium and large
Urban area
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Greater Tokyo Area, the world's most populous urban area, with about 35 million people.
Urban area
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Buenos Aires Córdoba
Urban area
Urban area
–
Rosario Mendoza
5.
Labour market
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Labour economics seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the markets for wage labour. Labour markets or job markets function through the interaction of workers and employers, Labour economics looks at the suppliers of labour services and the demanders of labour services, and attempts to understand the resulting pattern of wages, employment, and income. In economics, labour is a measure of the work done by human beings and it is conventionally contrasted with such other factors of production as land and capital. There are theories which have developed a concept called human capital, there are two sides to labour economics. Labour economics can generally be seen as the application of microeconomic or macroeconomic techniques to the labour market, microeconomic techniques study the role of individuals and individual firms in the labour market. Macroeconomic techniques look at the interrelations between the market, the goods market, the money market, and the foreign trade market. It looks at how these interactions influence macro variables such as employment levels, participation rates, aggregate income, the labour force is defined as the number of people of working age, who are either employed or actively looking for work. The participation rate is the number of people in the force divided by the size of the adult civilian noninstitutional population. The unemployment level is defined as the labour force minus the number of people currently employed, the unemployment rate is defined as the level of unemployment divided by the labour force. The employment rate is defined as the number of people currently employed divided by the adult population, in these statistics, self-employed people are counted as employed. Variables like employment level, unemployment level, labour force, and they can be contrasted with flow variables which measure a quantity over a duration of time. Changes in the force are due to flow variables such as natural population growth, net immigration, new entrants. Technological advancement often reduces frictional unemployment, for example, internet search engines have reduced the cost, structural unemployment – This reflects a mismatch between the skills and other attributes of the labour force and those demanded by employers. The process of globalization has contributed to changes in labour markets. Natural rate of unemployment – This is the summation of frictional and structural unemployment and it is the lowest rate of unemployment that a stable economy can expect to achieve, given that some frictional and structural unemployment is inevitable. Economists do not agree on the level of the rate, with estimates ranging from 1% to 5%. The estimated rate varies from country to country and from time to time, demand deficient unemployment – In Keynesian economics, any level of unemployment beyond the natural rate is probably due to insufficient goods demand in the overall economy. During a recession, aggregate expenditure is deficient causing the underutilisation of inputs, neoclassical economists view the labour market as similar to other markets in that the forces of supply and demand jointly determine price and quantity
Labour market
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Job advertisement board in
Shenzhen.
Labour market
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World GDP (PPP) per capita by country (2014)
Labour market
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The neoclassical model analyzes the trade-off between leisure hours and working hours
Labour market
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Railroad work.
6.
Travel to Work Area
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However, they give planners and geographers an alternate view of urban life as their boundaries are tied not to arbitrary administrative limits but socio-economic ties. Having an idea of people commute from for work is particularly useful for public transport planning. Travel to Work Areas are defined by the Office for National Statistics using census data for commuting between wards, based on the different locations of individuals home and work addresses, according to this measure, there were 243 TTWAs within the United Kingdom in 2007. Travel to Work Areas in Scotland and Wales and those covering only rural areas are not included, to increase the range of statistics available the State of the Cities also publishes data for Travel to Work Areas approximated to local authority boundaries. These areas can differ considerably from the more accurate ward-based areas, metropolitan area, a more general concept of a travel to work area Primary Urban Area Office for National Statistics Map of UK TTWAs,1998,2001,2011 UK1997 Census tables using TTWAs
Travel to Work Area
–
Travel to Work Areas in
England and Wales
7.
Patrick Geddes
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Sir Patrick Geddes FRSE was a Scottish biologist, sociologist, geographer, philanthropist and pioneering town planner. He is known for his thinking in the fields of urban planning. He introduced the concept of region to architecture and planning and coined the term conurbation, the son of Janet Stevenson and soldier Alexander Geddes, Patrick Geddes was born in Ballater, Aberdeenshire, and educated at Perth Academy. He lectured in Zoology at Edinburgh University from 1880 to 1888 and he married Anna Morton, who was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, in 1886 when he was 32 years old. They had three children, Norah, Alasdair and Arthur, during a visit to India in 1917 Anna fell ill with typhoid fever and died, not knowing that their son Alasdair had been killed in action in France. In 1895 Geddes published an edition of The Evergreen magazine, with articles on nature, biology, artists Robert Burns and John Duncan provided illustrations for the magazine. Geddes wrote with J. Arthur Thomson an early book on The Evolution of Sex and he held the Chair of Botany at University College Dundee from 1888 to 1919, and the Chair of Sociology at the University of Bombay from 1919 to 1924. He inspired Victor Branford to form the Sociological Society in 1903 to promote his sociological views and he was a major influence on the American urban theorist Lewis Mumford. He was knighted in 1932, shortly before his death at the Scots College in Montpellier, Geddes was the father-in-law of the architect and planner Frank Charles Mears. In this theory, the family is viewed as the biological unit of human society from which all else develops. Geddes drew on Le Plays circular theory of geographical locations presenting environmental limitations and his central argument was that physical geography, market economics and anthropology were related, yielding a “single chord of social life all three combined”. Geddes writing demonstrates the influence of ideas on his theories of the city. He saw the city as a series of interlocking patterns. He criticised the tendency of modern scientific thinking to specialisation, each sees clearly and seizes firmly upon one petal of the six-lobed flower of life and tears it apart from the whole. He continued to use and advocate for this approach throughout his career, very early on in his career Geddes demonstrated the practicality of his ideas and approach. In 1886 Geddes and his married wife purchased a row of slum tenements in James Court, Edinburgh. The best of the houses were kept and restored. Geddes believed that this approach was more economical and more humane. ”However, he wished this policy of sweeping clearances to be recognised for what he believed it was
Patrick Geddes
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Patrick Geddes circa 1886
Patrick Geddes
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Milne's Court
Patrick Geddes
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Masterplan for
Tel Aviv, 1925
8.
West Midlands conurbation
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According to the 2011 Census the area had a population of 2,440,986, making it the third most populated in the United Kingdom behind the Greater London and Greater Manchester Built Up Areas. The conurbation has several lesser used names, such as the Birmingham conurbation, the Birmingham-Wolverhampton conurbation. It should be noted that these settlements are not coterminous with the Metropolitan Boroughs of the same name, the area of conurbation between Birmingham and Wolverhampton is known as the Black Country. The Black Country has no centre, having grown up from a number of historic market towns. It remains essentially polycentric with many of the towns and villages remaining recognisable communities, coventry is separated from the West Midlands conurbation by the Meriden Gap, and other urban areas, such as Cannock and Codsall are also only narrowly avoided. For administrative purposes, the vast majority of the conurbation falls within the six Metropolitan Boroughs of Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, the West Midlands Built Up Area consists of the below settlements. In the 2011 Census, Coleshill and Water Orton are two separate areas with populations of 6,341 and 3,444 respectively. Prior to 2011, they were considered part of the West Midlands Urban Area, bentley Heath was not considered to be a settlement within the West Midlands Urban Area in 1981. Yew Tree is only considered part of the West Midlands Urban Area in the 2001 census, cheswick Green was not considered to be a settlement within the West Midlands Urban Area in 1981. Shelly Green was not considered to be a settlement within the West Midlands Urban Area in 1981 or 1991
West Midlands conurbation
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West Midlands conurbation at night from the
ISS.
West Midlands conurbation
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Map of the West Midlands conurbation in 2011, with Travel to Work Areas overlaid. The
Birmingham and
Wolverhampton sub-divisions are highlighted in orange, the
Dudley,
Walsall and
Solihull sub-divisions are highlighted in green.
9.
Ruhr Area
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The Ruhr, or the Ruhr district, Ruhr region, Ruhr area or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2, 800/km² and a population of eight and a million, it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany. It consists of large, industrial cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south, Rhine to the west. In the southwest it borders the Bergisches Land and it is considered part of the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region of more than 12 million people, which is among the largest in Europe. The most populous cities are Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg, the Ruhr area has no administrative center, each city in the area has its own administration, although there exists the supracommunal Regionalverband Ruhr institution in Essen. Since the 19th century, these districts have grown together into a complex with a vast industrial landscape. For 2010, the Ruhr region was one of the European Capitals of Culture, the urban landscape of the Ruhr extends from the Lower Rhine Basin east to the Westphalian Plain and south to the hills of the Rhenish Massif. Through the centre of the Ruhr runs a segment of the belt that extends across Germany from west to east. Historically, this belt has underlain some of Germanys richest agricultural regions. Geologically, the region is defined by coal-bearing layers from the upper Carboniferous period, the coal seams reach the surface in a strip along the River Ruhr and dip downward from the river to the north. Beneath the River Lippe, the coal seams lie at a depth of 600 to 800 metres, the thickness of the coal layers ranges from one to three metres. This geological feature played a role in the development of coal mining in the Ruhr. According to the Regionalverband Ruhr,37. 6% of the area is built up. A total of 40. 7% of the land remains in agricultural use. Forests account for 17. 6%, and bodies of water and other types of land use occupy the rest, the inclusion of four mainly rural districts in the otherwise mainly industrial Ruhr helps to explain the large proportion of agricultural and forested land. In addition, the city boroughs of the Ruhr region have outlying districts with a rural character, seen on a map, the Ruhr could be considered a single city, since—at least in the north-south dimension—there are no visible breaks between the individual city boroughs. Thus the Ruhr is described as an urban area, which shares a similar history of urban. Instead, the city boroughs and urban districts of the Ruhr grew independently of one another during the Industrial Revolution
Ruhr Area
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Gamete of Dortmund, old market square with St.-Reinold's Church
Ruhr Area
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map of the Ruhr metropolitan region within Germany
Ruhr Area
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Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in
Essen, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001
Ruhr Area
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Zeche Zollern in
Dortmund
10.
Randstad
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The Randstad is a megalopolis in the central-western Netherlands consisting primarily of the four largest Dutch cities and their surrounding areas. Among other things, it contains the Port of Rotterdam, and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. With a population of 7,100,000 it is one of the largest metropolitan regions in Europe, comparable in size to Milan or the San Francisco Bay Area and its also one of the most important and densely populated economic areas in northwestern Europe. The Randstads main cities are Almere, Amersfoort, Amsterdam, Delft, Dordrecht, Gouda, Haarlem, Leiden, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Zaanstad, and Zoetermeer. Although the name Randstad is often translated into English as edge city or border city, a more accurate translation would be rim city. The Dutch name was coined in 1938 by KLM founder Albert Plesman who, while flying over the region, while technically more of a crescent, the ring shape formed by connecting the four major cities of the region led to the use of the name Ring City. Within the Netherlands, a divide between the Randstad and the rest of the country exists. Recently, Dutch planners have started to refer to the Randstad as Deltametropool, deltametropolis actually consists of two large metropolitan areas,1. The Noordvleugel, consisting of the Haarlem and IJmuiden conurbations in the west, Amsterdam at the centre and Almere, the conurbation of Utrecht can be considered to be part of this wing, but can also be excluded. The cultural centre of the Noordvleugel, however, is centered on Amsterdam. Amsterdam recently started to present itself as the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, the expectation is that the use of the Noordvleugel and the Randstad will become less as a result. The Zuidvleugel, stretching some 60 kilometers from Dordrecht in the South East to Leiden in the North, the main conurbations are the Rotterdam and The Hague areas. The virtual centre of the Zuidvleugel lies in between two major cities, near Delft. The first steps toward this development were taken with the construction of a new fast light-rail connection between Rotterdam and The Hague, RandstadRail. A long-delayed extension of the western A4-motorway from the south of Delft to Rotterdam has also been constructed, creating a second connection between Rotterdam, via The Hague, to Amsterdam. A possible new area would be the Zuidoostflank, parallel to the A2 motorway and parallel to the A12 motorway, over the last few decades, a major topic in the Randstad is the conflict between the cities and the towns in between. Cities need more space to expand, yet the towns fear losing their identity, the Randstads borders have never been officially specified. Some consider only the four biggest cities of the Netherlands part of it, others would say that such as Alkmaar, Hoorn
Randstad
–
Amsterdam business district at night
Randstad
Randstad
–
Rotterdam at dusk
Randstad
–
The Hague at dusk
11.
North Jersey
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North Jersey comprises the northern portions of the U. S. state of New Jersey between the upper Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. Geologically, the north is in the Piedmont Province, the Highlands Province, depending on definitions, some is counted as being in the Atlantic coastal plain. A broad definition includes all points in New Jersey north of I-295 in the part of the state. Another definition uses the 1958 telephone area code 201, and all its additions, some people, especially residents of the northern tier of counties, use a narrower definition, counting only that area north of the mouth of the Raritan River. The state is sometimes described as having North Jersey and South Jersey separated from each other by Central Jersey. Generally in this approach, North Jersey is defined as anything north of an extending from I-287 in Edison westward to US22. South of that line down to I-195 is referred to as Central Jersey, in 2008 the New Jersey State Department of Tourism divided the state into six tourist regions, of which the Gateway Region and the Skylands Region are in North Jersey. The following counties are considered part of North Jersey. Its colonial history started after Henry Hudson sailed through Newark Bay in 1609, although Hudson was British, he worked for the Netherlands, so he claimed the land for the Dutch as part of the provincial colony of New Netherland, with original settlements were centered on Bergen. In 1664 the region part of the Province of New Jersey. During the American Revolutionary War, New Jersey was a location between New York City, and the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Important materials necessary to the war effort were produced in North Jersey, the Continental Army made its home here during the war, and history from this period can be found in nearly every village and town in North Jersey. Battle fields, camps, skirmish sites, and headquarters can be found near Morristown, in the northwestern part of the state, iron mines and foundries supplied raw material for guns and ammunition. The Industrial Revolution in America started by the founding of the North Jersey town of Paterson, today, the United States and the world enjoy the fruit born of seeds planted in North Jersey during the Industrial Revolution. Alexander Hamilton, Secretary for the Treasury and President of the Bank of New York during the end of the eighteenth century and he promoted the natural power of the Great Falls as an excellent location for textile mills and other manufacture. Paterson attracted skilled craftsmen and engineers from Europe to run the mills and produced a concentration of creative. During the mid century, the engines and materials to tame a continent were made here. Thomas Edison installed one of the first hydroelectric plants in the world using the Great Falls as an energy source
North Jersey
–
Main Street and Lemoine Avenue in
Fort Lee Koreatown. Click on image for greater
Hangul resolution.
North Jersey
–
India Square,
Newark Avenue,
Jersey City.
North Jersey
–
Counties
12.
Metropolitan area
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As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban in character and these outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles metro area in the United States, in practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Population figures given for one area can vary by millions. A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, in defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus that other areas have a high degree of integration with. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines statistical divisions as areas under the influence of one or more major towns or a major city. However, this definition has become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. In Brazil, metropolitan areas are called metropolitan regions, each State defines its own legislation for the creation, definition and organization of a metropolitan region. The creation of a region is not intended for any statistical purpose, although the Brazilian Institute of Geography. Their main purpose is to allow for a management of public policies of common interest to all cities involved. They dont have political, electoral or jurisdictional power whatsoever, so living in a metropolitan region do not elect representatives for them. Statistics Canada defines a metropolitan area as an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the area must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a degree of integration with the core. As of the Canada 2011 Census, there were 33 CMAs in Canada, including six with a population over one million—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In Denmark the only area is Greater Copenhagen, consisting of the Capital Region of Denmark along with the neighboring regions Region Zealand. Greater Copenhagen has an population of 1.25 million people
Metropolitan area
–
Greater Buenos Aires,
Argentina
Metropolitan area
–
Paris (
France), one of Europe's major centres
Metropolitan area
–
Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area,
Israel
Metropolitan area
–
Perth, Western Australia, an isolated metropolitan area
13.
Port Louis
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Port Louis is the capital city of Mauritius, located in the Port Louis District, the western part also lies in the Black River District. Port Louis is the economic, cultural, political centre. It is administered by the Municipal City Council of Port Louis, according to the 2012 census conducted by Statistics Mauritius, the population was 149,194. Port Louis was already in use as a harbor in 1638, the Port is named in honor of King Louis XV. During this period of French colonization, Mauritius was known as Ile de France, the French governor at that time, Bertrand-François Mahé de Labourdonnais, contributed to the development of the city. Since Port Louis was relatively well-protected from strong winds during cyclones by the Moka Mountain Range, value of the port continued during the British occupation of the island during the Napoleonic Wars, and helped Britain control the Indian Ocean. However, port calls of ships fell drastically following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, activity in the port increased during the seven-year closure of the Suez Canal. Modernization of the port in the late 1970s has helped it maintain its role as the point for all imports and exports from Mauritius. Port Louis features a hot semi-arid climate under Köppens climate classification and its wettest months are from December through April where on average 60 mm of rain falls during each of these months. The remaining months forms Port Louis dry season, the city also shows a noticeable range of average temperatures. Port Louis’ coolest temperatures are seen mid-year where average temperatures are around 24 °C. Port Louis is home to the biggest port facility in the Indian Ocean region, Port Louis is home to the nations main harbor, and is the only official port of entry and exit for sea vessels in Mauritius. Ships must cleared in the port before visiting any other anchorage in the island nation, the Mauritius Ports Authority, established by law in 1998, is the port authority responsible for Port Louis. The harbor adjoins the city, with the port currently comprising three terminals. Terminal I contains a total of 1180 meters of quay, with six berthing positions for cargo, passengers, Terminal II contains 986 meters of quays with six berthing positions, and includes specialized facilities for handling and storing sugar, fish, tallow, and caustic soda. In particular, the Bulk Sugar Terminal can handle vessels with up to 11 meters of draft, can load sugar at a rate of 1450 tones per hours, and can store 175,000 tons of cargo. Also present in Terminal II is a dedicated 124-meter cruise ship jetty, Terminal III has two 280-meter quays with a depth of 14 meters, and is specialized for handling container ships, having five post-Panamax gantry cranes. Also present are storage facilities for bulk ethanol and tie-in points for reefer containers, vessels too large to dock at the quays can anchor at the Outer Anchorage, which is still within the official boundaries of the port
Port Louis
–
Aerial view of Port Louis
Port Louis
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Jardin de la Compagnie (Company Gardens in English). Originally the vegetable patch of the
French East India Company
Port Louis
–
Aerial view of the city, including the port, at night
Port Louis
–
The skyline of Port Louis, dominated by the
Bank of Mauritius Tower
14.
Curepipe
–
Curepipe also known as La Ville-Lumière, is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District, the eastern part also lies in the Moka District. The town is administered by the Municipal Council of Curepipe, Curepipe lies at a higher elevation, often referred to as the Central Plateau. According to the census made by Statistics Mauritius in 2015, the population of the town was at 79,014, the towns name, Curepipe, is said to be originated from the French curer sa pipe, which translates to cleaning the pipe. There are several theories by historians as to the naming of the city, some historians believe that the name was given as travelers and soldiers from the 19th century often traveled from Port Louis and Grand Port to refill their pipes in Curepipe. Other historians believe that the name was given after a late landowner during the 18th century, the town officially covers an area of 23.8 square kilometres. It is located in the Plaine Wilhems district on the plateau of Mauritius at an altitude of 561 meters. Of the larger towns of the central plateau, Curepipe is the most southern. As a consequence of its height, Curepipe is known for its relatively cool, Curepipe is managed by a council, which is democratically elected by its citizens. The council is headed by the Mayor and is responsible for local policy making. The current Mayor is Nathalie Stephanie Gopee, the towns administration on the other hand is responsible for the implementation of these policies as well as the day-to-day management of the councils activities. The current administrative head is Mr Vineshsing Seeparsad, who joined the government in March 2011. Curepipes historic town hall was originally situated in Moka. For the general elections the town is classified as the No 17 constituency known as Curepipe, according to the census made by Statistics Mauritius in 2015, the population of the town was at 79,014. The primary spoken language is Mauritian Creole, though French predominates in more formal situations, tamil, Bhojpuri, Hindi, Telugu, Urdu, Mandarin and Hakka Chinese are also spoken as second or third language mostly in religious activities. The councils official language is English, the town hosts several textile factories, a diamond processing industry and a range of jewelry businesses. In addition, handicraft shops, restaurants and shopping centers add to the mix of the town. The relatively affluent suburbs are home to a great deal of business activity. The town council is acutely aware of the need to bring principles of sustainability into the economic development
Curepipe
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The view from Trou aux Cerfs, one of the highest points in Curepipe.
Curepipe
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The Old Town hall of Curepipe
Curepipe
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The
Curepipe Botanical Gardens
Curepipe
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The view down into
Trou aux Cerfs crater.
15.
Quatre Bornes
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Quatre Bornes also known as La Ville des Fleurs, is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District, the western part also lies in the Rivière Noire District. The town is administered by the Municipal Council of Quatre Bornes, situated between the towns of Beau-Bassin Rose-Hill and Vacoas-Phoenix, Quatre Bornes is linked by roads to the north, east, south and west of Mauritius. According to the census made by Statistics Mauritius in 2015, the population of the town was at 77,505, in 1721, Wilhem Leicknig of Prussian origin settled on the island then known as Isle de France, the district of Plaine Wilhems was named after him. In 1740, French cartographer Guyomar drew the Quartiers des Plaines Wilhems where Quatre Bornes was shown as a forest which was slowly being colonised, joseph François Charpentier de Cossigny named his region Palma and Governor Antoine Desforges Boucher named his region Bassin in 1764. During the British period, the St Jean church was built in 1850, Quatre Bornes was proclaimed a village in 1890, then proclaimed Town under Governor Harman in 1896. The Bassin and Palma state was annexed to the Town of Quatre Bornes in 1967, for the general elections the town is classified as the No 18 constituency known as Belle Rose and Quatre Bornes and the No 14 Savanne and Black River constituency. Schools in Quatre Bornes include 12 secondary schools and 9 primary schools which are either state own or private institutions, secondary institution include the College Sainte-Marie, College du Saint-Esprit, Dr. The town is home to the Guy Rozemont Football Stadium, the team of the town is the AS Quatre Bornes, the town of Quatre Bornes is divided into different regions. Quatre Bornes is twinned with, Saint-Benoît, Réunion Ambalavao, Madagascar List of places in Mauritius
Quatre Bornes
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MCQB Road.
Quatre Bornes
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Flag
16.
Mauritius
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Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 2,000 kilometres off the southeast coast of the African continent. The country includes the islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, and the outer islands, the islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues form part of the Mascarene Islands, along with nearby Réunion, a French overseas department. The area of the country is 2,040 km², the capital and largest city is Port Louis. Mauritius was a British colonial possession from 1810 to 1968, the year of its independence, the government uses English as the main language. The sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago is disputed between Mauritius and the United Kingdom, the UK excised the archipelago from Mauritian territory in 1965, three years prior to Mauritian independence. The UK gradually depopulated the archipelagos indigenous population and leased its biggest island, Diego Garcia, access to the archipelago is prohibited to casual tourists, the media, and its former inhabitants. Mauritius also claims sovereignty over Tromelin Island from France, the people of Mauritius are multiethnic, multi-religious, multicultural and multilingual. The islands government is modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system. Along with the other Mascarene Islands, Mauritius is known for its flora and fauna. The island is known as the only known home of the dodo. Mauritius is the country in Africa where Hinduism is the largest religion. The first historical evidence of the existence of an island now known as Mauritius is on a map produced by the Italian cartographer Alberto Cantino in 1502. From this, it appears that Mauritius was first named Dina Arobi around 975 by Arab sailors, in 1507 Portuguese sailors visited the uninhabited island. The island appears with a Portuguese name Cirne on early Portuguese maps, another Portuguese sailor, Dom Pedro Mascarenhas, gave the name Mascarenes to the Archipelago. In 1598 a Dutch squadron under Admiral Wybrand van Warwyck landed at Grand Port and named the island Mauritius, in honour of Prince Maurice van Nassau, later the island became a French colony and was renamed Isle de France. On 3 December 1810 the French surrendered the island to Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, under British rule, the islands name reverted to Mauritius /məˈrɪʃəs/. Mauritius is also known as Maurice and Île Maurice in French. The island of Mauritius was uninhabited before its first recorded visit during the Middle Ages by Arab sailors, in 1507 Portuguese sailors came to the uninhabited island and established a visiting base
Mauritius
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The
Battle of Grand Port between the French and British navies, 1810.
Mauritius
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Flag
Mauritius
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Champ de Mars, Port Louis, 1880.
Mauritius
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Postage stamp with portrait of
Queen Elizabeth II, 1954
17.
Plaines Wilhems
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Plaines Wilhems is a district of Mauritius. It is the most populous district, with its estimated at 368,621 as of 31 December 2015. The district is urban, it consists of four towns. The Plaines Wilhems district does not have a District Council, it has four Municipal Town Councils, the towns are Beau-Bassin Rose-Hill, Curepipe, Quatre Bornes and Vacoas-Phoenix. The villages are Midlands, Cascavelle and Moka, the district was named after Wilhem Leicknig. Of Prussian origin, he settled on the island of Mauritius, then known as Isle de France, secondary schools in the district include, Lycée La Bourdonnais - Curepipe Lycée des Mascareignes- Moka Districts of Mauritius List of places in Mauritius
Plaines Wilhems
–
Map of
Mauritius island with Plaines Wilhems District highlighted
18.
Lagos
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Lagos /ˈleɪɡɒs/ is a city in the Nigerian state of Lagos. The city, with its conurbation, is the largest in Nigeria. It is one of the fastest growing in the world, Lagos is a major financial centre in Africa, the megacity has the highest GDP, and also houses one of the largest and busiest ports on the continent. Due to rapid urbanization, the city expanded to the west of the lagoon to include areas in the present day Lagos Mainland, Ajeromi-Ifelodun and Surulere. This led to the classification of Lagos into two main areas - the Island, which was the city of Lagos, before it expanded into the area known as the Mainland. Lagos, the capital of Nigeria since its amalgamation in 1914, however, the state capital was later moved to Ikeja in 1976, while the federal capital also moved to Abuja in 1991. This conurbation makes up 37% of Lagos States total land area, the exact population of Metropolitan Lagos is disputed, In the 2006 federal census data, the conurbation had a population of about 8 million people. However, the figure was disputed by the Lagos State Government, Lagos was originally inhabited by the Awori subgroup of the Yoruba people in the 15th century, who called it Oko. Under the leadership of the Oloye Olofin, the Awori moved to an island now called Iddo and then to the larger Lagos Island. In the 16th century, the Awori settlement was conquered by the Benin Empire and the became a Benin war-camp called Eko under Oba Orhogba. Eko is still the name for Lagos. Lagos, which means lakes, was a given to the settlement by the Portuguese. The present-day Lagos state has a percentage of Awori, who migrated to the area from Isheri along the Ogun river. Throughout history, it was home to a number of warring ethnic groups who had settled in the area. Following its early settlement by the Awori nobility, and its conquest by the Bini warlords of Benin, Portuguese explorer Rui de Sequeira visited the area in 1472, naming the area around the city Lago de Curamo. Another explanation is that Lagos was named for Lagos, Portugal—a maritime town which, in 1849, Britain appointed John Beecroft Consul of the Bights of Benin and Biafra, a position he held until his death in 1854. John Duncan was appointed Vice Consul and was located at Wydah, at the time of Beecrofts appointment, the Kingdom of Lagos was in the western part of the Consulate of the Bights of Benin and Biafra and was a key slave trading port. Oba Akitoye then signed the Treaty between Great Britain and Lagos abolishing slavery, the signing of the 1852 treaty ushered in the Consular Period in Lagos history wherein Britain provided military protection to Lagos
Lagos
–
Clockwise from top:
Victoria Island skyline from the Gulf of Guinea,
Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge,
Apapa Port,
National Arts Theatre, Iganmu,
The Ikeja City Mall, and
The Lagos Island CBD.
Lagos
–
Lagos Marina.
Lagos
–
Shopping in Lagos.
Lagos
–
The
National Arts Theatre.
19.
Agege
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Agege is a suburb and local government area in the Ikeja Division of Lagos State, Nigeria. From the Southern part of Lagos it stretches from Ashade retail market to Akilo street, from the Eastern part of Lagos it stretches from Oba ogunji road up to the by-pass to Agege Motor road by Nitel office. From the Western part of Lagos, the boundary of Agege stretches from Abeokuta express road from boundary with Ikeja Local government to Dopemu junction, when Dasab Airlines existed, its Lagos office was in Agege. It includes a campus of Lagos State University, national Youth Service Corps Permanent Orientation Camp is located at Iyana-Ipaja Road, Agege. Agege boost of very few industries, it is the hub of the Popular Aluminium Village which connects with the popular Abeokuta Express road, railway stations in Nigeria Agege Local Government New School, NYC. Sustainable Cities Club blog post about Agege, Lagos
Agege
–
Location in Lagos
20.
Alimosho
–
Alimosho is a Local Government Area in the Ikeja Division, Lagos State, Nigeria It is the largest local government in Lagos, with 1,288,714 inhabitants, according to the official 2006 Census. It has now been subdivided between several Local Community Development Areas, the LCDA structure kicked off after the administration of Bola Ilori who was the last chairman of the old single Alimosho Local Government. The six sub-divisions created out of the old Alimosho are Agbado/Oke-odo LCDA, Ayobo/Ipaja LCDA, Alimosho LG, Egbe/Idimu LCDA, Ikotun/Igando LCDA, the LGA contains the urban area of Akowonjo. Alimosho was established in 1945 and it was under the western region. Majority who dominate Alimosho were the Egbados, the area is very rich in culture, prominent amongst which are Oro, Igunnu and Egungun Festivals annually celebrated. Aside the cultural heritages, majority of the inhabitants of the area are Islamic. However, Yoruba language is spoken in the community. The source of Alimosho is Alashua River, which is located on the axis of Oki, the most recognised Baale is late Chief Kokumo follow by Lateef Sekoni, while the present Baale is Afuwape. The royal family includes Folarin, Kokumo, Ogunbowale and Afuwape, the Central Mosque in Alimosho is the 3rd Mosque in Lagos after the Badagry Central Mosque and the Lagos Central Mosque
Alimosho
–
Alimosho
21.
Ifako-Ijaiye
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Ifako-Ijaiye is a city and local government area in Lagos, Nigeria. It has a land are of 43 square kilometres and had a population of 427,878 people in 2006, the current chairman is Babatunde I. Q. The Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government was created along with 183 other local governments on October 1,1996 by General Sani Abacha and it was carved out of Agege Local Government, with headquarters in Ifako. The 1991 census found the majority of inhabitants to be Yoruba, Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government is a border suburb town as it shares border with Ogun State. The major settlements are Ogba-Ijaiye, Ifako, Oke-Ira, Iju-Ishaga, Obawole, Iju-Ogundimu Fagba, the past leaders of the Local Government are, Engr. Marufdeen Adeola Adefolabi Hon. Demola Doherty Hon. Oloruntoba Oke The Governor of Lagos State, rajh-Label as Sole Administrator of the Local Government in June,2016. Rajh-Label Head of Administration - Mrs. Kudirat Bello Council Treasurer - Mrs
Ifako-Ijaiye
–
Location in Lagos
22.
Kosofe
–
Kosofe is a Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Kosofe and it has an area of 81 km² and a population of 665,393 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 100, one of the major settlements in Kosofe is Ikosi
Kosofe
–
Kosofe
23.
Mushin, Lagos
–
Mushin is a Local Government Area in Lagos. It is located 10 km north of the city core, adjacent to the road to Ikeja. It had 633,009 inhabitants at the 2006 Census, after the 1960 independence from Great Britain, there became large migrations to the suburban areas. As a result, poor sanitation and inadequate housing lead to living conditions. However, since the rise of industrialization in Nigeria, Mushin has become one of the largest beneficiaries of the industrial expansion and their local commercial enterprises include spinning and weaving of cotton, shoe manufacturing, bicycle and motorized-cycle assembly, along with the production of powdered milk. Once a staple source of revenue in Nigeria, agriculture is also a central market. The town is home to a hospital as well educational facilities reaching the school level. Mushin lies at the intersection of roads from Lagos, Shomolu, most of its inhabitants are from the Yoruba tribe and as a result Yoruba is the most common language spoken
Mushin, Lagos
24.
Oshodi-Isolo
–
Oshodi-Isolo is a Local Government Area within Lagos State. The LGA is part of the Ikeja Division of Lagos State, at the 2006 Census it had a population of 621,509 people, and an area of 45 square kilometres. Hon. Bolaji Muse Ariyoh, a man, was recently elected for three-year term as the Executive Chairman. The area includes two constituencies of the National House of Representatives, as of 2009, Hon. Moruf Akinderu Fatai also known as MAF by his constituents and supporters, of the Action Congress represented Oshodi-Isolo I, and Hon. Joseph Ajatta represented Oshodi-Isolo II. From 1999-2007, Mudasiru Oyetunde Hussein of the Alliance for Democracy party represented Oshodi-Isolo
Oshodi-Isolo
–
Location in Lagos
25.
Johannesburg
–
Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa and is one of the 50 largest urban areas in the world. It is the capital of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. While Johannesburg is not one of South Africas three capital cities, it is the seat of the Constitutional Court, the city is located in the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills and is the centre of large-scale gold and diamond trade. In 2011, the population of the city of Johannesburg was 4,434,827, in the same year, the population of Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area was 7,860,781. Some view the surrounding the city of Johannesburg yet more broadly than the metropolitan area, adding Ekurhuleni, West Rand and Lenasia. The land area of the city is large in comparison with those of other major cities, resulting in a moderate population density of 2. The city was established in 1886 following the discovery of gold on what had been a farm, the city is commonly interpreted as the modern day El Dorado due to the extremely large gold deposit found along the Witwatersrand. The name is attributed to one or all of three men involved in the establishment of the city, in ten years, the population was 100,000 inhabitants. A separate city from the late 1970s until the 1990s, Soweto is now part of Johannesburg, Soweto, although eventually incorporated into Johannesburg, had been separated as a residential area for blacks, who were not permitted to live in Johannesburg proper. Lenasia is predominantly populated by English-speaking South Africans of Indian descent, controversy surrounds the origin of the name. There were quite a number of people with the name Johannes who were involved in the history of the city. Among them are the principal clerk attached to the office of the surveyor-general Johannes Rissik, Christiaan Johannes Joubert, another was Stephanus Johannes Paulus Paul Kruger, president of the South African Republic 1883-1900. Johannes Meyer, the first government official in the area is another possibility, precise records for the choice of name were lost. Rissik and Joubert were members of a delegation sent to England to attain mining rights for the area. Joubert had a park in the city named after him and Rissik Street is today a street where the historically important and dilapidated Post Office, since burnt out. The region surrounding Johannesburg was originally inhabited by San people, the Sotho–Tswana practised farming and extensively mined and smelted metals that were available in the area. The most prominent site within Johannesburg is Melville Koppies, which contains an iron smelting furnace, the main Witwatersrand gold reef was discovered in June 1884 on the farm Vogelstruisfontein by Jan Gerritse Bantjes that triggered the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the start of Johannesburg in 1886. The discovery of gold rapidly attracted people to the area, making necessary a name, Johannes Meyer, the first government official in the area is another possibility
Johannesburg
–
Clockwise, from top:
Johannesburg Art Gallery, the
Hillbrow skyline at night,
Nelson Mandela Square in
Sandton,
Johannesburg CBD looking east over the
M1 Freeway, the
University of the Witwatersrand 's East Campus and
Montecasino in
Fourways.
Johannesburg
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The farm where gold was first discovered in 1886
Johannesburg
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Pritchard Street c. 1940
Johannesburg
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Street scene in Johannesburg in 1970
26.
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
–
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa. The name Ekurhuleni means place of peace in Tsonga, Ekurhuleni is one of the five districts of Gauteng province and one of the eight metropolitan municipalities of South Africa. The seat of Ekurhuleni is Germiston, the largest language group among its 2,480,260 people is Zulu. OR Tambo International Airport is in the Kempton Park area of Ekurhuleni, an Integrated Transport Plan has been initiated to allow Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality to confidently develop a transport system within its responsibilities over the next 5 years. The 2001 census divided the municipality into the main places. The municipal council consists of 224 members elected by proportional representation. In the election of 3 August 2016 the African National Congress lost its majority on the council for the first time, the ANC subsequently formed a coalition with the African Independent Congress, the Pan Africanist Congress and the Patriotic Alliance. The following table shows the results of the 2016 election, South African Airways, the flagship air carrier of South Africa, and its subsidiary South African Express Airways have their head offices in Ekurhuleni. In addition Mango, a low cost airline owned by SAA, is headquartered on the grounds of OR Tambo International Airport, the headquarters of Comair and Kulula. com are at an intersection within Ekurhuleni in close proximity to OR Tambo International Airport. Federal Air also has its headquarters on the OR Tambo International Airport grounds, 1Time has its head office in the Isando Industrial Park. Safairs head office is in Kempton Park, airports Company South Africa has its head office in Bedfordview, Ekurhuleni. TAAG Angola Airlines has an office in Bedfordview
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
–
Planners from the Ekurhuleni
Town Planning department on a routine site visit in
Benoni. The team's composition is a reflection of
New South Africa 's racial integration policies
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
–
Seal
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
–
Germiston
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
–
The Rhodesfield suburb of Kempton Park
27.
City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
–
The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality /ˈtswɑːnɛ/ is the metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng Province, South Africa. The Metropolitan area is centred on the city of Pretoria with surrounding towns, the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality was established on 5 December 2000, comprising 13 former city and town councils and managed under an executive mayoral system. The Metsweding District Municipality was incorporated into the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipalitys land area increased from 2,198 square kilometres in 2010 to 6,368 square kilometres after the incorporation of Metsweding. The Tswaing crater is in the northwest of Soshanguve. 40% black,20. 08% white,2. 01% coloured and 1. 84% Indian or Asian, the municipal council consists of 214 members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. In the election of 3 August 2016, the Democratic Alliance won a plurality of 93 seats on the council, on August 19,2016, minority parties united with the DA to vote in DA mayoral candidate, Solly Msimanga as the first Democratic Alliance mayor of Tshwane. Msimanga appointed a mayoral committee consisting of the DA, African Christian Democratic Party. The following table shows the results of the 2016 election, as of 2016 City of Tshwane receives 72% of its bulk water from Rand Water, which utilizes the Integrated Vaal River System. The remaining 28% of Tshwanes water is sourced from its own treatment plants, Water restrictions are implemented during drought, heat waves or other seasonal changes. The main rail station is in Pretoria, the Gautrain runs through parts of the municipality, with stations in Centurion and Pretoria, ending at a station in the suburb of Hatfield. OR Tambo International Airport in neighbouring Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality serves Tshwane, wonderboom Airport in the north of Tshwane serves light aircraft. The Tshwane municipality is home to the Tshwane University of Technology, the South African Air Force military bases AFB Waterkloof and AFB Swartkop are in Tshwane. Although the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality was only created in 2000, the SANDF memorial is at Fort Klapperkop and the South African Air Force memorial is at AFB Swartkop. There are a number of museums, many of them in Pretoria. The origin of the name of the river is unclear and it may mean place -e of the black cow, tshwana, from ceremonies where a black cow was sprinkled with water from the river to end a drought. However, some Ndebele kings claim to have never heard of a chief named Tshwane, two other common explanations are demonstrably untrue. One is that it is the Tswana for the motto of Tshwane Municipality, however, this appears to be promoted for its emotional value, if anything, it would mean we are not the same in Tswana. The name Tshwane is sometimes used as a name for the city of Pretoria itself. Following the city councils vote of March 8,2005, it could become the new name if approved by the central government
City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
–
AFB Swartkop
City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
–
Seal
City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
–
The front part of the Theo van Wyk Building on the Main Campus of
UNISA
City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
–
University of Pretoria 's Old Arts Building
28.
List of cities in China by population
–
This list ranks cities in China, by population. The cities are listed by built-up area adjusted to Local Government Authorities encompassed by built up area, a built up area can be made of several cities. According to the divisions of China, there are three levels of cities, namely municipalities, prefecture-level cities, and county-level cities. The Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau are not included, Prefecture-level cities nearly always contain multiple counties, county-level cities, and other such sub-divisions. To distinguish a city from its actual urban area, the term 市区 is used. However, even this term often encompasses large suburban regions often greater than 1,000 square miles, sometimes only the urban core whereas the agglomeration overtake the city limits, the population of the official Chinese urban area is listed beside. The larger municipality figure is the administrative area population, which includes suburban. The list contains all cities with the administrative designation sub-provincial city, many are Prefecture level cities, Special Economic Zones, National Central Cities and some Council-Level cities. Levels, Sub-provincial = sub-provincial city, Prefecture-level = prefecture-level city, County-level = county-level city. Status, capital = provincial capital, National Centre = national central city, Special Econ. Zones = Special Economic Zones, Special Admin, worlds largest cities List of cities proper by population List of villages in China National Bureau of Statistics of China Mongabay. com, Largest Cities in China
List of cities in China by population
–
Shanghai
List of cities in China by population
–
Map of 10 Biggest Chinese Cities. Locations (dots) are approximate. The numbers represents overall size ranking, ex. "1" is the largest city.
List of cities in China by population
–
Chongqing
List of cities in China by population
–
Guangzhou
29.
Jing-Jin-Ji
–
Jingjinji or Jing-Jin-Ji, also known as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, is the national capital region of China. It is the biggest urbanised region in Northern China that includes a region surrounding Beijing, Tianjin. This emerging region is rising as a metropolitan region rivaling the Pearl River Delta in the south. Jingjinji has traditionally involved in heavy industries and manufacturing. Tianjins strengths have always been in aviation, logistics and shipping, Beijing complements this with strong petrochemical, education and R&D industries. The Chinese central government has made it a priority to all the cities in the Bohai Bay rim. This includes building a communications network, better highways, increased education. In recent decades, petroleum and natural gas deposits have discovered in Jingjinji coast Bo Hai. Jingjinji includes Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei province
Jing-Jin-Ji
–
Jingjinji 京津冀
Jing-Jin-Ji
–
Beijing 北京
Jing-Jin-Ji
–
Tianjin 天津
Jing-Jin-Ji
–
Baoding 保定
30.
Tianjin
–
Tianjin, formerly known in English as Tientsin, is a metropolis in northern coastal Mainland China and one of the five national central cities of the country, with a total population of 15,469,500. It is governed as one of the four direct-controlled municipalities of the PRC and is thus under direct administration of the central government, Tianjin borders Hebei Province and Beijing Municipality, bounded to the east by the Bohai Gulf portion of the Yellow Sea. Part of the Bohai Economic Rim, it is the largest coastal city in northern China, in terms of urban population, Tianjin is the fourth largest in China, after Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. In terms of area population, Tianjin ranks fifth in Mainland China. The walled city of Tianjin was built in 1404, as a treaty port since 1860, Tianjin has been a major seaport and gateway to Beijing. During the Boxer Rebellion the city was the seat of the Tianjin Provisional Government, under the Ta-tsing Empire, and the Republic of China, Tianjin became one of the largest cities in the region. At that time, numerous European-style buildings and mansions were constructed in concessions, after the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, Tianjin suffered a depression due to the policy of the central government and Tangshan earthquake, but recovered from 1990s. As of the end of 2010, around 285 Fortune 500 companies have set up base in Binhai, Tianjin is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese characters 天津, which mean Heavenly Ford or Ford of Heaven. The origin of the name is obscure, one folk etymology is that it was an homage to the patriotic Chu poet Qu Yuan, whose Li Sao includes the verse. departing from the Ford of Heaven at dawn. Another is that it honors a former name of the Girl, a third is that it derives from a place name noted in the River Record of the History of Jin. The most common are that it was bestowed by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming, before this time, it was open sea. The opening of the Grand Canal during the Sui dynasty prompted the development of Tianjin into a trading center, during the Qing dynasty Tianjin was promoted to a prefecture or Zhou in 1725 with Tianjin County established under the prefecture in 1731. Later it was to upgraded to a prefecture or Fu before becoming a relay station under the command of the Viceroy of Zhili. In 1856, Chinese soldiers boarded The Arrow, a Chinese-owned ship registered in Hong Kong flying the British flag and suspected of piracy, smuggling and they captured 12 men and imprisoned them. In response, the British and French sent gunboats under the command of Admiral Sir Michael Seymour to capture the Taku forts near Tianjin in May 1858. At the end of the first part of the Second Opium War in June of the year, the British and French prevailed, and the Treaties of Tianjin were signed. The treaties were ratified by the Emperor of China in 1860, and Tianjin was formally opened to Great Britain and France and these nations left many architectural reminders of their rule, notably churches and thousands of villas. Today those villas provide a flavour to Tianjin
Tianjin
–
Clockwise from top: Jinwan Square, Tianjin Financial Center and Hai River, Xikai Church, Panorama of downtown Tianjin, Tianjin Railroad Station, Tianjin Eye
Tianjin
–
17th century depiction of Tianjin
Tianjin
–
1902 map of Tianjin
Tianjin
–
Church of Our Lady's Victories, built in 1869, was the place where the
Tientsin Church Incident happened.
31.
Beijing
–
Beijing is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China and the worlds third most populous city proper. It is also one of the worlds most populous capital cities, the city, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by population after Shanghai and is the nations political, cultural. It is home to the headquarters of most of Chinas largest state-owned companies, and is a hub for the national highway, expressway, railway. The citys history dates back three millennia, as the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political centre of the country for much of the past eight centuries. Beijing was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium A. D, the city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates. Its art treasures and universities have made it centre of culture, encyclopædia Britannica notes that few cities in the world have served for so long as the political headquarters and cultural centre of an area as immense as China. Siheyuans, the traditional housing style, and hutongs, the narrow alleys between siheyuans, are major tourist attractions and are common in urban Beijing. The city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, many of Beijings 91 universities consistently rank among the best in China, of which Peking University and Tsinghua University are ranked in the top 60 universities in the world. Beijings Zhongguancun area is known as Chinas Silicon Valley and Chinas center of innovation. According to the 2016 InterNations Expat Insider Survey, Beijing ranked first in Asia in the subcategory Personal Finance Index, expats live primarily in urban districts such as Dongcheng and Chaoyang in the east, or in suburban districts such as Shunyi. Over the past 3,000 years, the city of Beijing has had other names. The name Beijing, which means Northern Capital, was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming Dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing, the English spelling is based on the pinyin romanisation of the two characters as they are pronounced in Standard Mandarin. Those dialects preserve the Middle Chinese pronunciation of 京 as kjaeng, the single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is 京, which appears on automobile license plates in the city. The official Latin alphabet abbreviation for Beijing is BJ, the earliest traces of human habitation in the Beijing municipality were found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils from the date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Paleolithic Homo sapiens also lived more recently, about 27,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found neolithic settlements throughout the municipality, including in Wangfujing, the first walled city in Beijing was Ji, a city from the 11th to 7th century BC
Beijing
–
Clockwise from top:
Beijing CBD skyline,
Tiananmen,
Temple of Heaven,
National Center for the Performing Arts, and
Beijing National Stadium
Beijing
–
The museum at
Zhoukoudian
Beijing
–
The
Tianning Pagoda, built around 1120.
Beijing
–
Longevity Hill in Beijing where
Kublai Khan wrote his poem.
32.
Tangshan
–
Tangshan is a largely industrial prefecture-level city in northeastern Hebei province, China. It has become known for the 1976 Tangshan earthquake which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, the city has since been rebuilt and has become a tourist attraction. The city of Tangshan is approximately 149 kilometers,92 miles or 80 nautical miles east by south east of the capital city of Beijing. It takes roughly 2 hours by road to get from Tangshan to Beijing, tangshans prefecture population was 7,577,289 at the 2010 census, with 3,187,171 in the built-up area made of the 6 urban core districts. Tangshan is named after Dacheng Mountain in the middle of Tangshan city, in A. D.645, Li Shimin-emperor of Tang Dynasty and his army stationed at Dacheng Mountain on his way back from Korean Peninsula. Unfortunately, Caofei, his concubine, died here. In order to commemorate his Caofei, he named the mountain with the name of the state—Tang, later, the name of the mountain became the name of the city. Tangshan has a history, with ancient humans living in the area as early as 4,000 years ago. It fell within the territory of the Guzhu Kingdom at the time of the Shang Dynasty and later became a part of the State of Yan, during the Han Dynasty it became part of the ancient province of Youzhou. It was under the jurisdiction of Yongping Province and Zunhua State successively during the Qing dynasty, Tangshan was a village at the time of the Tang dynasty and developed further in agriculture, oil exploitation and ceramics during in the Ming Dynasty. During the Hundred Days Reform in the late Qing dynasty, the Kaiping Mining Administration was established in the year of the Guangxu Emperor. In 1878, Qiaotun town was established at Tangshan and renamed Tangshan Town in 1889, in 1938, Tangshan City was formally founded. The administrative system of Tangshan during the Republic of China Republican era continued to follow the Qing system, in 1929, Zhili Province changed its name to Hebei Province. After Japan surrendered in 1945, the Chinese Nationalist Party in Peking took over the control of Tangshan from Japan. In April 1946, it was decided at the 132nd Meeting of the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee to set up Tangshan City and on May 5 of the same year, the Tangshan Municipal government was founded. After the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China on October 1,1949, on April 28,1958, the State Council approved the establishment of Tangshan prefecture. On August 29,1958, it was decided at the Seventh Session of the first Peoples Congress of Hebei Province to move the Tangshan Commissioner Office from Changli County to Tangshan City. The CPC Central Committee decided to designate Tangshan city as one of the 45 cities open to the world on June 3,1959, on April 2,1960, the State Council officially approved the abolition of Tangshan prefecture
Tangshan
–
Tangshan 唐山市
Tangshan
–
The
Caofeidian Port
Tangshan
–
Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty
Tangshan
–
The Anti-seismic Monument
33.
Qinhuangdao
–
Qinhuangdao is a port city on the coast of China located in northeastern Hebei province. It is administratively a prefecture-level city, located about 300 km east of Beijing, on the Bohai Sea and its population during the 2010 national census was 2,987,605, with approximately one million people living in the built-up area made up of 3 urban districts. In the 19th century, Qinhuangdao included the towns of Qinhuangdao. Both were stations along the Peking–Mukden Railway, Qinhuangdao sits on the northwest coast of the Bohai Sea and borders Tangshan to the southwest, Chengde to the northwest, and Liaoning to the northeast. Its administrative area ranges in latitude 39°24 to 40°37 N and in longitude from 118°33 to 119°51 E, since the elevation of Tianjin to a provincial-level municipality, Qinhuangdao is the chief port of Hebei. The Qin emperor Qin Shi Huang is said to have sought immortality on an island in the Haigang district, Qinhuangdao has three main developed areas, Beidaihe, A summer seaside resort for senior government officials. Many political decisions affecting China are made here, making it the equivalent to resorts in Maine or Camp David in Maryland, home of Yan Shan University, the leading university in NE Hebei province. Shanhaiguan, a popular tourist destination, featuring the eastern end of the Great Wall, qinhuangdaos Olympic Sports Centre Stadium was used as an Olympic Competition Venue during the 2008 Summer Olympics. Qinhuangdao has a humid continental climate, with four distinct seasons. As measured by daily temperature, July and August are equally warm. The annual mean is 11.0 °C, and 70% of the precipitation falls from June to August. The Qinhuangdao Economic & Technology Development Zone was approved by the State Council in 1984 to become one of China’s first state-level economic, Qinhuangdao is in the heart of the rapidly growing “Bohai-Rim Economic Circle”, within easy reach of Beijing and Tianjin. It covers a sea area of 23.81 km2 and has a coastline of 6 km, the planned and controlled area of the development zone has reached 56.72 km2. By the end of 2006, the number of approved projects reached 4,546, in which 647 projects were foreign-invested, Qinhuangdao Export Processing Zone is the first export processing zone in Hebei Province. It has passed joint appraisal held by Customs General Administration Peoples Republic of China, State Development Planning Commission, industries encouraged in the zone include electronics assembly and manufacturing, building/construction materials, computer software, trading and distribution. Qinhuangdao Port is an important port and is the largest coal shipping port in the country. With recent expansion, its capacity has reached 209 million metric tons, China is the worlds third largest coal exporter, and Qinhuangdao is expected to handle much of the nations coal exports. Other Chinese and foreign service suppliers are moving to Qinhuangdao to support this, Qinhuangdao is on the Jingshen Expressway which links Beijing with Shenyang, Liaoning
Qinhuangdao
–
City of Qinhuangdao
Qinhuangdao
–
Location of Qinhuangdao City jurisdiction in Hebei
34.
Yangtze River Delta
–
The area lies at the heart of the region traditionally called Jiangnan. The Yangtze River drains into the East China Sea, the urban build-up in the area has given rise to what may be the largest concentration of adjacent metropolitan areas in the world. It covers an area of 99,600 square kilometres and is home to over 115 million people as of 2013, if based on the greater Yangtze River Delta zone, it has over 140 million people in this region. Having a fertile soil, the Yangtze River Delta abundantly produces grain, cotton, hemp, Hangzhou served as the Chinese capital during the Southern Song dynasty, and Nanjing was the early capital of the Ming dynasty before the Yongle Emperor moved the capital to Beijing in 1421. Other key cities of the region in pre-modern times include Suzhou, the ancient Suzhou was the capital of the Wu state, and the ancient Shaoxing was the capital of the Yue state. Nanjing first served as a capital in the Three Kingdoms period as the capital of Eastern Wu, in these periods, there were several concomitant states or empires in China and each one had its own capital. The delta is one of the most densely populated regions on earth, most of the people in this region speak Wu Chinese as their mother tongue, in addition to Mandarin. Wu is mutually unintelligible with other varieties of Chinese, including Mandarin, the area of the Yangtze River Delta incorporates more than twenty relatively developed cities in three provinces. The term can be used to refer to the entire region extending as far north as Lianyungang, Jiangsu and as far south as Wenzhou. The region includes some of the economies in China in recent years. Since the ninth century, the Yangtze Delta has been the most populous area in China, East Asia, Ningbo became one of the two biggest seaports in East Asia along with Quanzhou. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the became a large economic centre for the country. During the Qianlong era of the Qing dynasty, Shanghai began developing rapidly, from late 19th century to early 20th century, Shanghai was the biggest commercial centre in the Far East. The Yangtze River Delta became the first industrialized area in China and it is the centre of Chinese economic development, and surpasses other concentrations of metropolitan areas in China in terms of economic growth, productivity and per capita income. In 1982, the Chinese government set up the Shanghai Economic Area, besides Shanghai, four cities in Jiangsu and five cities in Zhejiang were included. In 1992, a 14-city cooperative joint meeting was launched, besides the previous 10 cities, the members included Nanjing, Zhenjiang and Yangzhou in Jiangsu, and Zhoushan in Zhejiang. In 1997, the joint meeting resulted in the establishment of the Yangtze River Delta Economic Coordination Association. In 2003, Taizhou in Zhejiang also joined the association, in 2010, the association accepted six new members after a six-year observation and review, including Yancheng and Huaian in Jiangsu, Jinhua and Quzhou in Zhejiang, and Maanshan and Hefei in Anhui
Yangtze River Delta
–
Shanghai
Yangtze River Delta
–
Map of Yangtze River Delta in Green
Yangtze River Delta
–
Nanjing (
Jiangsu)
Yangtze River Delta
–
Hangzhou (
Zhejiang)
35.
Shanghai
–
Shanghai is the most populous city proper in the world, with a population of more than 24 million as of 2014. As one of the four direct-controlled municipalities of the Peoples Republic of China, it is a financial centre and transport hub. Located in the Yangtze River Delta in East China, Shanghai sits on the edge of the mouth of the Yangtze in the middle portion of the eastern Chinese coast. The municipality borders the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the north, south and west, as a major administrative, shipping and trading city, Shanghai grew in importance in the 19th century due to trade and recognition of its favourable port location and economic potential. The city was one of five treaty ports forced open to foreign trade following the British victory over China in the First Opium War, the subsequent 1842 Treaty of Nanking and 1844 Treaty of Whampoa allowed the establishment of the Shanghai International Settlement and the French Concession. The city then flourished as a center of commerce between China and other parts of the world, and became the financial hub of the Asia-Pacific region in the 1930s. However, with the Communist Party takeover of the mainland in 1949, trade was limited to other socialist countries, and the citys global influence declined. In the 1990s, the reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in an intense re-development of the city, aiding the return of finance. The two Chinese characters in the name are 上 and 海, together meaning Upon-the-Sea. The earliest occurrence of this dates from the 11th-century Song Dynasty, at which time there was already a river confluence. There are disputes as to exactly how the name should be understood, Shanghai is officially abbreviated 沪 in Chinese, a contraction of 沪渎, a 4th- or 5th-century Jin name for the mouth of Suzhou Creek when it was the main conduit into the ocean. This character appears on all motor vehicle license plates issued in the municipality today, another alternative name for Shanghai is Shēn or Shēnchéng, from Lord Chunshen, a third-century BC nobleman and prime minister of the state of Chu, whose fief included modern Shanghai. Sports teams and newspapers in Shanghai often use Shen in their names, such as Shanghai Shenhua F. C. Huating was another early name for Shanghai. In AD751, during the dynasty, Huating County was established at modern-day Songjiang. Today, Huating appears as the name of a hotel in the city. The city also has various nicknames in English, including Pearl of the Orient, during the Spring and Autumn period, the Shanghai area belonged to the Kingdom of Wu, which was conquered by the Kingdom of Yue, which in turn was conquered by the Kingdom of Chu. During the Warring States period, Shanghai was part of the fief of Lord Chunshen of Chu and he ordered the excavation of the Huangpu River. Its former or poetic name, the Chunshen River, gave Shanghai its nickname of Shen, two important events helped promote Shanghais development in the Ming dynasty
Shanghai
–
Clockwise from top: A view of the
Pudong skyline,
Yu Garden,
China Pavilion along with the
Expo Axis, neon signs on
Nanjing Road, and
The Bund
Shanghai
–
The walled
Old City of Shanghai in the 17th century
Shanghai
–
Shanghai in the 1930s, with the
Shanghai International Settlement and
Shanghai French Concession
Shanghai
–
The Bund in 1928; the WWI monument in the foreground was destroyed by the Japanese during WWII
36.
Nanjing
–
Nanjing has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having served as the capitals of various Chinese dynasties, kingdoms and republican governments dating from the 3rd century CE to 1949. When being the capital of a state, for instance, the ROC, Nanjing is particularly known as Jinling or Ginling and the old name has been used since the Warring States period in Zhou Dynasty. Located in Yangtze River Delta area and the center of east China and it has also been awarded the title of 2008 Habitat Scroll of Honour of China, Special UN Habitat Scroll of Honour Award and National Civilized City. Nanjing boasts many high-quality universities and research institutes, with the number of universities listed in 100 National Key Universities ranking third, the ratio of college students to total population ranks No.1 among large cities nationwide. Nanjing is one of the three Chinese top research centers according to Nature Index, Key cultural facilities include Nanjing Library, Nanjing Museum and Art Museum. Archaeological discovery shows that Nanjing Man lived in more than 500 thousand years ago, zun, a kind of wine vessel, was found to exist in Beiyinyangying culture of Nanjing in about 5000 years ago. According to a legend quoted by an artist in Ming dynasty, Chen Yi, Fuchai, King of the State of Wu, later in 473 BCE, the State of Yue conquered Wu and constructed the fort of Yuecheng on the outskirts of the present-day Zhonghua Gate. In 333 BCE, after eliminating the State of Yue, the State of Chu built Jinling Yi in the part of present-day Nanjing. It was renamed Moling during reign of Qin Shi Huang, since then, the city experienced destruction and renewal many times. Nanjing was later the city of Danyang Prefecture, and had been the capital city of Yangzhou for about 400 years from late Han to early Tang. This city would soon play a role in the following centuries. Shortly after the unification of the region, the Western Jin dynasty collapsed, First the rebellions by eight Jin princes for the throne and later rebellions and invasion from Xiongnu and other nomadic peoples that destroyed the rule of the Jin dynasty in the north. Its the first time that the capital of the moved to southern part. During the period of North–South division, Nanjing remained the capital of the Southern dynasties for more than two and a half centuries, during this time, Nanjing was the international hub of East Asia. Based on historical documents, the city had 280,000 registered households, assuming an average Nanjing household had about 5.1 people at that time, the city had more than 1.4 million residents. As the old capital of China, many legendary stories happened here, residents in Nanjing all have the warmest affection for this city. Throughout glory and darkness in past centuries, Nanjing becomes a low-key city, GDP growth rate significantly exceeds the average rate in China for decades, which also maintain a fast developing model. Possibly the best preserved of them is the ensemble of the Tomb of Xiao Xiu, the period of division ended when the Sui Dynasty reunified China and almost destroyed the entire city, turning it into a small town
Nanjing
–
Clockwise from top: 1. the city,
Xuanwu Lake and
Purple Mountain; 2.
stone sculpture "
bixie "; 3.
Jiming Temple; 4. Yijiang Gate with the
City Wall of Nanjing; 5.
Qinhuai River and
Fuzi Miao; 6.
Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre; 7. the
spirit way of
Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum; 8.
Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum
Nanjing
–
Location of Nanjing City jurisdiction in Jiangsu
Nanjing
–
Historic names of Nanjing.
Nanjing
–
A
bixie sculpture at
Xiao Xiu 's tomb (AD 518).
Stone sculpture of the southern dynasties is widely considered as the city's icon
37.
Hangzhou
–
Hangzhou, formerly romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang Province in east China. It sits at the head of Hangzhou Bay, which separates Shanghai, the citys West Lake is its best-known attraction. Hangzhou is classified as a city and forms the core of the Hangzhou metropolitan area. During the 2010 Chinese census, the area held 21.102 million people over an area of 34,585 km2. Hangzhou prefecture had a population of 9,018,000 in 2015. In September 2015, Hangzhou was awarded the 2022 Asian Games and it will be the third Chinese city to play host to the Asian Games after Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010. Hangzhou, a technology hub and home to the e-commerce giant Alibaba. The celebrated neolithic culture of Hemudu is known to have inhabited Yuyao,100 km south-east of Hangzhou and it was during this time that rice was first cultivated in southeast China. Excavations have established that the jade-carving Liangzhu culture inhabited the area immediately around the present city around five years ago. The first of Hangzhous present neighborhoods to appear in records was Yuhang. Hangzhou was made the seat of the zhou of Hang in AD589, by a longstanding convention also seen in other cities like Guangzhou and Fuzhou, the city took on the name of the area it administered and became known as Hangzhou. Hangzhou was at the end of Chinas Grand Canal which extends to Beijing. The canal evolved over centuries but reached its full length by 609, in the Tang dynasty, Bai Juyi was appointed governor of Hangzhou. Already an accomplished and famous poet, his deeds at Hangzhou have led to his being praised as a great governor. He ordered the construction of a stronger and taller dyke, with a dam to control the flow of water, thus providing water for irrigation, the livelihood of local people of Hangzhou improved over the following years. Bai Juyi used his time to enjoy the beauty of West Lake. He also ordered the construction of a causeway connecting Broken Bridge with Solitary Hill to allow walking and he then had willows and other trees planted along the dyke, making it a beautiful landmark. This causeway was later named Bai Causeway, in his honor and it is listed as one of the Seven Ancient Capitals of China
Hangzhou
–
Top: View of the "Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon" at
West Lake, Middle left:
Liuhe Pagoda, Middle upper right: Su Causeway at
West Lake, Middle lower right:
Hu Xueyan Residence Garden, Bottom: Huxin Pavilion on
West Lake
Hangzhou
–
A ceremonial
jade bi of the Liangzhu culture
Hangzhou
–
Xiangji Temple was built in 978 AD during the
Northern Song Dynasty
Hangzhou
–
Statue of
Su Shi at the end of Su Causeway at the
West Lake
38.
Ningbo
–
Ningbo, formerly written Ningpo, is a sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province in China. It comprises the districts of Ningbo proper, three satellite cities, and a number of rural counties including islands in Hangzhou Bay and the East China Sea. Its port, spread across locations, is among the busiest in the world. As of the 2010 census, the entire administrated area had a population of 7.6 million, with 3.5 million in the six urban districts of Ningbo proper. To the north, Hangzhou Bay separates Ningbo from Shanghai, to the east lies Zhoushan in the East China Sea, on the west and south, Ningbo borders Shaoxing, the first character in the citys name ning means serene, while its second character bo translates to waves. The city is abbreviated Yǒng, after the Yong Hill, a prominent coastal hill near the city, the character ming was composed by two parts, representing two lakes inside the city wall, Sun Lake and Moon Lake. As a city with giant port, culture of Ningbo influences many countries near it, Ningbo is one of Chinas oldest cities, with a history dating to the Hemudu culture in 4800 BC. Since the Tang dynasty Ningbo was an important commercial port, arab traders lived in Ningbo during the Song dynasty when it was known as Mingzhou, as the ocean-going trade passages took precedence over land trade during this time. Another name for Mingzhou/Ningbo was Siming and it was a well known center of ocean-going commerce with the foreign world. These merchants did not intermingle with native Chinese, practicing their own customs and religion and they did not try to proselytize Islam to Chinese. Jews also lived in Ningbo, as evidenced by the fact that, after a flood destroyed Torah scrolls in Kaifeng. The city of Ningbo was known in Europe for a time under the name of Liampó. This is the spelling used e. g. in the standard Portuguese history, João de Barross Décadas da Ásia. The spelling Liampó is also attested in the Peregrination by Fernão Mendes Pinto, for the mid-16th-century Portuguese, the nearby promontory, which they called the cape of Liampó, after the nearby illustrious city was the easternmost known point of the mainland Asia. The Portuguese began trading in Ningbo around 1522, by 1542, the Portuguese had a sizable community in Ningbo. Portuguese activities from their Ningbo base included pillaging and attacking multiple Chinese port cities around Ningbo for plunder and they also enslaved people during their raids. The Portuguese were ousted from the Ningbo area in 1548, Ningbo was one of the five Chinese treaty ports opened by the Treaty of Nanjing at the end of the First Opium War between Britain and China. During the war, British forces took possession of the city of Ningbo briefly after storming the fortified town of Zhenhai at the mouth of the Yong River on October 10,1841
Ningbo
–
Clockwise from top: Ningbo's Skyline,
Tianyi Square,
Tianyi Chamber,
Port of Ningbo,
Hangzhou Bay Bridge, and Tianfeng Pagoda
Ningbo
–
Tianfeng Tower, originally built in Tang Dynasty, is the symbol of old Ningbo.
Ningbo
–
A rock garden inside Tianyi Chamber
Ningbo
–
Yuehu Mosque of Ningbo.
39.
Pearl River Delta
–
The Pearl River Delta, also known as Zhujiang Delta or Zhusanjiao, is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. It is one of the most densely urbanized regions in the world and is a hub of China. This region is considered an emerging megacity. The nine largest cities of PRD had a population of 57.15 million at the end of 2013. According to the World Bank Group, the PRD has become the largest urban area in the world in size and population. The river delta, also known as the Golden Delta of Guangdong, is formed by three rivers, the Xi Jiang, Bei Jiang, and Dong Jiang. The flat lands of the delta are criss-crossed by a network of tributaries and distributaries of the Pearl River, the Pearl River Delta is actually two alluvial deltas, separated by the core branch of the Pearl River. The Bei Jiang and Xi Jiang converge to flow into the South China Sea and Pearl River in the west, the Xi Jiang begins exhibiting delta-like characteristics as far west as Zhaoqing, although this city is not usually considered a part of the PRD region. After passing through the Lingyang Gorge and converging with the Bei Jiang, major distributaries of the Xi include Donghui Shuidao, Jiya Shuidao, Hutiaomen Shuidao, Yinzhou Hu, and the main branch of the Xi Jiang. Jiangmen and Zhongshan are the major found in the western section of the delta. The Bei Jiang enters the plains at Qingyuan but doesnt begin to split until near Sanshui. From here the two main distributaries are Tanzhou Shuidao and Shunde Shuidao which form multiple mouths along the west side of the Pearl Rivers estuary. Two other distributaries, Lubao Yong and Xinan Yong, split from the Bei further north, the other major city in the north section of the delta is Foshan. The Dong Jiang flows through Huizhou into the delta and it begins diverging northeast of Dongguan into many distributaries, including the Dongguan Shuidao. Distributuares enter the Pearl River as far north as Luogang and as far south as Hu Men, saltwater crocodiles were present within the Pearl River estuary during antiquity. The eastern side of the PRD, dominated by foreign capital, is the most developed economically, the western areas, dominated by local private capital, are open for development. New transport links between Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai in the PRD are expected to open up new areas for development, further integrate the cities, and facilitate trade within the region. 1985, the PRD had been dominated by farms and small rural villages, but after the economy was reformed and opened
Pearl River Delta
–
An 1888 map of the mouth of the Pearl River Delta, showing the locations of
Macau and
Hong Kong
Pearl River Delta
–
Map of Pearl River Delta in Green
Pearl River Delta
–
Several streets in Guangzhou specialize in selling electronic components to the manufacturers of electric and electronic goods
Pearl River Delta
–
Shenzhen 深圳
40.
Guangzhou
–
Guangzhou, traditionally romanised as Canton, is the capital and most populous city of the province of Guangdong in southern China. Guangzhou is currently, the third city in mainland China, behind Beijing and Shanghai, holds sub-provincial administrative status. In 2015 the citys area was estimated to have a population of 13,501,100. Some estimates place the population of the area of the Pearl River Delta Mega City as high as 44 million without the Hong Kong SAR and 54 million including it. Guangzhou is ranked as a Beta+ Global city, in recent years, there has been a rapidly increasing number of foreign residents and illegal immigrants from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, as well as from Africa. This has led to it being dubbed the Capital of the Third World, the migrant population from other provinces of China in Guangzhou was 40 percent of the citys total population in 2008. Long the only Chinese port accessible to foreign traders, the city fell to the British during the First Opium War. No longer enjoying a monopoly after the war, it lost trade to ports such as Hong Kong and Shanghai. In modern commerce, Guangzhou is best known for its annual Canton Fair, for the three consecutive years 2013–2015, Forbes ranked Guangzhou as the best commercial city on the Chinese mainland. Guǎngzhōu is the pinyin romanisation of the Chinese name 廣州, which was simplified in mainland China to 广州 in the 1950s, before acquiring its current name, the town was known as Panyu, a name still borne by one of Guangzhous districts. The origin of the name is uncertain, with 11 various explanations being offered. The city has sometimes been known as Guangzhou Fu or Guangfu after its status as the capital of a commandery. From this latter name, Guangzhou was known to medieval Persians such as Al-Masudi, under the Southern Han, the city was renamed Xingwang. Under the Qing, it was known to its inhabitants as simply The Provincial Capital. The Chinese abbreviation for Guangzhou is 穗, after its nickname Rice City, the former name City of the Immortals came from the same story. The more recent City of Flowers is usually taken as a reference to the areas greenery. The English name Canton derived from Portuguese Cantão or Cidade de Cantão, although it originally and chiefly applied to the walled city, it was also used in English in reference to Guangdong generally. It was adopted as the Postal Map Romanization of Guangzhou and remained in use until the gradual adoption of pinyin
Guangzhou
–
From top:
Tianhe CBD, the
Canton Tower &
Chigang Pagoda,
Haizhu Bridge,
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Statue of Five Goats,
Zhenhai Tower in Yuexiu Park, and
Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Guangzhou
–
Bombax ceiba, the official flower of Guangzhou
Guangzhou
–
Map of Kanton, from Johan Nieuhof (1618-1672); Jean-Baptiste Le Carpentier (1606-ca. 1670): L'ambassade de la Compagnie Orientale des Provinces Unies vers l'Empereur de la Chine, 1665
Guangzhou
–
Painting of the
Thirteen Factories, circa 1820, with flags of Denmark, Spain, the U.S., Sweden, Britain, and the Netherlands
41.
Shenzhen
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Shenzhen is a major city in Guangdong Province, China and one of the five largest and wealthiest cities of China. The city is located north of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and holds sub-provincial administrative status. Shenzhen was a town of 30,000 people on the route of the Kowloon–Canton Railway. That changed in 1979 when Shenzhen was promoted to city-status and in 1980 designated China’s first Special Economic Zone. According to the Government report for 2015, Shenzhen had transformed into a city with a population of 10,778,900, Shenzhen was one of the fastest-growing cities in the world during the 1990s and the 2000s. Shenzhen is a financial center in southern China. The city is home to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange as well as the headquarters of numerous high-tech companies, Shenzhen ranks 19th in the 2016 edition of the Global Financial Centres Index published by the Z/Yen Group and Qatar Financial Centre Authority. It also has one of the busiest container ports in the world, human habitation in Shenzhen dates back to ancient times. The earliest archaeological remains so far unearthed are shards from a site at Xiantouling on Dapeng Bay, from the Han dynasty onwards, the area around Shenzhen was a center of the salt monopoly, thus meriting special Imperial protection. Salt pans are still visible around the Pearl River area to the west of the city and are commemorated in the name of Yantian District, the settlement at Nantou was the political center of the area from early antiquity. In the year 331 AD, six counties covering most of modern southeastern Guangdong were merged into one province or “jun” named Dongguan with its center at Nantou. As well as being a center of the politically and fiscally critical salt trade, the main shipping route to India, Arabia and the Byzantine Empire started at Guangzhou. As early as the century, chronicles record the Nantou area as being a major commercial center. It was also as a defense center guarding the southern approaches to the Pearl River. Shenzhen was also involved in the surrounding the end of the Southern Song dynasty. The Imperial court, fleeing Kublai Khan’s forces, established itself in the Shenzhen area and he jumped off a cliff with Emperor Bing, aged 7, the last emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty strapped to his back, killing both. In the late 19th century the Chiu or Zhao clan in Hong Kong identified that Chiwan, the tomb, since restored, is still at the same location. Earliest known records that carried the name Shenzhen dates from 1410, local people called the drains in paddy fields “zhen”
Shenzhen
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Shenzhen 深圳市
Shenzhen
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Hongfa Temple, of which the first abbott was
Ben Huan.
Shenzhen
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Tin Hau Temple in Chiwan
Shenzhen
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Shenzhen airport T3
42.
Dongguan
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Dongguan is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong province, China. It is part of the Pearl River Delta megacity with more than 44.78 million inhabitants at the 2010 census spread over nine municipalities across an area of 17,573 square kilometres, Dongguans city administration is considered especially progressive in seeking foreign direct investment. Dongguan ranks behind only Shenzhen, Shanghai and Suzhou in exports among Chinese cities and it is also home to one of the worlds largest, though largely empty, shopping malls, the New South China Mall. The majority of the population speak Mandarin due to migrants from parts of the country. Although the earliest traces of habitation in the area stretch back 5,000 years. In 1839, at the outset of the First Opium War, large quantities of seized opium were destroyed in Humen, several of the major battles of the war were fought in this area. During the Second World War, the city served as the base for resistance against the Japanese occupation. Dongguan earned city status in 1985, and was upgraded to city status three years later. During this period the city changed its focus from a town into a manufacturing hub. The city ranked 13th in Forbes Chinas listing of the most innovative mainland cities, geographically, the city is mostly hilly to the east and flat in the west, with 115.98 kilometres of shoreline. It is positioned in the middle of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen economic corridor, of Dongguans total area, 27% is water, 25% forest land, and 13% arable land, while 35% of its land area has been fully developed. Dongguan had an estimated 6,949,800 inhabitants at the end of 2008, at the 2010 Census the population had expanded to 8,220,237. The number reached 8.29 million by the end of 2012, Dongguan is the hometown for many overseas Chinese, the family origin of over 700,000 people in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau and over 200,000 nationals living abroad. Dongguan has no county level but instead is divided into 32 towns, Dongguan has a humid subtropical climate, with abundant sunshine. It lies just south of the Tropic of Cancer, the average temperature is 23.3 °C throughout the year with average rainfall of 2,042.6 millimetres. Many foreign travellers to Dongguan fly into Hong Kong, which gives visa on arrival to citizens of over 170 countries, after landing, visitors must apply for a visa to enter mainland China. One can travel from Hong Kong to Dongguan by bus, ferry, Dongguan serves as one of the regional railway hubs in Guangdong, where the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway, Guangzhou-Meizhou-Shantou Railway and the Beijing-Kowloon Railway converge. Rail services in and out of the city call at Dongguan railway station there are direct train services to Guangzhou East railway station in Guangzhou
Dongguan
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From top left, clockwise:
Guanyin mountain,
Humen Bridge,
Keyuan, Dongguan Avenue
Dongguan
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Guan Yin Shan (Kuan Yin Mountain) in Dongguan, China
Dongguan
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Humen Pearl River Bridge
Dongguan
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Shanghai Beijing
43.
Macau
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Macau, also spelled Macao, officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the western side of the Pearl River Delta in East Asia. Macau is bordered by the city of Zhuhai in Mainland China to the north, Hong Kong lies about 64 kilometres to its east across the Delta. With a population of 650,900 living in an area of 30.5 km2, Macau was administered by the Portuguese Empire and its inheritor states from the mid-16th century until late 1999, when it constituted the last remaining European colony in Asia. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 1550s, in 1557, Macau was leased to Portugal from Ming China as a trading port. The Portuguese Empire administered the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty until 1887, sovereignty over Macau was transferred back to China on 20 December 1999. The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau and Macau Basic Law stipulate that Macau operate with a degree of autonomy until at least 2049. Macau participates in international organizations and events that do not require members to national sovereignty. Macau is a city in Southern China, known for its casinos. Its gaming revenue has been the worlds largest since 2006, with the heavily dependent on gaming. According to The World Factbook, Macau has the fourth highest life expectancy in the world, the present Chinese name means Inlet Gates. Macau is otherwise known in Chinese as Haojing or Jinghai, the name Macau is thought to be derived from the A-Ma Temple, a temple built in 1448 dedicated to Mazu, the goddess of seafarers and fishermen. It is said that when the Portuguese sailors landed at the coast just outside the temple and asked the name of the place, the Portuguese then named the peninsula Macau. The history of Macau is traced back to the Qin dynasty, the first recorded Chinese inhabitants of the area were people seeking refuge in Macau from invading Mongols during the Southern Song. Under the Ming dynasty, fishermen migrated to Macau from Guangdong, the Macau native people were Tanka boat people. Macau did not develop as a settlement until the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century. In 1513, Jorge Álvares became the first Portuguese to land in China, in 1535, Portuguese traders obtained the rights to anchor ships in Macaus harbours and to carry out trading activities, though not the right to stay onshore. In 1557, the Portuguese established a permanent settlement in Macau, the Portuguese continued to pay an annual tribute up to 1863 in order to stay in Macau. By 1564, Portugal commanded western trade with India, Japan, but their pride was damaged by the indifference with which the Chinese treated them
Macau
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Portuguese coin (minted 1996) commemorating the arrival of the Portuguese in China in 1513
Macau
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Flag
Macau
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Ruins of St. Paul's, by
George Chinnery (1774–1852). The church was built in 1602 and destroyed by fire in 1835. Only the southern stone façade remains today.
Macau
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Macau,
c. 1870.
44.
Mumbai Metropolitan Region
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Mumbai Metropolitan Region is a metropolitan area in Maharashtra state, consisting of the state capital Mumbai and its satellite towns. Developing over a period of about 20 years, it consists of nine municipal corporations, the MMRDA was formed to address the challenges in planning and development of integrated infrastructure for the metropolitan region. The areas outside of Brihan Mumbai and Navi Mumbai have lacked organised development, Navi Mumbai, developed as one of the largest planned cities in the world, was promoted by a Maharashtra Government-owned company, City and Industrial Development Corporation. The region has had problems related to haphazard and illegal development as a result of rapid urbanisation, villages along the NH3 in Bhiwandi Taluka are examples of haphazard developments in the MMR, with some of the largest warehousing areas in India. Government agencies such as the Town Planner and Collector of Thane have had challenges in addressing unorganised development. The region has an area of 4,355 km² and with a population of 20,748,395, it is among the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. maharashtra. gov. in/who-we-are
Mumbai Metropolitan Region
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Mumbai Metropolitan Area, LandSat-5 satellite image, 2011-01-30
45.
National Capital Region (India)
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The National Capital Region is a coordinated planning region centred upon the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. It encompasses the entire NCT of Delhi and several districts surrounding it from the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, the NCR is a rural-urban region, with a population of over 46,069,000 and an urbanization level of 62. 6%. As well as the cities and towns the NCR contains ecologically sensitive areas like the Aravalli ridge, forests, wildlife, all the areas of NCR together generated GDP of $128.9 billion in 2011-12, which was 7.5 percent of the Indian GDP. The National Capital Region and its board were created under the National Capital Region Planning Board Act of 1985. The 1985 boundary of the NCR covered an area of 34,144 km2, in July 2013, NCR was expanded to include three more districts, Bhiwani, and Mahendragarh in the state of Haryana, as well as Bharatpur in the state of Rajasthan. This brought the number of districts in NCR to 19, with the total NCR area increasing 34% to 45,887 km2. On 9 June 2015 the Government of India approved the inclusion of three districts in NCR - Jind and Karnal in the state of Haryana and Muzaffarnagar in U. P. There are now a total of 22 districts within NCR, covering an area of 50,566 km2. Uttar Pradesh is pushing to have the districts of Agra, Aligarh, punjab is also forcing to have Patiala, Dera Bassi and Mohali included in the NCR. Outskirts of Rajasthan like Bhadra are also included in the Future Extension plans, prior to the creation of the NCR, an area described as the Delhi Metropolitan Area was described in the 1962 Master Plan for Delhi.1 million in 1951. The following Master Plan for Delhi, approved in August 1990, added Noida, Bahadurgarh and the township of Kundli to the DMA. Topics covered by the 2001 plan included transport, telecommunications, power and water supply, waste and sewerage, education, health, the environment, housing, the 2021 plan extended these with the additional topics of social infrastructure, heritage, tourism, rural development and disaster management. Sewage connectivity About 46% of the National Capital Region —home to 40 to 50 million people—is not connected to sewage networks, sewage from these areas flows into stormwater drains that empty directly into the Yamuna. The 2001 regional plan defined the Delhi Metropolitan Area as including Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Bahadurgarh, the 2021 plan renamed the area as the Central National Capital Region, covering about 2,000 km2 in addition to the 1,483 km2 of NCT Delhi. The 2021 plan estimated the 2001 population of the CNCR outside of Delhi NCT to be over 2.8 million, while Delhi NCTs population was 13.8 million, as of 2016 the most recent population estimates have spanned 25.7 to 26.5 million people. The 1985 Act gives the NCRCB has the ability to select districts outside of the NCR to act as counter magnets, counter-magnet cities are identified as those that can be developed as alternative centres of growth and attract migrants to them rather than Delhi. The counter magnet cities should be given priority when allocating funding for development of land, housing and infrastructure
National Capital Region (India)
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National Capital Territory of Delhi as captured by Landsat-5 satellite
46.
Gurgaon
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Gurugram, is a city in the Indian state of Haryana and is located near the National Capital Region of India. It is 32 kilometres southwest of New Delhi and 268 kilometres southwest of Chandigarh, as of 2011, Gurugram had a population of 876,824. Witnessing rapid urbanisation, Gurugram has become a financial and industrial hub with the third highest per capita income in India. The citys economic growth story started when the leading Indian automobile manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India Limited established a plant in Gurugram in the 1970s. Today, Gurugram has local offices for more than 250 Fortune 500 companies, the land came to be known as Gurugram which over time became changed to Gurgaon. The village still exists within the modern day city, on 12 April 2016, Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar announced a proposal to officially rename the city Gurugram, subject to the approval of the Haryana cabinet and the Union Government. He argued that the new name would help to preserve the heritage of the city by emphasising its history. On 27 September 2016, Manohar Lal Khattar officially announced that the Union Government had approved the name change, Gurugram was historically inhabited by the Hindu people and in early times, it formed a part of an extensive kingdom ruled over by Rajputs of Yaduvansi or Yadav clan. The Yadav were defeated by Muhammad of Ghor in 1196, under the rule of Feroz Shah Tughlaq, several were converted to Islam. This was followed by the invasion of Timur and the land was ruled by Khanzadas and it was then annexed by Babur. During Akbars reign, Gurugram fell within the regions of Delhi. As the Mughal Empire started to decline, the place was torn between contending powers, by 1803 most of it came under the British rule through the treaty of Surji Arjungaon with Sindhia. The town was first occupied by the cavalry unit posted to watch the army of Begum Samru of Sirdhana and it became a part of the district, which was divided into units called parganas. These units were given to petty chiefs for the service rendered by them. Eventually these units came under control of the British, with the last major administrative change in 1836. After the Revolt of 1857, it was transferred from the North-Western Provinces to Punjab Province, in 1947, Gurgaon became a part of independent India and fell under the Indian state of Punjab. In 1966, the city came under the administration of Haryana with the creation of the new state, Gurugram is located in Gurugram district in the Indian state of Haryana and is situated in the south eastern part of the state, and northern part of the country. The city is located on the border with Delhi with New Delhi to its north east, the city has a total area of 738.8 square kilometres The average land elevation is 217 metres above sea level
Gurgaon
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Gurgaon viewed from NH8
Gurgaon
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Skyline of Gurgaon at night
Gurgaon
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Cyber Green Building
Gurgaon
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Essel Towers, Gurgaon
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