Jinan

Jinan

Jinan[b] is the capital of Shandong province in Eastern China.[5] With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of the region from the earliest beginnings of civilization and has evolved into a major national administrative, economic, and transportation hub.[6] The city has held sub-provincial administrative status since 1994.[6][7] Jinan is often called the "City of Springs" for its famous 72 artesian springs.[8] Jinan is one of the top 35 cities in the world for scientific research as tracked by the Nature Index according to the Nature Index 2023 Science Cities.[9] The city is home to several major universities, including Shangdong, Shandong Normal, Shandong Jianzhu, University of Jinan, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Shandong University of Finance and Economics.[10] Notably, Shandong University is one of China's most prestigious universities as a member of the Double First-Class Construction. The city is rated Beta- (Global second-tier city) by the biannual GAWC ratings in 2020.[11] The modern-day name Jinan literally means "south of the Ji" and refers to the old Ji River (濟水) that had flowed to the north of the city until the middle of the 19th century. The Ji River disappeared in 1852[12] when the Yellow River changed its course northwards and took over its bed. The current pronunciation of the character "Ji" with the third tone (jǐ) was established in the late 1970s. Prior to this, it was pronounced with the fourth tone (jì). Older western texts spell the name as "Tsinan" (Wade-Giles romanization) or "Chi-nan".[13]