Nanjing

Nanjing[b] is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, and a megacity. The city has 11 districts, an administrative area of 6,600 km2 (2,500 sq mi), and a population of 9,423,400 as of 2021[update].[6] Situated in the Yangtze River Delta region, Nanjing has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having served as the capital of various Chinese dynasties, kingdoms and republican governments dating from the 3rd century to 1949,[7] and has thus long been a major center of culture, education, research, politics, economy, transport networks and tourism, being the home to one of the world's largest inland ports. The city is also one of the fifteen sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China's administrative structure,[8] enjoying jurisdictional and economic autonomy only slightly less than that of a province.[9] Nanjing has been ranked seventh in the evaluation of "Cities with Strongest Comprehensive Strength" issued by the National Statistics Bureau, and second in the evaluation of cities with most sustainable development potential in the Yangtze River Delta. It has also been awarded the title of 2008 Habitat Scroll of Honor of China, Special UN Habitat Scroll of Honor Award and National Civilized City.[10] Nanjing is also considered a Beta (global second-tier) city classification, together with Chongqing, Hangzhou and Tianjin by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network,[11] and ranked as one of the world's top 100 cities in the Global Financial Centres Index.[12] By 2021, Nanjing has 68 institutions of higher learning,[13] including 13 double-first-class universities, ten 111-plan universities, eight 211 universities, and 97 academicians. Nanjing has many highly ranked educational institutions,[14] with the number of universities (13) listed in 147 Double First-Class Universities ranking third (after Beijing and Shanghai),[15][16] including Nanjing University, which has a long history and is among the world's top 20 universities ranked by Nature Index.[17] The ratio of college students to the total population ranks No.1 among large cities nationwide. Nanjing has the sixth-largest scientific research output of any city in the world.[18] As of 2023, it has been ranked as the world's top second scientific research center in earth & environmental sciences and the world's top third scientific research center in chemistry, according to the Nature Index.[19][20][21]