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Pearl River Estuary

Pearl River Delta (PRD)
珠江三角洲
Delta do Rio das Pérolas
Metropolitan region
2014 NASA Earth Observatory image of Pearl River Delta.jpg
Map of Pearl River Delta in Green
Map of Pearl River Delta in Green
Regions Guangdong
Hong Kong
Macau
Major Settlements Guangzhou
Hong Kong
Shenzhen
Dongguan
Foshan
Zhongshan
Jiangmen
Zhuhai
Huizhou
Zhaoqing
Macau
Government
 • Governor of Guangdong Ma Xingrui
 • Chief Executive of Hong Kong CY Leung
 • Chief Executive of Macau Fernando Chui
Area
 • Metro 39,380 km2 (15,200 sq mi)
Population
 • Metro 63,724,157~120,000,000
Language
 •   Standard Chinese, Cantonese, English, Portuguese, Macanese Patois
Time zone CST, HKT, MST (UTC+8)
Pearl River Delta
Chinese name
Chinese 珠江三角洲
Cantonese Yale Jyūgōng Sāamgokjāu
Cantonese Jyutping Zyu1gong1 Saam1gok3zau1
Hanyu Pinyin Zhūjiāng Sānjiǎozhōu
Alternative Chinese name
Chinese 珠三角
Cantonese Yale Jyūsāamgok
Cantonese Jyutping Zyu1saam1gok3
Hanyu Pinyin Zhūsānjiǎo
Second alternative Chinese name
Simplified Chinese 粤江平原
Traditional Chinese 粵江平原
Hanyu Pinyin Yuèjiāng Píngyuán
Portuguese name
Portuguese Delta do Rio das Pérolas

The Pearl River Delta (PRD), 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 urbanised regions in the world and is an economic hub of China. This region is often considered an emerging megacity. The PRD is a megalopolis, with future development into a single mega metropolitan area, yet itself is at the southern end of a larger megalopolis running along the southern coast of China, which include metropolises such as Chaoshan, Zhangzhou-Xiamen, Quanzhou-Putian, and Fuzhou. The nine largest cities of PRD had a combined population of 57.15 million at the end of 2013, comprising 53.69% of the provincial population. According to the World Bank Group, the PRD has become the largest urban area in the world in both size and population.

Since economic liberalisation was adopted by the Chinese government in the late 1970s, the Delta has become one of the leading economic regions and a major manufacturing center of China and the world. The Chinese government hopes that the manufacturing in Guangdong, combined with the financial and service economy and traditional capitalistic influence in Hong Kong, will create an economic gateway attracting foreign capital throughout mainland China.

The river delta, also known as the Golden Delta of Guangdong, is formed by three major rivers, the Xi Jiang (West River), Bei Jiang (North River), and Dong Jiang (East River). 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, while the Dong Jiang only flows into the Pearl River proper in the east.


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Wikipedia

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