Peking, China

Beijing 北京市
Municipality
Beijing Municipality
Clockwise from top: Beijing CBD skyline, Tiananmen, Temple of Heaven, National Centre for the Performing Arts, and Beijing National Stadium
Location of Beijing Municipality within China
Coordinates: 39°55′N 116°23′E / 39.917°N 116.383°E / 39.917; 116.383Coordinates: 39°55′N 116°23′E / 39.917°N 116.383°E / 39.917; 116.383
Country	People's Republic of China
Established date	1046 BC
Divisions  - County-level  - Township-level	16 districts 289 towns and villages
Government
• Type	Municipality
• Party Secretary	Guo Jinlong (Politburo member)
• Mayor	Cai Qi (CPC)
• Congress Chairman	Du Deyin
• Conference Chairman	Ji Lin
Area
• Municipality	16,411 km2 (6,336 sq mi)
• Land	16,801 km2 (6,487 sq mi)
• Urban	1,368 km2 (528 sq mi)
• Rural	15,042 km2 (5,808 sq mi)
Elevation	43.5 m (142.7 ft)
Population (2015)
• Municipality	21,700,000
• Density	1,300/km2 (3,400/sq mi)
• Urban	18,590,000
• Metro (2010)	24,900,000
• Ranks in China	Population: 27th; Density: 4th
Major ethnic groups
• Han	95%
• Manchu	2%
• Hui	2%
• Mongol	0.3%
• Other	0.7%
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	100000–102629
Area code(s)	10
GDP(nominal)	2016
- Total	CNY 2.49 trillion USD 375 billion (13th)
- Per capita	CNY 114,742 USD 17,278 (2nd)
- Growth	6.7%
HDI (2014)	0.869 (1st)—very high
License plate prefixes	京A, C, E, F, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q 京B (taxis) 京G, Y (outside urban area) 京O, D (police and authorities)
City trees	Chinese arborvitae (Platycladus orientalis)
	Pagoda tree (Sophora japonica)
City flowers	China rose (Rosa chinensis)
	Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium)
Website	www.ebeijing.gov.cn

Beijing
"Beijing" in regular Chinese characters
Chinese	北京
Postal	Peking Peiping (1368–1403; 1928–1937; 1945–1949)
Literal meaning	"Northern Capital"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Běijīng Gwoyeu Romatzyh Beeijing Wade–Giles Pei3-ching1 IPA [pèi̯.tɕíŋ] Wu Romanization Poh-cin Hakka Romanization Bet5-gin1 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Bākgīng IPA [pɐ́k̚.kíːŋ] Jyutping Bak1-ging1 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Pak-kiaⁿ Tâi-lô Pak-kiann Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Báe̤k-gĭng

Beijing (formerly romanised as Peking) is the capital of the People's Republic of China and the world's third most populous city proper. It is also one of the world's 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 Municipality is surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighbouring Tianjin Municipality to the southeast; together the three divisions form the Jingjinji metropolitan region and the national capital region of China.

A city combining both modern and traditional architecture, Beijing is an ever-changing megacity rich in history but also truly modern, exemplified in its extraordinary global influence in politics, business & economy, education, history, culture, language, music, sporting, architecture, civilization, fashion, art, entertainment, innovation and technology. Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by urban population after Shanghai and is the nation's political, cultural, and educational centre. It is home to the headquarters of most of China's largest state-owned companies, and is a major hub for the national highway, expressway, railway, and high-speed rail networks. The Beijing Capital International Airport has been the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic since 2010, and, as of 2016^[update], the city's subway network is the busiest and second longest in the world, after Shanghai's subway system.