Shantung province

Shandong Province 山东省
Province
Name transcription(s)
• Chinese	山东省 (Shāndōng Shěng)
• Abbreviation	/魯 (pinyin: Lǔ)
Map showing the location of Shandong Province
Coordinates: 36°24′N 118°24′E / 36.4°N 118.4°E / 36.4; 118.4Coordinates: 36°24′N 118°24′E / 36.4°N 118.4°E / 36.4; 118.4
Capital	Jinan
Largest city	Linyi
Divisions	17 prefectures, 140 counties, 1941 townships
Government
• Secretary	Jiang Yikang
• Governor	Vacant
Area
• Total	157,100 km2 (60,700 sq mi)
Area rank	20th
Population (2014)
• Total	97,333,900
• Rank	2nd
• Density	620/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
• Density rank	5th
Demographics
• Ethnic composition	Han - 99.3% Hui - 0.6%
• Languages and dialects	Jiaoliao Mandarin, Jilu Mandarin, Zhongyuan Mandarin
ISO 3166 code	CN-37
GDP (2016)	CNY 6.7 trillion USD 1.0 trillion (3rd)
• per capita	CNY 67,364 USD 10,144 (9th)
HDI (2010)	0.721 (high) (9th)
Website	www.sd.gov.cn

Shandong
"Shandong" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese	山东
Traditional Chinese	山東
Postal	Shantung
Literal meaning	"East of the Tàiháng Mountains"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shāndōng Bopomofo ㄕㄢ   ㄉㄨㄥ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Shandong Wade–Giles Shan1-tung1 IPA [ʂán tʊ́ŋ] Wu Romanization Se平 ton平 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Sāan-dūng Jyutping Saan1-dung1 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Soaⁿ-tang Tâi-lô Suann-tang

Shandong (Chinese: 山东; formerly romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the East China region.

Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese Buddhism, and Confucianism. Shandong's Mount Tai is the most revered mountain of Taoism and one of the world's sites with the longest history of continuous religious worship. The Buddhist temples in the mountains to the south of the provincial capital of Jinan were once among the foremost Buddhist sites in China. The city of Qufu is the birthplace of Confucius, and was later established as the center of Confucianism.

Shandong's location at the intersection of ancient as well as modern north–south and east–west trading routes have helped to establish it as an economic center. After a period of political instability and economic hardship that began in the late 19th century, Shandong has emerged as one of the most populous (95,793,065 inhabitants at the 2010 Census) and most affluent provinces in the People's Republic of China with a GDP of CNY¥5.942 trillion in 2014, or USD$967 billion, making it China's third wealthiest province.

Individually, the two Chinese characters in the name "Shandong" mean "mountain" (山) and "east" (东). Shandong could hence be translated literally as "east of the mountains" and refers to the province's location to the east of the Taihang Mountains. A common nickname for Shandong is Qílǔ (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ), after the States of Qi and Lu that existed in the area during the Spring and Autumn period. Whereas the State of Qi was a major power of its era, the State of Lu played only a minor role in the politics of its time. Lu, however, became renowned for being the home of Confucius and hence its cultural influence came to eclipse that of the State of Qi. The cultural dominance of the State of Lu heritage is reflected in the official abbreviation for Shandong which is "鲁" (Chinese: ; pinyin: Lǔ). English speakers in the 19th century called the province Shan-tung.