Chongqing Chinese: (About this soundlisten)), alternatively romanised as Chungking,[note 2], also known as Congqin in Chengdu-Chongqing dialect, is a megacity in southwest China. Administratively, it is one of the four municipalities under the direct administration of central government of the People’s Republic of China (the other three are Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin), and the only such municipality located far away from the coast.[12] The municipality of Chongqing, which is around the size of Austria, includes the city of Chongqing and various non-connected cities. As the Chongqing municipality government directly administers the city of Chongqing, as well as rural counties, and other cities not connected to the city of Chongqing, Chongqing municipality can technically claim to be the largest city proper in the world, even though this is due to a classification technicality and not because it is actually the world’s largest urban area.
Chongqing was a municipality during the Republic of China (ROC) administration, serving as its wartime capital during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). The current municipality was recreated on 14 March 1997 to help develop the central and western parts of China.[13] The Chongqing administrative municipality has a population of over 30 million.[14] The city of Chongqing made of 9 urban and suburban districts has a population of 8,518,000 as of 2016.[3] According to the 2010 census, Chongqing is the most populous Chinese municipality,[15] and also the largest direct-controlled municipality in China, containing 26 districts, eight counties, and four autonomous counties.
The official abbreviation of the city, “Yú” (渝), was approved by the State Council on 18 April 1997.[16] This abbreviation is derived from the old name of a part of the Jialing River that runs through Chongqing and feeds into the Yangtze River.
Chongqing has a significant history and culture. Being one of China’s National Central Cities, it serves as the economic centre of the upstream Yangtze basin. It is a major manufacturing centre and transportation hub; a July 2012 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit described it as one of China’s “13 emerging megalopolises”.[17]
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