Peking" redirects here. For other uses, see Beijing (disambiguation) and Peking (disambiguation).

Beijing 北京市 Municipality Beijing Municipality Clockwise from top: Tiananmen, Temple of Heaven,National Center for the Performing Arts, and Beijing National Stadium Location of Beijing Municipality within China Coordinates: 39°54′50″N 116°23′30″ECoordinates: 39°54′50″N 116°23′30″E Country People's Republic of China Divisions[1]  - County-level  - Township-level 16 districts, 2 counties 289 towns and villages Government  • Type Municipality  • Party Secretary Guo Jinlong (Politburo member)  • Mayor Wang Anshun  • Congress Chairman Du Deyin  • Conference Chairman Ji Lin Area[2]  • Municipality 16,410.54 km2(6,336.14 sq mi)  • Urban 1,368.32 km2 (528.31 sq mi)  • Rural 15,042.22 km2(5,807.83 sq mi) Elevation 43.5 m (142.7 ft) Population (2013)[3]  • Municipality 21,150,000  • Density 1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi)  • Ranks in China Population: 26th; Density: 4th Major ethnic groups  • Han 96%  • Manchu 2%  • Hui 2%  • Mongol 0.3% Time zone China Standard (UTC+8) Postal code 100000–102629 Area code(s) 10 GDP[4] 2013  - Total CNY 1.95 trillion US$ 318.107 billion (13th)  - Per capita CNY 94,235 US$ 15,373 (2nd)  - Growth  7.7% HDI (2008) 0.891 (2nd)—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 (police and authorities) 京V (in red color) (military headquarters, central government) City trees Chinese arborvitae(Platycladus orientalis)   Pagoda tree (Sophora japonica) City flowers China rose (Rosa chinensis)   Chrysanthemum(Chrysanthemum morifolium) Website www.ebeijing.gov.cn This article contains Chinesetext. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbolsinstead of Chinese characters. Beijing Chinese name Chinese 北京 Hanyu Pinyin Běijīng  [Listen] (help·info) Postal Map Peking Literal meaning Northern capital [show]Transcriptions English IPA of Beijing name English IPA of Beijing /beɪˈdʒɪŋ/ English IPA of Peking name English IPA of Peking /piːˈkɪŋ/ /peɪˈkɪŋ/

Beijing, sometimes romanized as Peking,^[5] is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world. The population as of 2013 was 21,150,000.^[6] The metropolis, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government, with 14 urban and suburban districts and two rural counties.^[7] Beijing Municipality is surrounded by Hebei Provincewith the exception of neighboring Tianjin Municipality to the southeast.^[8]

Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by urban population after Shanghai and is the nation's political, cultural, and educational center.^[9] 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 is the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic.

The city's history dates back three millennia. As the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political center of the country for much of the past eight centuries.^[10] The city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, gardens, tombs, walls and gates,^[11] and its art treasures and universities have made it a center of culture and art in China.^[11] Encyclopædia Britannica notes that "few cities in the world have served for so long as the political headquarters and cultural centre of