Shantou

prefecture-level city in Guangdong, China

Shantou (simplified Chinese: 汕头; traditional Chinese: 汕頭; pinyin: Shàntóu shì), alternately romanized as Swatow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong province, China. In 2020, 5,502,031 people lived there. Its area is 2,248 km. Shantou was one of the original special economic zones of China created in the 1980s, but unlike other cities such as ShenzhenXiamen and Zhuhai. It is home to the Shantou University. Shantou is the economic and cultural center of Guangdong Province.

Shantou

History

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Shantou was a fishing village part of Tuojiang Du (鮀江都), Jieyang County during the Song dynasty. The village was called Xialing (廈嶺), during the Yuan dynasty. In 1563, Shantou became a part of Chenghai County in Chao Prefecture (Chaozhou). In 1574, it was renamed Shashanping (沙汕坪). In the 17th century, a cannon platform called Shashantou Cannon (沙汕頭炮臺) was made here. Later, the place name was shortened to "Shantou".

Shantou became a city in 1919 and was separated from Chenghai District in 1921.

Administrative divisions

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Shantou is divided into 6 districts, 1 county-level cities and 1 county.

Other websites

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