Location within the People's Republic of China Coordinates: 31°13'49.5?N 121°28'13.21?E? / ?31.230417, 121.4703361 Country

 People's Republic of China County-level divisions 18 districts, 1 county Township-level divisions 220 towns and villages Settled (Huating County) AD 751 Incorporated (Shanghai Town) AD 991 Incorporated (Shanghai County) 1292 Government  - Type Municipality  - CPC Municipal Secretary Yu Zhengsheng (???)  - Mayor Han Zheng (??) Area [1][2]  - Metro 7,037.50 km² (2,717.2 sq mi)  - Land 6,340.50 km² (2,448.1 sq mi)  - Water 697 km² (269.1 sq mi)  - Urban 5,299.29 km² (2,046.1 sq mi)  - Chongming 1,041.21 km² (402 sq mi) Elevation [3] 4 m (13 ft) Population (2006)  - Metro 18,670,000  - Density 2,945/km² (7,627.5/sq mi)  - Urban 13,447,000   City & density 2006 Time zone Beijing Time (UTC+8) Postal code 200000 – 2021000 Area code(s) +86/21 GDP (2006)  - Total ¥1,029.7 billion  - Per capita ¥56,733 HDI (2005) 0.909 Regional dialect Wu: Shanghainese License plate prefixes ?A, B, D, E ?C (outer suburbs) City flower Yulan magnolia (Magnolia denudata) Website: www.shanghai.gov.cn This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. Shanghai (Chinese: ??; pinyin: Shànghai; Shanghainese: /z?~'he/; abbreviation: ?; nickname: ?), situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in East China, is the largest city of the People's Republic of China and the eighth largest in the world.[4] Widely regarded as the citadel of China's modern economy, the city also serves as one of the nation's most important cultural, commercial, financial, industrial and communications centers. Administratively, Shanghai is a municipality of the People's Republic of China that has province-level status. Also, Shanghai is one of the world's busiest ports, and became the largest cargo port in the world in 2005.[5] Originally a fishing town, Shanghai became China's most important city by the twentieth century and was the center of popular culture, intellectual discourse and political struggle during the Republic of China era. After the communist takeover in 1949, Shanghai languished due to heavy central government taxation and cessation of foreign investment, and had many of its supposedly "bourgeois" elements purged. Following the central government's authorization of market-economic redevelopment of Shanghai in 1992, Shanghai has now surpassed early-starters Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and has since led China's economic growth. Some challenges remain for Shanghai at the beginning of the 21st century, as the city struggles to cope with increased worker migration, a huge wealth gap, and environmental degradation. Despite these challenges, Shanghai's skyscrapers and modern lifestyle are often seen as representing China's recent economic development.