Shanghai Basic Facts

May 1st 2010 marks the first day of Expo Shanghai 2010, one of the largest world expos ever held. This is China's first time hosting the event - which began in 1851 in London as the first world's fair. As many of you already know, T&T will be participating in Expo Shanghai 2010 with its own booth in the CARICOM Pavilion. More information about Expo Shanghai 2010 and MTI's participation in the event can be found in the previous article on this blog.

The following are some basic facts about Shanghai:

Brief History

Unlike many cities in China with long and varied histories, Shanghai's history is quite short. The British opened a concession in Shanghai after the first Opium War and ignited Shanghai's evolution. Once a small fishing village on the edge of the muddy Huang Pu River, it has become one of the world's most modern and sophisticated cities.

Shanghai is growing into one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Asia with increasingly modern infrastructure and services. It is China's second largest city (after Chongqing) with a population of over 17 million. Dynamic and innovative, Shanghai is helping to drive China's developing economy.

Location

Shanghai is situated at 31' 14' north latitude and 121' 29' east longitude. Bordering on Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces on the west, Shanghai is washed by the East China Sea on the east and Hangzhou Bay on the south. On the north of the city, the Yangtze River pours into the East China Sea. It also assumes the central location along China’s coastal line. Thanks to its advantageous geographic location, Shanghai has today become an excellent sea and river port, boasting easy access to a vast hinterland.

Climate

With a pleasant northern subtropical maritime monsoon climate, Shanghai enjoys four distinct seasons, generous sunshine and abundant rainfall every year. Its spring and autumn are relatively short compared with the summer and winter. In 2006, the average annual temperature was 18.4 degrees Celsius. The city had a total sunshine time of 1,638.2 hours in 2006 and received a total rainfall of 1,042.6 millimetres. However, about 70% of the precipitation came during the May-September flood season.

Land Area

At the end of 2006, the city of Shanghai covered an area of 6,340.5 km2, or 0.06% of China’s total territory. It extends about 120 kilometres from north to south and nearly 100 kilometres from east to west. The city has three islands under its jurisdiction, Chongming, Changxing and Hengsha, and Chongming Island is the third largest island in China, covering an area of 1,041.21 km2.

Population

Due to constant inflow of people from other parts of the country, the size of population in Shanghai keeps growing. At the beginning when Shanghai was turned into a city, it only had a population of less than 100,000. In 1949, the city had a population of 5.2 million. By the end of 2006, however, the total registered population in Shanghai had grown to 13.681 million, accounting for 1% of China’s total. In 2006, the average population density in the city, in terms of registered population, stood at 2,157 people per km2. By the end of 2006, the total resident population reached 18.15 million, including 4.67 million from out of town.

Sources:

World Expo Shanghai 2010 Participation Guide (p. A9 -10); Sara Naumann, ‘A Short History of Shanghai’, About.com (http://gochina.about.com/od/shanghai/p/SH_History.htm)

Shanghai