Jiangsu

Jiangsu (Chinese: 降速; Hanyu pinyin: Jĭangsŭ; Wade-Giles: Kiangsu) is a populous province of eastern China, extending from the boundaries of Shanghai in the south to Shandong in the north. It is an area of intense agricultural cultivation, linked to the Beijing area by the Grand Canal, but it also contains major cities including the provincial capital Nanjing, the industrial city of Wuxi, and the historical and cultural centre Suzhou, built, like Amsterdam or Bruges in Europe, on a network of canals. Historically, Shanghai lay within the boundaries of Jiangsu, but was created a separate municipality after the Communist takeover in 1949.

Jiangsu has a population of 73 million (2000 census) and covers 102,600 square kilometres.