Chongqing is China’s only inland direct-controlled megacity
Chongqing is one of four provincial-level municipalities under China’s central government—and the only inland one. Its municipal footprint, roughly Austria-sized, held over thirty million residents including rural counties; urban population hit 23.01 million by 2024 after overtaking Shanghai’s urban count in 2020.
Separated from Sichuan on 14 March 1997 to spur western development, it had been the Republic of China’s wartime capital during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Jiangbei International Airport ranks second-busiest in China and among the world’s top fifty. The Yangtze economic belt and Belt and Road logistics lean on its river-rail node.
The site is linked with the ancient State of Ba, and the Qin general Zhang Yi named it Jiangzhou, a name kept under the Qin and Han dynasties. It became Yu Prefecture in 581 under the Sui, and Yu survives as the city's abbreviation and in Yuzhong, the old centre. The present name dates from 1189, when Prince Zhao Dun called his rise to king and then Emperor Guangzong a double celebration, chongqing.
Under China's system the municipality ranks as the largest city proper in the world by population, although it is not the largest urban area, and it is divided into 26 districts, eight counties and four autonomous counties. Its monorail is the longest and busiest anywhere, with 70 stations, more than any other system. Changan Automobile, one of China's Big Four carmakers, is headquartered there, and in 2023 the city hosted 12 foreign representations, fifth in the country. Short-lived kingdoms were set up there too, including the Daxia Kingdom of the peasant rebel Ming Yuzhen in 1362. Its universities include Chongqing University and Southwest University, and it ranks among the top 35 cities worldwide for scientific output.
Source: Chongqing
