Hanzhong

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Hanzhong 汉中市 Hanchung
Prefecture-level city
Hanzhong City with Han River flowing through
Location of Hanzhong City jurisdiction in Shaanxi
Coordinates (Hanzhong municipal government): 33°03′59″N 107°01′24″E / 33.0664°N 107.0232°E / 33.0664; 107.0232
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Shaanxi
Municipal seat	Hantai District
Government
• Mayor	Zhong Hongjiang (钟洪江)
• Party Secretary	Vacant
Area
• Prefecture-level city	27,246 km2 (10,520 sq mi)
Elevation	511 m (1,677 ft)
Highest elevation	2,038 m (6,686 ft)
Population  (2020 census)[1]
• Prefecture-level city	3,211,462
• Density	120/km2 (310/sq mi)
• Urban	1,084,448
• Metro	1,084,448
GDP[2]
• Prefecture-level city	CN¥ 106 billion US$ 17 billion
• Per capita	CN¥ 30,849 US$ 4,953
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code	723000
Area code	0916
ISO 3166 code	CN-SN-07
Licence plates	陕F
Website	www.hanzhong.gov.cn

Hanzhong (simplified Chinese: 汉中; traditional Chinese: 漢中; lit. 'middle of the Han River'; abbreviation: Han) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shaanxi province, China, bordering the provinces of Sichuan to the south and Gansu to the west.

The founder of the Han dynasty, Liu Bang, was once enfeoffed as the king of the Hanzhong region after overthrowing the Qin dynasty. During the Chu-Han contention, Liu Bang shortened his title to the King of Han (漢王), and later used it as the name of his imperial dynasty. In this way, Hanzhong was responsible for the naming of the Han dynasty, which was later hailed as the first golden age in imperial Chinese history and lends its name to the principal ethnic group in China.

Hanzhong is located at the modern headwater of the Han River, the largest tributary of the Yangtze River. Hanzhong city covers 27,246 square kilometres (10,520 sq mi) and is centered around the Hantai District. The prefecture-level city consists of two urban district and nine rural counties. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,211,462, of whom 1,084,448 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of Hantai and Nanzheng districts.