Briefly referred to as: Lu

Area: 157,800 sq km

Population: 95,793,065

Administrative division: 17 Prefecture-level cities,140 county-level units

Shandong Province is briefly named Lu, with Jinan as its provincial seat. Shandong is a province of strong economy in the east coastal area of China, with its ranking of economic development among the top positions of all provinces in China and a contribution to Chinese inland economy by more than 1/9. It has a full range of industry categories, with the formation of eight pillar industries: e.g. energy, textile, light industry machinery, electronics, chemical industry, metallurgy, building materials and foodstuff. Shandong’s agriculture is based mainly on the production of grain with comprehensive development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery. Its main agricultural product is wheat, followed by sorghum, maize, etc. In 2008, Shandong’s GDP totaled RMB 3.10721 trillion, ranking the 3rd in China. By the end of 2008, the population of permanent residents in Shandong accounted for 94.172 million, with a per capita GDP of RMB 33,083.
 
The civilization of Shandong goes back to over 5000 years. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Shandong region was ruled by the Lu State and Qi State. Shandong was the early activity center of Shang Dynasty, and the place with rich cultural ambience of Confucius and Mencius. Shandong is one of the important energy bases in the country, with Shengli Oilfield as the second largest oil base in China. Shandong has formed a comprehensive transportation system, with parallel emphasis on the development of railway, highway, aviation, waterways and pipelines. With the establishment of the transportation framework of “three vertical roads, three horizontal roads, and one ring road”, Shandon boasts the most advanced highway system of the country. The density of ports in Shandong ranks the first in the nation, with Qingdao as one of the top 5 big ports in China. 
 
Geography

Shandong province is a significant coastal province in East China. Located on the lower reaches of the Yellow River, it borders the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea in the east, and faces the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago to the east. It connects with Hebei Province in the northwest, with Henan Province in the southwest. The Shandong and Liaodong peninsulas almost encircle the Bohai Sea.
 
This special geographical location makes Shandong the key link between the Yellow River Economic Belt and the Bohai Rim Economic Area and between north and east China. It occupies a significant position in the national economy.

Shandong Province is located between latitude 34"25` and 38"23` north, and longitude 114"35` and 112"43` east. It is 700km wide from east to west, and 420km long from north to south. With a total land area of 156,700 square km. it makes up 1.6 percent of Chinese territory, and is the 19th largest province in the country.

History

With its location on the eastern edge of the North China Plain, Shandong has felt the influence of Chinese civilization since remote antiquity. The earliest dynasties (the Shang dynasty and Zhou dynasty) exerted varying degrees of control over western Shandong, while eastern Shandong was inhabited by the Laiyi peoples who were considered as the "barbarians". Over subsequent centuries, the Laiyi were eventually sinicized.