Chongqing is a provincial-level direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. It is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of China and the only one located inland.
The municipality covers a large geographical area roughly the size of Austria, which includes several disjunct urban areas in addition to Chongqing proper. Due to its classification, the municipality of Chongqing is the largest city proper in the world by population, though it is not the most populous urban area.
The municipality of Chongqing is the only Chinese city with a resident population of over 30 million, but that number includes its large rural population. In 2020, Chongqing surpassed Shanghai as China's largest municipality by urban population and, as of 2024, it had an urban population of 23.01 million. The municipality contains 26 districts, eight counties, and four autonomous counties.
The city served as the wartime capital of the Republic of China (ROC) during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). On 14 March 1997, the current municipality was separated from the surrounding province of Sichuan, with the goal of furthering development in the central and western parts of the country.
Chongqing is one of China's national central cities. It is a connection in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and a base for the country's Belt and Road Initiative. Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is the second-busiest airport in China, and is one of the top 50 busiest airports in the world. The city's monorail system is the world's longest and busiest, with 70 stations—the most of any system. It is the headquarters of Changan Automobile, one of the "Big Four" car manufacturers in China. As of 2023, the city hosts 12 foreign representations, the fifth-most in China, behind Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu. It is one of the top 35 cities globally by scientific research output, and the municipality is home to several notable universities, including Chongqing University, Southwest University, and Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
The county was formerly the capital of the Wuzai Kingdom. During the Warring States Period, it was the gateway to the western border of the State of Chu, and its county territory belonged to the territory of Wu Commandery. In the thirtieth year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin (277 BC), Zhang Ruo, the governor of Qin Shu, attacked Chu and captured Wu Commandery. He also ordered Bai Qi to circle the territory of the State of Han, launch a surprise attack on the capital of the State of Chu, Ying (now Jiangling), and burn Yiling (now Yichang). After cutting off the rescue of Wu Commandery by the State of Chu, he seized Wu Commandery and the area south of the Yangtze River, establishing Qianzhong Commandery. Wu Commandery was under the jurisdiction of the county (with its administrative center in present-day Dachang Town) and belonged to the State of Qin. Later, it was transferred to the jurisdiction of Nan County. The county was named Wushan from then on.
Chongqing's location is historically associated with the State of Ba. It was named Jiangzhou (江州) by a Qin general Zhang Yi.
Jiangzhou subsequently remained under Qin Shi Huang's rule during the Qin dynasty, the successor of the Qin State, as well as the rule of Han dynasty emperors.
Jiangzhou was subsequently renamed during the Northern and Southern dynasties to Chu Prefecture (楚州), then again in 581 AD (Sui dynasty) to Yu Prefecture (渝州), and later in 1102 during Northern Song to Gong Prefecture (恭州). The name Yu however survives to this day as an abbreviation for Chongqing, as well as for the city's historic center, where the old town once stood; its name is Yuzhong (渝中, Central Yu). It received its current name in 1189, after Prince Zhao Dun of the Southern Song dynasty described his crowning as king and then Emperor Guangzong as a "double celebration" (simplified Chinese: 双重喜庆; traditional Chinese: 雙重喜慶; pinyin: shuāngchóng xǐqìng, or chóngqìng in short). To mark the occasion of his enthronement, Yu Prefecture was therefore converted to Chongqing Fu.
In 1362 (during the Yuan dynasty), Ming Yuzhen, a peasant rebel leader, established the Daxia Kingdom (大夏) at Chongqing for a short time. In 1621 (during the Ming dynasty), another short-lived kingdom of Daliang (大梁) was established by She Chongming (奢崇明) with Chongqing as its capital. In 1644, after the fall of the Ming dynasty to a rebel army, Chongqing, together with the rest of Sichuan, was captured by Zhang Xianzhong, who was said to have massacred a large number of people in Sichuan and depopulated the province, in part by causing many people to flee to safety elsewhere. The Manchus later conquered the province, and during the Qing dynasty, immigration to Chongqing and Sichuan took place with the support of the Qing emperor.
In 1890, the British Consulate General was opened in Chongqing. The following year, the city became the first inland commerce port open to foreigners, with the proviso that foreign ships should not be at liberty to trade there until Chinese-owned steamers had succeeded in ascending the Yangtze river. This restriction was abolished by the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895, which declared the city open on the same terms as other ports, although it was not until 1907 that a steamship made the journey without the help of manual haulers. From 1896 to 1904, the American, German, French, and Japanese consulates were opened in Chongqing.
Provisional wartime capital of the Republic of China
During and after the Second Sino-Japanese War, from November 1937 to May 1946, it was Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's provisional capital. After the General and remaining army had lived there for a time following their retreat in 1938 from the previous capital of Wuhan, it was formally declared the second capital city (陪都; péidū; p'ei2-tu1) on 6 September 1940. After Britain, the United States, and other Allies entered the war in Asia in December 1941, one of the Allies' deputy commanders of operations in Southeast Asia (Southeast Asia Command SEAC), Joseph Stilwell, was based in the city.
The city was also visited by Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Supreme Commander of SEAC which was itself headquartered in Sri Lanka. Chiang Kai Shek as Supreme Commander in China worked closely with Stilwell. From 1938 to 1943, the city suffered from continuous massive bombing campaigns of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army Air Forces; battles of which were fought entirely by the Chinese Air Force squadrons and anti-aircraft artillery units. Many lives were saved by the air-raid shelters which took advantage of the mountainous terrain. Chongqing was acclaimed to be the "City of Heroes" due to the indomitable spirits of its people as well as their contributions and sacrifices during the war. Many factories and universities were relocated from eastern China and ultimately to Chongqing during years of setbacks in the war, transforming this city from an inland port to a heavily industrialized city.
After World War II ended, Chongqing became one of the last refuges of the Nationalist Kuomintang government on the Chinese mainland during the Chinese Civil War. Following the Yangtze River Crossing campaign, the KMT capital of Nanjing was conquered by the Communists on 23 April. The KMT decamped first to Guangzhou, then Chongqing. Chongqing served as the KMT capital until late November 1949, when the Nationalist KMT government withdrew from the city by air.
On 14 March 1997, the Eighth National People's Congress decided to merge the sub-provincial city with adjacent Fuling, Wanxian, and Qianjiang prefectures that it had governed on behalf of the province since September 1996, and grant it independence from Sichuan. The resulting single entity became Chongqing Municipality, containing 30,020,000 people in forty-three former counties without intermediate political levels. The municipality became the spearhead of China's effort to develop its western regions and to coordinate the resettlement of residents from the reservoir areas of the Three Gorges Dam project. Its first official ceremony took place on 18 June 1997.