Shanghai lies in central eastern China and is the gateway to the Yangtse River that flows into the East China Sea. The city is divided into two main areas, Pudong and Puxi, which lie east and west of the Huangpu River.
Shanghai, a major port city on the west coast of the Pacific, is a municipality directly under the central government, covers 6341 square kilometers (145 square miles) and has 1,419 million inhabitants. It is between latitude 314' north and longitude 1219' east and an average annual temperature of 15.7C with an annual rainfall of 1,200 mm.
Located where the Yangtze River, China's largest river, joins the country's prosperous eastern coast, Shanghai has evolved from a small 19th century fishing town into a modern metropolis and a renowned financial and trade center in East Asia.
