Shandong

Shandong, also Shantung, province, located in North China, on the gulf of Bo Hai and the Yellow Sea, across from the Liaodong Peninsula. It includes the Shandong Peninsula in the east and a central hilly complex surrounded by part of the intensively cultivated northern China Plain. The flood-prone Huang He (Yellow River) crosses northern sections. Wheat and soybeans are the chief crops here, and wild silk is important on the peninsula. Major resources are the Shengli petroleum fields in the north and extensive coal deposits at Zibo (Tzu-po), Boshan, and Zaozhuang. Jinan, the capital, and Qingdao (Tsingtao) and Zibo municipality are major urban areas.

Settled as early as the 3rd century bc, Shandong was part of China during the Shang dynasty (1570?-1045? bc) and played a major role in ancient Chinese history. It was venerated as the birthplace of the philosophers Confucius and Mencius. In the 19th century it became a major focus of European efforts to counteract Russian control of the Liaodong Peninsula. Weihai was leased to Great Britain from 1898 to 1930, and the Qingdao area was leased first to Germany (1898-1915) and then to Japan (1915-1922). Coal mining, begun by Germans, was expanded during the Japanese occupation (1937-45) of Shandong. It was returned to Chinese control in 1945. Area, about 153,300 sq km (about 59,200 sq mi); population 91,250,000 (2003 estimate).