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{{Short description|Province of China}}
{{About|2=the river historically known as Zhejiang|3=Qiantang River}}
{{Distinguish|Jiangzhe (disambiguation){{!}}Jiangzhe}}
{{about|the current Zhejiang Province of the PRC|the now-defunct ROC Zhejiang Province|Chekiang Province, Republic of China}}
{{Use dmy dates|date = December 2017}}{{Use British English|date = December 2017}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Zhejiang
| native_name        = {{lang|zh|浙江}}
| settlement_type    = [[Provinces of China|Province]]
| translit_lang1     = Name
| translit_lang1_type = {{nobold|Chinese}}
| translit_lang1_info = {{lang|zh|浙江省}} ({{transliteration|zh|Zhèjiāng Shěng}})
| translit_lang1_type1 = {{nobold|Abbreviation}}
| translit_lang1_info1 = ZJ / {{linktext|lang=zh|浙}} ({{lang-zh|p=Zhè}})
| translit_lang1_type2 = {{nobold|[[Wu Chinese|Wu]] ([[Romanization of Wu Chinese|Wugniu]])}}
| translit_lang1_info2 = {{tlit|wuu|tseq-cian sen}} ([[Hangzhounese]])<br />{{tlit|wuu|ciq-kaon san}} ([[Ningbo dialect|Ningbonese]])<br />{{tlit|wuu|tsei-kuao siae}} ([[Wenzhounese]])
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image
| border                    = infobox
| total_width               = 290
| perrow                    = 1/2/2
| caption_align             = center
| image1                    = 杭州钱江新城 4 (cropped).jpg
| caption1                  = [[Hangzhou]] skyline
| image2                    = Leifeng Pagoda and West Lake, Hangzhou 120529 2.jpg
| caption2                  = [[Leifeng Pagoda]] and [[West Lake]]
| image3                    = Bridge in Wuzhen 03.JPG
| caption3                  = [[Wuzhen]]
| image4                    = Wenzhou World Trade Center dans son environnement urbain(cropped).jpg
| caption4                  = [[Wenzhou]]
| image5                    = Ningbo 2019-03-23 01.jpg
| caption5                  = [[Ningbo]]
}}
| image_map          = Zhejiang in China (+all claims hatched).svg
| mapsize            = 275px
| map_caption        = Location of Zhejiang in China
| coordinates        = {{coord|29.2|N|120.5|E|type:adm1st_region:CN-33|format=dms|display=it}}
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = China
| named_for          = Old name of [[Qiantang River]]
| seat_type          = Capital and largest city
| seat               = [[Hangzhou]]
| established_title  = Annexation by the [[Qin dynasty]]
| established_date   = 222 BC
| established_title2 = [[Administrative divisions of the Tang dynasty#Tang dynasty circuits|Jiangnandong Circuit]]
| established_date2  = 626
| established_title3 = [[Liangzhe Circuit]]
| established_date3  = 997
| established_title4 = Zhejiang Province formed
| established_date4  = 1368
| established_title5 = [[Chekiang Province, Republic of China|Republican Period]]
| established_date5  = 1 January 1912
| established_title6 = [[Retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan|Division of territory]]
| established_date6  = 7 January 1949
| established_title7 = [[Battle of Yijiangshan Islands|Conquest of Yijiangshan]]
| established_date7  = 20 January 1955
| parts_type         = Divisions<br />&nbsp;- [[Prefecture-level divisions of China|Prefecture-level]]<br />&nbsp;- [[County-level division|County-level]]<br />&nbsp;- [[Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China#Township level|Township-<br />level]]
| parts              = [[List of administrative divisions of Zhejiang|11 prefectures]]<br />90 counties<br />1364 towns and subdistricts
| government_type    = [[Provinces of China|Province]]
| governing_body     = [[Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress]]
| leader_title       = [[Party Secretary of Zhejiang|Party Secretary]]
| leader_name        = [[Wang Hao (politician)|Wang Hao]]
| leader_title1      = [[Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress|Congress]] Director
| leader_name1       = [[Wang Hao (politician)|Wang Hao]]
| leader_title2      = [[Governor of Zhejiang|Governor]]
| leader_name2       = [[Liu Jie (born 1970)|Liu Jie]]
| leader_title3      = Provincial [[Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference|CPPCC]] Chairperson
| leader_name3       = [[Lian Yimin]]
| leader_title4      = [[National People's Congress]] Representation
| leader_name4       = 99 deputies
| area_total_km2     = 101800
| area_rank          = [[List of Chinese administrative divisions by area|26th]]
| elevation_max_m    = 1929
| elevation_max_point = [[Huangmaojian]]
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web|date=11 May 2021|title=Communiqué of the Seventh National Population Census (No. 3)|url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202105/t20210510_1817188.html|access-date=11 May 2021|publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]]}}</ref>
| population_total   = 64,567,588
| population_as_of   = 2020
| population_rank    = [[List of Chinese administrative divisions by population|8th]]
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_density_rank = [[Provinces of China|8th]]
| demographics_type1 = Demographics
| demographics1_title1 = Ethnic composition
| demographics1_info1 = {{ubl|[[Han Chinese|Han]]: 99.2% | [[She (ethnic group)|She]]: 0.4%}}
| demographics1_title2 = Languages and dialects
| demographics1_info2 = [[Wu Chinese|Wu]], [[Huizhou Chinese|Huizhou]], [[Lower Yangtze Mandarin|Jianghuai Mandarin]], [[Southern Min]] (in [[Cangnan County]] and [[Pingyang County]])

| demographics_type2   = [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] {{normal|(2024)}}<ref name="GDPdata" />
| demographics2_title1 = Total
| demographics2_info1 = {{ubl|{{CNY|9.013 trillion}} ([[List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP|4th]]; US$1.27 trillion) }}
| demographics2_title2 = Per capita
| demographics2_info2 = {{ubl|{{CNY|135,565}} ([[List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP per capita|5th]]; US$19,035) }}

| iso_code           = CN-ZJ
| blank4_name_sec2   = [[Human Development Index|HDI]] (2022)
| blank4_info_sec2   = 0.814<ref name="SHDI">{{cite web |title=Human Development Indices (8.0)- China |url=https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/table/shdi/CHN/?levels=1+4&years=2022&interpolation=0&extrapolation=0 |access-date=23 September 2024 |website=Global Data Lab}}</ref> ([[List of Chinese administrative divisions by HDI|4th]]) – {{color|green|very high}}
| website            = {{Official URL}} {{in lang|zh}}<br />{{URL|https://www.zj.gov.cn/col/col1229631724/index.html|English version}}
| other_name         = Chekiang
}}

{{Infobox Chinese
| pic = Zhejiang (Chinese characters).svg
| piccap = "Zhejiang" in Chinese characters
| picupright = 0.45
| c = {{linktext|lang=zh|浙江}}
| l = "[[Qiantang River|Zhe river]]"
| psp = Chekiang
| p = Zhèjiāng
| bpmf = ㄓㄜˋ&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ㄐㄧㄤ
| w = {{tonesup|Chê4-chiang1}}
| gr = Jehjiang
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|AUD|Zhe4jiang1.ogg|zh|e|4|.|j|iang|1}}
| wuu = Tseh-kaon<br/>{{IPA|wuu|'tsəʔ'kɑ̃|}}
| tl = Tsiat-kang
| poj = Chiat-kang
| h = Tset-kông
| buc = Ciék-gŏng
| j = Zit3-gong1
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|z|it|3|.|g|ong|1}}
| y = Jit-gōng
| showflag = wuu
}}

'''Zhejiang'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|UK|ˌ|dʒ|ɜː|dʒ|i|ˈ|æ|ŋ}}<ref name="lpd3">{{cite LPD|3}}</ref> or {{IPAc-en|dʒ|ɛ|ˈ|dʒ|æ|ŋ}},<ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Zhejiang |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519044609/https://www.lexico.com/definition/Zhejiang |archive-date=19 May 2021 |title=Zhejiang |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|US|ˌ|dʒ|ʌ|dʒ|i|ˈ|ɑː|ŋ}}<ref name="lpd3"/> {{small|or}} {{IPAc-en|dʒ|ʌ|ˈ|dʒ|j|ɑː|ŋ}};<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Zhejiang}}</ref> {{lang-zh|c=浙江|labels=no}}, [[Chinese postal romanization|also romanized]] as '''Chekiang'''}} is a coastal [[provinces of China|province]] in [[East China]]. Its capital and largest city is [[Hangzhou]], with other notable cities including [[Ningbo]] and [[Wenzhou]]. Zhejiang is bordered by [[Jiangsu]] and [[Shanghai]] to the north, [[Anhui]] to the northwest, [[Jiangxi]] to the west and [[Fujian]] to the south. To the east is the [[East China Sea]], beyond which lies the [[Ryukyu Islands]]. The population of Zhejiang stands at 64.6&nbsp;million, the 8th largest in China. It has been called "the backbone of China" because it is a major driving force in the Chinese economy and being the birthplace of several notable people, including the [[Kuomintang|Chinese Nationalist]] leader [[Chiang Kai-shek]] and entrepreneur [[Jack Ma]]. Zhejiang consists of 90 counties (incl. county-level cities and districts).

The area of Zhejiang was controlled by the [[Yue (state)|Kingdom of Yue]] during the [[Spring and Autumn period]]. The [[Qin dynasty]] later annexed it in 222&nbsp;BC. Under the late [[Ming dynasty]] and the [[Qing dynasty]] that followed it, Zhejiang's ports became important centers of international trade. It was occupied by the [[Empire of Japan]] during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] and placed under the control of the Japanese puppet state known as the [[Wang Jingwei regime|Reorganized National Government of China]]. After the [[establishment of the People's Republic of China]], Zhejiang's economy became stagnant under [[Mao Zedong]]'s policies.<ref name="wiley" /> After [[Chinese economic reform|China's economic reform]], Zhejiang grew to be considered one of China's wealthiest provinces, ranking [[List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP|fourth in GDP]] nationally and [[List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP per capita|fifth by GDP per capita]], with a nominal GDP of US$1.27&nbsp;trillion as of 2024.

Zhejiang consists mostly of hills, which account for about 70% of its total area, with higher altitudes towards the south and the west. Zhejiang also has a longer coastline than any other mainland province of China. The [[Qiantang River]] runs through the province, from which it derives its name. Included in the province are three thousand islands, the most in China. The capital Hangzhou marks the end of the [[Grand Canal (China)|Grand Canal]] and lies on [[Hangzhou Bay]] on the north of Zhejiang, which separates [[Shanghai]] and Ningbo. The bay contains many small islands collectively called the [[Zhoushan Islands]].

Hangzhou is a historically important city, and is considered a [[Global city|world city]] with a "Beta+" classification according to [[Globalization and World Cities Research Network|GaWC]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/world2018t.html|title=GaWC - The World According to GaWC 2018|website=www.lboro.ac.uk|access-date=2019-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503165246/http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/world2016t.html|archive-date=3 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> It includes the notable [[West Lake]]. Various [[varieties of Chinese]] are spoken in Zhejiang, the most prominent being [[Wu Chinese]]. Zhejiang is also one of China's leading provinces in research and education. {{As of|2025}}, three major cities in Zhejiang ranked in the world's top 130 cities (Hangzhou 10th, Ningbo 85th and Wenzhou 130th) by scientific research output, as tracked by [[Nature Index]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-11-14 |title=Leading 200 science cities 2025{{!}} {{!}} Supplements {{!}} Nature Index |url=https://www.nature.com/nature-index/supplements/nature-index-2025-science-cities/tables/overall |access-date=2025-11-20 |website=www.nature.com}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The province's name originates from the [[Zhe River]] ({{lang-zh|s={{linktext|浙江}}|p=Zhè Jiāng|labels=no}}), the former name of the [[Qiantang River]] which flows past Hangzhou and whose mouth forms [[Hangzhou Bay]]. It is usually understood as meaning "Crooked" or "Bent River", from the meaning of [[Chinese language|Chinese]] {{lang|zh|折}},<ref>''[[People's Daily Online]]''. "[http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shenghuo/1090/2435218.html Origin of the Names of China's Provinces] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427100058/http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shenghuo/1090/2435218.html|date=27 April 2016}}." {{in lang|zh}}.</ref> but is more likely a [[phono-semantic compound]] formed from adding {{lang|zh|{{linktext|氵}}}} (the "water" [[Chinese radical|radical]] used for river names) to phonetic {{lang|zh|{{linktext|折}}}} ([[Pinyin]] ''zhé'' but reconstructed [[Old Chinese]] *''tet''),<ref>Baxter, William &&nbsp;al. ''Baxter-Sagart Old Chinese Reconstruction.'' Accessed 20 May 2012.</ref> preserving a [[proto-Wu]] name of the local [[Yue (state)|Yue]], similar to [[Yuhang District|Yuhang]], [[Mount Xianglu|Kuaiji]] and [[Yangtze|Jiang]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

==History==
===Prehistory===
[[Kuahuqiao site|Kuahuqiao]] culture was an early Neolithic settlement in the Hangzhou area extant in 6000–5000&nbsp;BC.<ref>Leping Jiang & Li Liu, [http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/liu305/ The discovery of an 8000-year-old dugout canoe at Kuahuqiao in the Lower Yangzi River, China.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927125855/http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/liu305/|date=27 September 2016}} antiquity.ac.uk</ref><ref name="YangZheng2014">{{cite journal|last1=Yang|first1=Xiaoyan|last2=Zheng|first2=Yunfei|last3=Crawford|first3=Gary W.|last4=Chen|first4=Xugao|title=Archaeological Evidence for Peach (Prunus persica) Cultivation and Domestication in China|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=9|issue=9|year=2014|article-number=e106595|issn=1932-6203|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0106595|pmid=25192436|pmc=4156326|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j6595Z|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Zhejiang was the site of the [[Chinese Neolithic|Neolithic cultures]] of the [[Hemudu culture|Hemudu]] (starting in 5500&nbsp;BC) and [[Liangzhu culture|Liangzhu]] (starting in 3400&nbsp;BC).

===Ancient history===
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2025}}
The area of modern Zhejiang was outside the major sphere of influence of [[Shang dynasty|Shang civilization]] during the second millennium BC. Instead, this area was populated by peoples collectively known as Dongyue.

The [[Yue (state)|kingdom of Yue]] began to appear in the chronicles and records written during the [[Spring and Autumn period]]. According to the chronicles, the kingdom of Yue was in Northern Zhejiang. [[Shiji]] claims that its leaders were descended from the [[Xia dynasty|Xia]] founder [[Yu the Great]]. The "[[Song of the Yue Boatman]]" ({{lang-zh|c=越人歌|p=Yuèrén Gē|l=Song of the man of Yue}}) was transliterated into Chinese and recorded by authors in North China or inland China of Hebei and Henan around 528 BC. The song shows that the Yue people spoke [[Old Yue language|a language]] that was mutually unintelligible with the dialects spoken in north and inland China. The [[Sword of Goujian]] bears [[bird-worm seal script]]. [[Yuenü]] ({{lang-zh|c=越女|p=Yuènǚ|w=Yüeh-nü|l=the Lady of Yue|links=no}}) was a swordswoman from the state of Yue. To check the growth of the [[Wu (state)|kingdom of Wu]], [[Chu (state)|Chu]] pursued a policy of strengthening Yue.

Under [[Goujian|King Goujian]], Yue recovered from its early reverses and fully annexed the lands of its rival in {{nowrap|473 BC}}. The Yue kings then moved their capital center from their original home around [[Mount Kuaiji]] in present-day [[Shaoxing]] to the former Wu capital at present-day [[Suzhou]]. With no southern power to turn against Yue, Chu opposed it directly and, in 333&nbsp;BC, succeeded in destroying it. Yue's former lands were annexed by the [[Qin Empire]] in 222&nbsp;BC and organized into a [[commandery (China)|commandery]] named for Kuaiji in Zhejiang but initially headquartered in [[Wu County|Wu]] in [[Jiangsu]].

===Han and the Three Kingdoms===
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2025}}
[[Kuaiji Commandery]] was the initial power base for [[Xiang Liang]] and [[Xiang Yu]]'s rebellion against the [[Qin Empire]] which initially succeeded in restoring the kingdom of Chu but [[Chu-Han contention|eventually fell]] to the [[Han dynasty|Han]]. Under the [[Eastern Han|Later Han]], control of the area returned to the settlement below [[Mount Kuaiji]] but authority over the [[Minyue]] hinterland was nominal at best and its Yue inhabitants largely retained their own political and social structures.

At the beginning of the [[Three Kingdoms]] era (AD 220–280), Zhejiang was home to the warlords [[Yan Baihu]] and [[Wang Lang (Cao Wei)|Wang Lang]] prior to their defeat by [[Sun Ce]] and [[Sun Quan]], who eventually established the [[Eastern Wu|Kingdom of Wu]]. Despite the removal of their court from Kuaiji to [[Jiankang|Jianye]] (present-day [[Nanjing]]) and they continued development of the region and benefitted from influxes of refugees fleeing the turmoil in northern China. Industrial kilns were established and trade reached as far as [[Manchuria]] and [[Kingdom of Funan|Funan]] (southern [[Mainland Southeast Asia]]).

Zhejiang was part of the [[Eastern Wu|Wu]] during the [[Three Kingdoms]]. Wu (229–280), commonly known as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, had been the economically most developed state among the [[Three Kingdoms]] (220–280). The historical novel [[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]] records that Zhejiang had the best-equipped naval force. The story depicts how the states of [[Wei (state)|Wei]] ({{lang|zh|魏}}) and [[Shu (state)|Shu]] ({{lang|zh|蜀}}), lack of material resources, avoided direct confrontation with the Wu. In armed military conflicts with Wu, the two states relied intensively on tactics of camouflage and deception to steal Wu's military resources including arrows and bows.

===Six Dynasties===
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2025}}
Despite the continuing prominence of [[Nanjing]] (then known as Jiankang), the settlement of Qiantang, the former name of Hangzhou, remained one of the three major metropolitan centers in the south to provide major tax revenue to the imperial centers in the north China. The other two centers in the south were Jiankang and [[Chengdu]]. In 589, Qiantang was raised in status and renamed Hangzhou.

Following the fall of [[Eastern Wu|Wu]] and the turmoil of the [[Wu Hu uprising]] against the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)]], most of elite Chinese families had collaborated with the non-Chinese rulers and military conquerors in the north. Some may have lost social privilege and took refuge in areas south of the Yangtze River. Some of the Chinese refugees from North China might have resided in areas near Hangzhou. For example, the clan of [[Zhuge Liang]] (181–234), a chancellor of the state of [[Shu Han]] from [[Central Plain (China)|Central Plain]] in north China during the [[Three Kingdoms]] period, gathered together at the suburb of Hangzhou, forming an exclusive, closed village [[Zhuge Village]] (Zhege Cun), consisting of villagers all with family name "Zhuge." The village has intentionally isolated itself from the surrounding communities for centuries to this day and only recently came to be known in public. It suggests that a small number of powerful, elite Chinese refugees from the [[Central Plain (China)|Central Plain]] might have taken refuge south of the Yangtze River. However, considering the mountainous geography and relative lack of agrarian lands in Zhejiang, most of these refugees might have resided in some areas in South China beyond Zhejiang, where fertile agrarian lands and metropolitan resources were available,  mainly Southern [[Jiangsu]], Eastern [[Fujian]], [[Jiangxi]], [[Hunan]], [[Anhui]] and provinces where less cohesive, organized regional governments had been in place. Metropolitan areas of [[Sichuan]] was another hub for refugees, given that the state of [[Shu (state)|Shu]] had long been founded and ruled by political and military elites from the Central Plain and North China. Some refugees from North China might have found residence in South China depending on their social status and military power in the north. The [[Eastern Jin|rump Jin state]] or the [[Southern dynasties]] vied against some elite Chinese from the [[Central Plain (China)|Central Plain]] and south of the Yangtze River.

===Sui and Tang eras===
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2025}}
Zhejiang, as the heartland of the [[Jiangnan]] (Yangtze River Delta), remained the wealthiest area during the [[Six Dynasties]] (220 or 222–589), Sui and Tang. After being incorporated into the [[Sui dynasty]], its economic richness was used for the [[Sui dynasty]]'s ambitions to expand north and south, particularly into [[Goguryeo–Sui War|Korea]] and Vietnam. The plan led the [[Sui dynasty]] to restore and expand the network which became the [[Grand Canal of China]]. The Canal regularly transported grains and resources from Zhejiang, through its metropolitan center Hangzhou (and its hinterland along both the [[Zhe River]] and the shores of [[Hangzhou Bay]]) and from [[Suzhou]] and thence to the [[North China Plain]]. The débâcle of the Korean war led to Sui's overthrow by the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]], who then presided over a centuries-long golden age for the country. Zhejiang was an important economic center of the empire's [[Jiangnan]] East Circuit and was considered particularly prosperous. Throughout the [[Tang dynasty]], The Grand Canal had remained effective, transporting grains and material resources to [[North China plain]] and metropolitan centers of the empire. As the Tang dynasty disintegrated, Zhejiang constituted most of the territory of the regional kingdom of [[Wuyue]].

===Wuyue era===
After the collapse of the Tang dynasty in 907, the entire area of what is now Zhejiang fell under the control of the kingdom [[Wuyue]] established by King [[Qian Liu]], who selected [[Hangzhou]] (a city in the modern day area of Zhejiang) as his kingdom's capital. Despite being under Wuyue rule for a relatively short period of time, Zhejiang underwent a long period of financial and cultural prosperity which continued even after the kingdom fell.
[[File:Qian Liu (King Wusu of Wuyue).jpg|thumb|150px|left|Portrait of [[Qian Liu]], the King of [[Wuyue]], by [[Ming dynasty]] painter.]]

After Wuyue was conquered during the reunification of China, many shrines were erected across the former territories of Wuyue, mainly in Zhejiang, where the kings of Wuyue were memorialised, and sometimes, worshipped as being able to dictate weather and agriculture. Many of these shrines, known as "Shrine of the Qian King" or "Temple to the Qian King", still remain today, with the most popularly visited example being that near [[West Lake]] in Hangzhou.

China's province of Zhejiang during the 940s was also the place of origin of the [[Hu (surname)|Hú]] family (Hồ in Vietnamese) from which the founder of the [[Hồ dynasty]] who ruled Vietnam, Emperor [[Hồ Quý Ly]], came from.<ref name="Taylor2013">{{cite book|author=K. W. Taylor|title=A History of the Vietnamese|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2HP31kOSA4C&q=Ho+quy+ly+zhejiang6&pg=PA166|date=9 May 2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-87586-8|pages=166–|access-date=29 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224060556/https://books.google.com/books?id=P2HP31kOSA4C&pg=PA166&dq=Ho+quy+ly+zhejiang&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6Lv2UcKvNNHD4AOo6ICwBA&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Ho%20quy%20ly%20zhejiang&f=false6|archive-date=24 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Hall2008">{{cite book|author=Kenneth R. Hall|title=Secondary Cities and Urban Networking in the Indian Ocean Realm, C. 1400-1800|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gyPjBevBHxcC&q=Ho+quy+ly+zhejiang&pg=PA161|year=2008|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-2835-0|pages=161–|access-date=29 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504080657/https://books.google.com/books?id=gyPjBevBHxcC&pg=PA161&dq=Ho+quy+ly+zhejiang&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6Lv2UcKvNNHD4AOo6ICwBA&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Ho%20quy%20ly%20zhejiang&f=false|archive-date=4 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Song era===
[[File:Ying%27en_Gate_in_Shaoxing_04_2012-07.JPG|thumb|300px|left|[[Song dynasty]] era (1223) city gate in [[Shaoxing]]]]
The [[Song dynasty]] re-established unity around 960. Under the Song, the prosperity of South China began to overtake that of North China. After the north was lost to the [[Jurchen people|Jurchen]] [[Jurchen Jin|Jin dynasty]] in 1127 following the [[Jingkang Incident]], Hangzhou became the capital of the Song dynasty under the name [[Hangzhou|Lin'an]], which was renowned for its prosperity and beauty, it was suspected to have been the largest city in the world at the time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm |title=Largest Cities Through History|publisher=Geography.about.com|date=2013-07-19|access-date=2013-09-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050527095609/http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm|archive-date=27 May 2005|url-status=live}}</ref>

From then on, northern Zhejiang and neighboring southern Jiangsu have been synonymous with luxury and opulence in Chinese culture. The [[Mongols|Mongol]] conquest and the establishment of the [[Yuan dynasty]] in 1279 ended Hangzhou's political clout, but its economy continued to prosper. The famous traveler [[Marco Polo]] visited the city, which he called "Kinsay" (after the Chinese ''Jingshi'', meaning "Capital City") claiming it was "the finest and noblest city in the world."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/polo-kinsay.asp|title=Internet History Sourcebooks Project|website=sourcebooks.fordham.edu|access-date=13 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413201403/https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/polo-kinsay.asp|archive-date=13 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Greenware ceramics made from [[celadon]] had been made in the area since the 3rd-century [[Sima Jin|Jin dynasty]], but it returned to prominence&mdash;particularly in [[Longquan]]&mdash;during the Southern Song and Yuan. Longquan greenware is characterized by a thick unctuous glaze of a particular bluish-green tint over an otherwise undecorated light-grey porcellaneous body that is delicately potted. Yuan Longquan celadons feature a thinner, greener glaze on larger vessels with decoration and shapes derived from Middle Eastern ceramic and metalwares. These were produced in large quantities for the Chinese export trade to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and (during the [[Ming dynasty|Ming]]) Europe. By the Ming, however, production was notably deficient in quality. It is in this period that the Longquan kilns declined, to be eventually replaced in popularity and ceramic production by the kilns of [[Jingdezhen]] in [[Jiangxi]].<ref>Vainker, Shelaugh. <u>Chinese Pottery and Porcelain.</u> London: British Museum Press, 1991.</ref>

===Yuan and Ming eras===
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2025}}
[[File:Ceramic planter from the Ming Dynasty.jpg|thumb|This tripod planter from the [[Ming dynasty]] was found in Zhejiang province. It is housed in the [[Smithsonian]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
Zhejiang was finally [[Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty|conquered by the Mongols]] in the late 13th century who later established the short lived [[Yuan dynasty]]. Zhejiang became part of the much larger [[Jiangzhe Province]].

The [[Ming dynasty]], which drove out the Mongols in 1368, finally established the present day province of Zhejiang with its borders having little changes since this establishment.

As in other coastal provinces, number of fortresses were constructed along the Zhejiang coast during the early Ming to defend the land against [[wokou|pirate]] incursions. Some of them have been preserved or restored, such as Pucheng in the south of the province ([[Cangnan County]]).

===Qing era===
[[File:Dayu Bay - Shitang Cun - P1210531.JPG|thumb|left|A restored Qing era (1891) bridge on a coastal road]]
Under the late Ming dynasty and the [[Qing dynasty]] that followed it, Zhejiang's ports were important centers of international trade.

"In 1727 the to-min or 'idle people' of Cheh Kiang province (a [[Ningbo|Ningpo]] name still existing), the yoh-hu or 'music people' of [[Shanxi|Shanxi province]], the si-min or 'small people' of Kiang Su (Jiangsu) province and the [[Tanka people]] or 'egg-people' of [[Guangdong|Canton]] (to this day the boat population there), were all freed from their social disabilities and allowed to count as free men."<ref>{{cite book|quote=the lot of both Manchu and Chinese bondsmen. In 1727 the to-min or "idle people " of Cheh Kiang province (a Ningpo name still existing), the yoh-hu or " music people " of Shan Si province, the si-min or "small people " of Kiang Su province, and the tan-ka or "egg-people" of Canton (to this day the boat population there), were all freed from their social disabilities, and allowed to count as free men. So far as my own observations go, after residing for a quarter of a century in half the provinces of China, north, south, east, and west, I should be inclined to describe slavery in China as totally invisible to the naked eye; personal liberty is absolute where feebleness or ignorance do not expose the subject to the rapacity of mandarins, relatives, or speculators. Even savages and foreigners are welcomed as equals, so long as they conform unreservedly to Chinese custom. On the other hand, the oldfashioned social disabilities of policemen, barbers, and playactors still exist in the eyes of the law, though any idea of caste is totally absent therefrom, and "unofficially" these individuals are as good as any other free men. Having now taken a cursory view of Chinese slavery from its historical aspect, let us see what it is in practice. Though the penal code forbids and annuls the sale into slavery of free persons, even by a husband, father, or grandfather, yet the number of free persons who are sold or sell themselves to escape starvation and misery is considerable. It is nominally a punishable offence to keep a free man or lost child as a slave; also for parents to sell their children without the consent of the latter, or to drown their girls; but in practice the law is in both cases ignored, and scarcely ever enforced; ''a fortiori'' the minor offence of selling children, even with their consent. Indeed, sales of girls for secondary wives is of daily occurrence, and, as we have seen, the Emperors Yung-cheng and K'ien-lung explicitly recognized the right of parents to sell children in times of famine, whilst the missionaries unanimously bear witness to the fact that the public sale of children in the streets—for instance, of Tientsin—was frequently witnessed during recent times of dearth. But slave markets and public sales are unknown in a general way. Occasionally old parents sell their children in order to purchase coffins for themselves. Only a few years ago a governor and a censor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0bkNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA404|title=China, past and present|author=Edward Harper Parker|year=1903|publisher=Chapman and Hall, ld.|location=London|page=404|access-date=2012-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603164245/http://books.google.com/books?id=0bkNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA404|archive-date=3 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> "Cheh Kiang" is another romanization for Zhejiang. The Duomin ({{lang-zh|s=惰民|hp=duò mín|w=to-min|links=no}}) are a caste of [[Untouchability|outcasts]] in this province.

During the [[First Opium War]], the British navy defeated [[Eight Banners]] forces at [[Ningbo]] and [[Dinghai]]. Under the terms of the [[Treaty of Nanking]], signed in 1843, Ningbo became one of the five Chinese [[treaty ports]] opened to virtually unrestricted foreign trade. Much of Zhejiang came under the control of the [[Taiping Heavenly Kingdom]] during the [[Taiping Rebellion]], which resulted in a considerable loss of life in the north-western and central parts of the province, sparing the rest of Zhejiang from the disastrous depopulation that occurred. In 1876, [[Wenzhou]] became Zhejiang's second treaty port. [[Lower Yangtze Mandarin|Jianghuai Mandarin]] speakers later came to settle in these depopulated regions of northern Zhejiang.

===Republican era===
{{See also|Chekiang Province, Republic of China}}
During the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], which led into [[World War II]], much of Zhejiang was occupied by Japan and placed under the control of the Japanese puppet state known as the [[Reorganized National Government of China]]. Following the [[Doolittle Raid]], most of the B-25 American crews that came down in China eventually made it to safety with the help of Chinese civilians and soldiers. The Chinese people who helped them, however, paid dearly for sheltering the Americans. The [[Imperial Japanese Army]] began the [[Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign|Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign]] to intimidate the Chinese out of helping downed American airmen. Imperial Japanese forces killed an estimated 250,000 Chinese civilians from the area of Hangzhou to [[Nanchang]] and also [[Zhuzhou]] while searching for Doolittle's men.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/perilousfight/ |title=PBS Perilous Flight |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=2013-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910035849/http://www.pbs.org/perilousfight/ |archive-date=10 September 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===People's Republic era===
After the People's Republic of China took control of [[Mainland China]] in 1949, the [[Taiwan|Republic of China]] government based in [[Taiwan]] continued to control the [[Dachen Islands]] off the coast of Zhejiang until 1955, even establishing a rival Zhejiang provincial government there. During the [[Cultural Revolution]] (1966–76), Zhejiang was in chaos and disunity and its economy was stagnant, especially during the high tide (1966–69) of the revolution. The agricultural policy favoring grain production at the expense of industrial and cash crops intensified economic hardships in the province. Mao's self-reliance policy and the reduction in maritime trade cut off the lifelines of the port cities of Ningbo and Wenzhou. While Mao invested heavily in railroads in interior China, no major railroads were built in South Zhejiang, where transportation remained poor.<ref name=wiley>{{cite journal|url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/118764017/PDFSTART|title=Regional Inequality in China: A Case Study of Zhejiang Province|doi=10.1111/j.0040-747X.2004.00292.x|date=2004-02-16|access-date=2013-09-10|volume=95|journal=Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie|pages=44–60|last1=Wei|first1=Yehua Dennis|last2=Ye|first2=Xinyue|url-access=subscription}}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Zhejiang benefited less from central government investment than some other provinces due to its lack of natural resources, a location vulnerable to potential flooding from the sea and an economic base at the national average. Zhejiang, however, has been an epicenter of capitalist development in China and has led the nation in the development of a market economy and private enterprises.<ref name=wiley/> Northeast Zhejiang, as part of the Yangtze Delta, is flat, more developed and industrial.<ref name=wiley/>

==Geography==
[[File:Aerial panorama of Wuzhen 乌镇 Water Town. December 2023.jpg|thumb|Aerial panorama of Wuzhen 乌镇 Water Town, December 2023]]
{{more citations needed|date=October 2023}}
[[File:亚新地学社1936年《袖珍中华全图》--07浙江省.jpg|thumb|Zhejiang in 1936]]
[[File:West Lake - Hangzhou, China.jpg|thumb|View of the [[West Lake]] in [[Hangzhou]]]]
[[File:West Lake at night in Hangzhou.jpg|thumb|West Lake at night]]
Zhejiang consists mostly of hills, which account for about 70% of its total area.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2003-10/09/content_336632.htm|title=The physical geography of Zhejiang|website=www.chinadaily.com.cn|access-date=2020-01-24}}</ref> Altitudes tend to be the highest to the south and west and the highest peak of the province, [[Huangmaojian Peak]] ({{Convert|1929|m|ft|sp=us|disp=or}}), is located there. Other prominent mountains include [[Mount Yandang|Mounts Yandang]], [[Mount Tianmu|Tianmu]], [[Mount Tiantai (Zhejiang)|Tiantai]] and [[Mount Mogan|Mogan]], which reach altitudes of {{Convert|700|to|1500|m|ft|sp=us}}.

Valleys and plains are found along the coastline and rivers. The north of the province lies just south of the [[Yangtze Delta]] and consists of plains around the cities of Hangzhou, [[Jiaxing]] and [[Huzhou]], where the [[Grand Canal of China]] enters from the northern border to end at Hangzhou. Another relatively flat area is found along the Qu River around the cities of [[Quzhou]] and [[Jinhua]]. Major rivers include the [[Qiantang River|Qiangtang]] and [[Ou River, China|Ou Rivers]]. Most rivers carve out valleys in the highlands, with plenty of rapids and other features associated with such topography. Well-known lakes include the [[West Lake]] of Hangzhou and the [[South Lake, Jiaxing|South Lake]] of Jiaxing.

There are over three thousand islands along the rugged coastline of Zhejiang. The largest, [[Zhoushan Island]], is mainland China's third largest island, after [[Hainan]] and [[Chongming Island|Chongming]]. There are also many bays, of which [[Hangzhou Bay]] is the largest.{{anchor|Climate}} Zhejiang has a humid subtropical climate with four distinct seasons. Spring starts in March and is rainy with changeable weather. Summer, from June to September is long, hot, rainy and humid. Fall is generally dry, warm and sunny. Winters are short but cold except in the far south. Average annual temperature is around {{convert|15|to|19|C|F}}, average January temperature is around {{convert|2|to|8|C|F}} and average July temperature is around {{convert|27|to|30|C|F}}. Annual precipitation is about {{convert|1000|to|1900|mm|0|abbr=on|sp=us}}. There is plenty of rainfall in early summer and by late summer Zhejiang is directly threatened by [[typhoon]]s forming in the Pacific.

==Administrative divisions==
{{Main|List of administrative divisions of Zhejiang|List of township-level divisions of Zhejiang}}

Zhejiang is divided into eleven [[Administrative divisions of China|prefecture-level divisions]]: all [[Prefecture-level city|prefecture-level cities]] (including two [[Sub-provincial division|sub-provincial cities]]):

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto 1em auto; width:90%; font-size:smaller; text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="9" |Administrative divisions of Zhejiang
|-
| colspan="9" style="font-size:larger" | <div style="position: relative" class="center">
{{Image label begin|image=Map Zhejiang adm.png|width=648|link=|font-size=85%}}
{{Image label|x=350|y=310|scale=648/1080|text='''[[Hangzhou]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=740|y=360|scale=648/1080|text='''[[Ningbo]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=560|y=790|scale=648/1080|text='''[[Wenzhou]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=595|y=145|scale=648/1080|text='''[[Jiaxing]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=415|y=125|scale=648/1080|text='''[[Huzhou]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=550|y=360|scale=648/1080|text='''[[Shaoxing]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=435|y=515|scale=648/1080|text='''[[Jinhua]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=160|y=565|scale=648/1080|text='''[[Quzhou]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=880|y=296|scale=648/1080|text='''[[Zhoushan]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=660|y=585|scale=648/1080|text='''[[Taizhou, Zhejiang|Taizhou]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=350|y=750|scale=648/1080|text='''[[Lishui]]'''}}
{{Image label end}}
</div>
|-
!! scope="col" rowspan="2" | [[Administrative division codes of the People's Republic of China|Division code]]<ref>{{cite web |language=zh-hans |url=http://files2.mca.gov.cn/cws/201502/20150225163817214.html |script-title=zh:中华人民共和国县以上行政区划代码 |publisher=[[Ministry of Civil Affairs]] |access-date=11 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402113603/http://files2.mca.gov.cn/cws/201502/20150225163817214.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>
!! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Division
!! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Area in km<sup>2</sup><ref name="nj2013">{{cite book |language=zh-hans |author=Shenzhen Bureau of Statistics |publisher=[[:zh:中国统计出版社|China Statistics Print]] |script-title=zh:《深圳统计年鉴2014》 |url=http://www.sztj.gov.cn/nj2014/indexce.htm |access-date=2015-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512184740/http://www.sztj.gov.cn/nj2014/indexce.htm |archive-date=12 May 2015 }}</ref>
!! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Population 2020<ref>{{cite book| author1=Census Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China| author2=Population and Employment Statistics Division of the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China | script-title=zh:中国2010人口普查分乡、镇、街道资料|date=2012|publisher=[[:zh:中国统计出版社|China Statistics Print]] |location=Beijing|isbn=978-7-5037-6660-2|edition=1}}</ref>
!! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Seat
!! scope="col" colspan="4" | Divisions<ref>{{cite book |language=zh-hans |author=Ministry of Civil Affairs |script-title=zh:《中国民政统计年鉴2014》 |date=August 2014 |publisher=[[:zh:中国统计出版社|China Statistics Print]] |isbn= 978-7-5037-7130-9|author-link=Ministry of Civil Affairs }}</ref>
|-
!! scope="col" style="width:45px;"| [[District (China)|Districts]]
!! scope="col" style="width:45px;"| [[Counties of the People's Republic of China|Counties]]
!! scope="col" style="width:45px;"| [[Autonomous counties of the People's Republic of China|Aut. counties]]
!! scope="col" style="width:45px;"| [[County-level city|CL cities]]
|- style="font-weight: bold"
! 330000 !! Zhejiang Province
| 101,800.00 || 64,567,588 || [[Hangzhou]] city || 37 || 32 || 1 || 20
|- style="background:#98fb98;"
! 330100 !! [[Hangzhou]] city
| 16,840.75 || 11,936,010 || [[Shangcheng District]] || 10 || 2 || style="background:gray;"|  || 1
|- style="background:#98fb98;"
! 330200 !! [[Ningbo]] city
| 9,816.23 || 9,404,283 || [[Yinzhou District, Ningbo|Yinzhou District]] || 6 || 2 || style="background:gray;"|  || 2
|-
! 330300 !! [[Wenzhou]] city
| 12,255.77 || 9,572,903 || [[Lucheng District, Wenzhou|Lucheng District]] || 4 || 5 || style="background:gray;"|  || 3
|-
! 330400 !! [[Jiaxing]] city
| 4,008.75 || 5,400,868 || [[Nanhu District]] || 2 || 2 || style="background:gray;"|  || 3
|-
! 330500 !! [[Huzhou]] city
| 5,818.44 || 3,367,579 || [[Wuxing District]] || 2 || 3 || style="background:gray;"|  || style="background:gray;"| 
|-
! 330600 !! [[Shaoxing]] city
| 8,279.08 || 5,270,977 || [[Yuecheng District]] || 3 || 1 || style="background:gray;"|  || 2
|-
! 330700 !! [[Jinhua]] city
| 10,926.16 || 7,050,683 || [[Wucheng District]] || 2 || 3 || style="background:gray;"|  || 4
|-
! 330800 !! [[Quzhou]] city
| 8,841.12 || 2,276,184 || [[Kecheng District]] || 2 || 3 || style="background:gray;"|  || 1
|-
! 330900 !! [[Zhoushan]] city
| 1,378.00 || 1,157,817 || [[Dinghai District]] || 2 || 2 || style="background:gray;"|  || style="background:gray;"| 
|-
! 331000 !! [[Taizhou, Zhejiang|Taizhou]] city
| 10,083.39 || 6,622,888 || [[Jiaojiang District]] || 3 || 3 || style="background:gray;"|  || 3
|-
! 331100 !! [[Lishui]] city
| 17,298.00 || 2,507,396 || [[Liandu District]] || 1 || 6 || 1 || 1
|-
| colspan = "12" | {{legend|#98FB98|[[Sub-provincial divisions in the People's Republic of China|Sub-provincial cities]]|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
|}

{|class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed" style="text-font:90%; width:auto; text-align:center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"
|-
! colspan="5" |Administrative divisions in Chinese and varieties of romanizations
|-
! English !! Chinese !! Pinyin !! Wu Romanization
|- style="background:#eee"
| Zhejiang Province || {{lang|zh|浙江省}} || {{transliteration|zh|Zhèjiāng Shěng}} || {{transliteration|wuu|tseh koan san}}
|-
| [[Hangzhou]] city || {{lang|zh|杭州市}} || {{transliteration|zh|Hángzhōu Shì}} || {{transliteration|wuu|ghaon tseu zy}}
|-
| [[Ningbo]] city || {{lang|zh-hans|宁波市}} || {{transliteration|zh|Níngbō Shì}} || {{transliteration|wuu|nyin bo zy}}
|-
| [[Wenzhou]] city || {{lang|zh-hans|温州市}} || {{transliteration|zh|Wēnzhōu Shì}} || {{transliteration|wuu|uen tseu zy}}
|-
| [[Jiaxing]] city || {{lang|zh-hans|嘉兴市}} || {{transliteration|zh|Jiāxīng Shì}} || {{transliteration|wuu|ka shin zy}}
|-
| [[Huzhou]] city || {{lang|zh|湖州市}} || {{transliteration|zh|Húzhōu Shì}} || {{transliteration|wuu|ghou tseu zy}}
|-
| [[Shaoxing]] city || {{lang|zh-hans|绍兴市}} || {{transliteration|zh|Shàoxīng Shì}} || {{transliteration|wuu|zau shin zy}}
|-
| [[Jinhua]] city || {{lang|zh-hans|金华市}} || {{transliteration|zh|Jīnhuá Shì}} || {{transliteration|wuu|cin gho zy}}
|-
| [[Quzhou]] city || {{lang|zh|衢州市}} || {{transliteration|zh|Qúzhōu Shì}} || {{transliteration|wuu|jiu tseu zy}}
|-
| [[Zhoushan]] city || {{lang|zh|舟山市}} || {{transliteration|zh|Zhōushān Shì}} || {{transliteration|wuu|tseu se zy}}
|-
| [[Taizhou, Zhejiang|Taizhou]] city || {{lang|zh|台州市}} || {{transliteration|zh|Tāizhōu Shì}} || {{transliteration|wuu|de tseu zy}}
|-
| [[Lishui]] city || {{lang|zh-hans|丽水市}} || {{transliteration|zh|Líshuǐ Shì}} || {{transliteration|wuu|li syu zy}}
|}

The eleven prefecture-level divisions of Zhejiang are subdivided into 90 [[Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China#County level (3rd)|county-level divisions]] (37 [[District of China|district]]s, 20 [[county-level cities]], 32 [[County (People's Republic of China)|counties]], and one [[autonomous county]]). Those are in turn divided into 1,364 [[Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China#Township level|township-level divisions]] (618 [[Townships of China|town]]s, 488 [[Township (Republic of China)|township]]s, and 258 [[Subdistricts of China|subdistrict]]s).<ref name="GDPdata" /> Hengdian belongs to Jinhua, which is the largest base of shooting films and TV dramas in China. [[Hengdian World Studios]] is called "China's Hollywood." At the year end of 2021, the total population was 65.40 million.<ref name="GDPdata">{{cite web|url=https://data.stats.gov.cn/english/easyquery.htm?cn=E0103|title=National Data|publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China|China NBS]]|date=March 2024|access-date=June 22, 2024}} see also {{cite web|url=https://data.stats.gov.cn/english/easyquery.htm?cn=E0103|title=National Data|publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]]|date=March 4, 2024|access-date=June 19, 2024}}; see also {{cite web|url=http://tjj.zj.gov.cn/art/2024/3/4/art_1229129205_5271123.html |title=zh: 2023年浙江省国民经济和社会发展统计公报|publisher=zhejiang.gov.cn|date=March 4, 2024|access-date=June 19, 2024}} The average exchange rate of 2023 was CNY 7.0467 to 1 USD dollar {{cite press release | url=https://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202402/t20240228_1947918.html| title=Statistical communiqué of the People's Republic of China on the 2023 national economic and social development| publisher=China NBS|date=February 29, 2024|access-date=June 22, 2024}}</ref>

=== Urban areas ===
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size:90%;"
! colspan=5 | Population by urban areas of prefecture & county cities
|-
! # !! Cities !! style="background-color: #aaaaff;"| 2020 Urban area<ref name="2020PRCcensus">{{cite book |author=国务院人口普查办公室、国家统计局人口和社会科技统计司编 |date=2022 |script-title=zh:中国2020年人口普查分县资料 |location=Beijing |publisher=[[:zh:中国统计出版社|China Statistics Print]] |isbn=978-7-5037-9772-9}}</ref> !! style="background-color: #aaaaff;"| 2010 Urban area<ref name="2010PRCcensus">{{cite book |author=国务院人口普查办公室、国家统计局人口和社会科技统计司编 |date=2012 |script-title=zh:中国2010年人口普查分县资料 |location=Beijing |publisher=[[:zh:中国统计出版社|China Statistics Print]] |isbn=978-7-5037-6659-6}}</ref> !! style="background-color: #ffaaaa;" | 2020 City proper
|-
|1||'''[[Hangzhou]]'''||9,236,032||5,162,093{{efn|name=Hangzhou|New districts established after 2010 census: [[Fuyang District|Fuyang (Fuyang CLC)]], [[Lin'an District|Lin'an (Lin'an CLC)]]. These new districts not included in the urban area count of the pre-expanded city.}}||11,936,010
|-
|2||[[Ningbo]]||4,077,815||2,583,073{{efn|name=Ningbo|New district established after 2010 census: [[Fenghua District|Fenghua (Fenghua CLC)]]. The new district not included in the urban area count of the pre-expanded city.}}||9,404,283
|-
|3||[[Wenzhou]]||2,412,402||2,686,825{{efn|name=Wenzhou|New district established after 2010 census: [[Dongtou District|Dongtou (Dongtou County)]]. The new district not included in the urban area count of the pre-expanded city.}}||9,572,903
|-
|4||[[Shaoxing]]||2,333,080||643,199{{efn|name=Shaoxing|New districts established after 2010 census: [[Keqiao District|Keqiao (Shaoxing County)]], [[Shangyu District|Shangyu (Shangyu CLC)]]. These new districts not included in the urban area count of the pre-expanded city.}}||5270977
|-
|5||[[Taizhou, Zhejiang|Taizhou]]||1,485,502||1,189,276||6,622,888
|-
|6||[[Yiwu]]||1,481,384||878,903||{{small|''see [[Jinhua]]''}}
|-
|7||[[Cixi, Zhejiang|Cixi]]||1,457,510||1,059,942||{{small|''see Ningbo''}}
|-
|8||[[Jiaxing]]||1,188,321||762,643||5,400,868
|-
|9||[[Huzhou]]||1,083,953||748,471||3,367,579
|-
|10||[[Jinhua]]||1,040,948||710,597||7,050,683
|-
|11||[[Yuyao]]||1,013,866||672,909||{{small|''see Ningbo''}}
|-
|12||[[Rui'an]]||1,012,731||927,383||{{small|''see Wenzhou''}}
|-
|13||[[Yueqing]]||949,585||725,972||{{small|''see Wenzhou''}}
|-
|14||[[Wenling]]||920,913||749,013||{{small|''see Taizhou''}}
|-
|15||[[Zhuji]]||762,917||606,683||{{small|''see Shaoxing''}}
|-
|16||[[Haining]]||752,775||397,690||{{small|''see Jiaxing''}}
|-
|17||[[Dongyang]]||738,721||455,912||{{small|''see Jinhua''}}
|-
|18||[[Tongxiang]]||690,641||400,417||{{small|''see Jiaxing''}}
|-
|19||[[Zhoushan]]||645,653||542,190||1,157,817
|-
|20||[[Yongkang, Zhejiang|Yongkang]]||638,563||376,246||{{small|''see Jinhua''}}
|-
|21||[[Quzhou]]||576,688||422,688||2,276,184
|-
|22||[[Linhai]]||551,458||503,377||{{small|''see Taizhou''}}
|-
|23||[[Yuhuan]]||468,554||style="background:lightgrey;"|{{efn|name=Yuhuan|Yuhuan County is currently known as Yuhuan CLC after 2010 census.}}||{{small|''see Taizhou''}}
|-
|24||[[Longgang, Zhejiang|Longgang]]||450,286||style="background:lightgrey;"|{{efn|name=Longgang|Longgang Town was under Cangnan County jurisdiction. Longgang CLC was established after 2010 census.}}||{{small|''see Wenzhou''}}
|-
|25||[[Pinghu]]||449,636||346,892||{{small|''see Jiaxing''}}
|-
|26||[[Lishui]]||429,633||293,968||2,507,396
|-
|27||[[Shengzhou]]||386,087||345,674||{{small|''see Shaoxing''}}
|-
|28||[[Lanxi, Zhejiang|Lanxi]]||318,165||208,272||{{small|''see Jinhua''}}
|-
|29||[[Jiangshan]]||289,269||200,341||{{small|''see Quzhou''}}
|-
|30||[[Jiande]]||233,658||183,518||{{small|''see Hangzhou''}}
|-
|31||[[Longquan]]||165,567||117,239||{{small|''see Lishui''}}
|-style="background:lightgrey;"
|—||[[Fuyang District|Fuyang]]||{{small|''see Hangzhou''}}||416,195{{efn|name=Hangzhou}}||{{small|''see Hangzhou''}}
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
|—||[[Shangyu District|Shangyu]]||{{small|''see Shaoxing''}}||391,558{{efn|name=Shaoxing}}||{{small|''see Shaoxing''}}
|-style="background:lightgrey;"
|—||[[Lin'an District|Lin'an]]||{{small|''see Hangzhou''}}||271,249{{efn|name=Hangzhou}}||{{small|''see Hangzhou''}}
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
|—||[[Fenghua District|Fenghua]]||{{small|''see Ningbo''}}||239,992{{efn|name=Ningbo}}||{{small|''see Ningbo''}}
|}
{{notelist}}
{{Largest cities
|largest = Most populous
|country = Zhejiang
|kind = cities
|stat_ref = Source: ''China Urban Construction Statistical Yearbook 2018'' Urban Population and Urban Temporary Population<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development]] of the People's Republic of China(MOHURD) |url=http://www.mohurd.gov.cn/xytj/tjzljsxytjgb/jstjnj/w02020032722244243052500000.xls |date=2019 |title=中国城市建设统计年鉴2018 |trans-title=China Urban Construction Statistical Yearbook 2018 |language=zh |location=Beijing |publisher=China Statistic Publishing House |access-date=30 November 2021 |archive-date=18 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718211023/http://www.mohurd.gov.cn/xytj/tjzljsxytjgb/jstjnj/w02020032722244243052500000.xls }}</ref>
|list_by_pop =

|city_1 = Hangzhou
|pop_1 = 6,504,900
|city_2 = Ningbo
|pop_2 = 3,685,100
|city_3 = Wenzhou
|pop_3 = 2,216,500
|city_4 = Shaoxing
|pop_4 = 1,512,600
|city_5 = Taizhou, Zhejiang{{!}}Taizhou
|pop_5 = 1,050,600

|city_6 = Huzhou
|pop_6 = 951,000

|city_7 = Yiwu
|pop_7 = 934,300

|city_8 = Jinhua
|pop_8 = 817,300

|city_9 = Jiaxing
|pop_9 = 797,000

|city_10 = Zhoushan
|pop_10 = 612,400

|city_11 = Yueqing
|pop_11 = 534,700

|city_12 = Cixi, Zhejiang{{!}}Cixi
|pop_12 = 530,300

|city_13 = Yuyao
|pop_13 = 458,500

|city_14 = Zhuji
|pop_14 = 438,200

|city_15 = Dongyang
|pop_15 = 421,700

|city_16 = Lishui
|pop_16 = 372,000

|city_17 = Tongxiang
|pop_17 = 363,400

|city_18 = Quzhou
|pop_18 = 356,700

|city_19 = Pinghu
|pop_19 = 349,500

|city_20 = Linhai
|pop_20 = 317,900
}}

==Politics==
{{Main|Politics of Zhejiang|List of current Chinese provincial leaders}}

The politics of Zhejiang is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China. The [[Governor of Zhejiang]] is the highest-ranking official in the [[Zhejiang Provincial People's Government|People's Government of Zhejiang]]. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor is subordinate to the [[Party Secretary of Zhejiang|secretary]] of the [[Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party]].

Several political figures who served as Zhejiang's top political office of Party Secretary have played key roles in various events in PRC history. [[Tan Zhenlin]] (term 1949–1952), the inaugural Party Secretary, was one of the leading voices against Mao's [[Cultural Revolution]] during the so-called [[February Countercurrent]] of 1967. [[Jiang Hua]] (term 1956–1968), was the "chief justice" on the Special Court in the case against the [[Gang of Four]] in 1980. Three provincial Party Secretaries since the 1990s have gone onto prominence at the national level. They include CPC General Secretary and President [[Xi Jinping]] (term 2002–2007), [[National People's Congress]] Chairman and former Vice-Premier [[Zhang Dejiang]] (term 1998–2002), and [[Zhao Hongzhu]] (term 2007–2012), the Deputy Secretary of the [[Central Commission for Discipline Inspection]], China's top anti-corruption body. Of Zhejiang's fourteen Party Secretaries since 1949, none were native to the province.

Zhejiang was home to [[Chiang Kai-shek]] and many high-ranking officials in the [[Kuomintang]], who fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Civil War.

==Economy==
[[File:04 Zhejiang tea 05.1987.jpg|thumb|Harvesting tea leaves, Zhejiang province, May 1987]]
[[File:Dayu Bay - YuAo Cun - P1210476.JPG|thumb|Yu'ao, a fishing village on Dayu Bay in South Zhejiang ([[Cangnan County]])]]

Zhejiang is one of the richest and most developed provinces in China. {{As of|2022}}, its [[Gross domestic product|nominal GDP]] was [[United States dollar|US$]]1.15 trillion ([[Renminbi|CN¥]] 7.77 trilion), about 6.42% of the country's GDP and ranked [[List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP|4th]] among [[Administrative divisions of China|province-level administrative units]]; the province's primary, secondary and tertiary industries were worth CN¥232.48 billion (US$34.56 billion), CN¥3.3205 trillion (US$493.67 billion) and CN¥4.2185 trillion (US$627.18 billion) respectively.<ref name="GDPdata" /> Its nominal GDP per capita was US$17,617 (CN¥118,496) and ranked the [[List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP per capita|6th]] in the country. The private sector in the province has been playing an increasingly important role in boosting the regional economy since [[Chinese economic reform|Economic Reform]] in 1978.<ref name="GDPdata" /> Zhejiang is generally regarded as having one of the strongest private sectors among Chinese provinces and its local governments typically adopt permissive business policies.<ref name=":26">{{Cite book |last=Ang |first=Yuen Yuen |url= |title=How China Escaped the Poverty Trap |date=2016 |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |isbn=978-1-5017-0020-0 |doi= |jstor=10.7591/j.ctt1zgwm1j |author-link=Yuen Yuen Ang}}</ref>{{Rp|page=186}}

Zhejiang's main manufacturing sectors are electromechanical industries, [[textiles]], chemical industries, food and construction materials. In recent years Zhejiang has followed its own development model, dubbed the "Zhejiang model", which is based on prioritizing and encouraging entrepreneurship, an emphasis on small businesses responsive to the whims of the market, large public investments into [[infrastructure]], and the production of low-cost goods in bulk for both domestic consumption and export. As a result, Zhejiang has made itself one of the richest provinces and the "Zhejiang spirit" has become something of a legend within China. However, some economists now worry that this model is not sustainable, in that it is inefficient and places unreasonable demands on raw materials and public utilities, and also a dead end, in that the myriad small businesses in Zhejiang producing cheap goods in bulk are unable to move to more sophisticated or technologically more advanced industries.<ref name="thechinaperspective.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.thechinaperspective.com/topics/province/zhejiang-province/|title=Zhejiang Province 浙江|publisher=The China Perspective|date=2013-09-06|access-date=2013-09-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008045925/http://thechinaperspective.com/topics/province/zhejiang-province/|archive-date=8 October 2011}}</ref> The economic heart of Zhejiang is moving from North Zhejiang, centered on Hangzhou, southeastward to the region centered on Wenzhou and Taizhou.<ref name=wiley/> The [[Per-Capita Disposable Income|per capita disposable income]] of urbanites in Zhejiang reached 55,574 yuan (US$8,398) in 2018, an annual real growth of 8.4%. The per capita disposable income of rural residents stood at 27,302 yuan (US$4,126), a real growth of 9.4%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/was40/gjtjj_detail.jsp?channelid=4362&record=12|script-title=zh:2010年第六次全国人口普查主要数据公报|publisher=Stats.gov.cn|access-date=2013-09-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530075121/http://www.stats.gov.cn/was40/gjtjj_detail.jsp?channelid=4362&record=12|archive-date=30 May 2010}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="10"| '''Historical GDP of Zhejiang Province for 1978–present'''<ref name="GDPdata" /><br />(purchasing power parity of Chinese Yuan, as [[Geary–Khamis dollar|Int'l. dollar]] based on IMF WEO April 2023<ref>{{cite web| author = International Monetary Fund| url = https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/April| title = World Economic Outlook Database, April 2023| publisher = [[International Monetary Fund]]}}</ref>)
|- align=center
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"| year
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="4"| '''GDP'''
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| '''GDP per capita (GDPpc)<br />''' ''based on mid-year population ''
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| '''Reference index'''
|- align=center
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| GDP  ''in millions''
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"| real<br />growth<br />(%)
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="3"| GDPpc
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| exchange rate<br />''1 foreign currency<br /> to CNY ''
|- align=center
||[[Renminbi|CNY]]
||[[United States dollar|USD]]
||[[Purchasing power parity|PPP]]<br />([[Geary–Khamis dollar|Int'l$.]])
||CNY
||USD
||PPP<br />(Int'l$.)
||USD 1
||Int'l$. 1<br />(PPP)
|- align=right
||2022||7,771.54||1,115,543||1,925,555||3.1||118,496||17,617||29,360||6.7261||4.036
|- align=right
||2021||7,404.08||1,114,765||1,772,583||8.7||113,839||17,645||27,254||6.4515||4.177
|- align=right
||2020||6,468.91||937,717||1,526,046||3.6||100,738||14,605||23,765||6.8976||4.239
|- align=right
||2019||6,246.20||900,544||1,472,813||6.8||98,770||14,318||23,289||6.8985||4.241
|- align=right
||2018||5,800.28||876,520||1,371,873||7.1||93,230||14,089||22,051||6.6174||4.228
|- align=right
||2017||5,240.31||776,135||1,252,461||7.8||85,612||12,680||20,462||6.7518||4.184
|- align=right
||2016||4,725.40||711,410||1,184,608||7.5||78,384||11,801||19,650||6.6423||3.989
|- align=right
||2015||4,350.77||698,537||1,123,940||8.0||73,276||11,765||18,929||6.2284||3.871
|- align=right
||2014||4,002.35||651,551||1,064,738||7.7||68,569||11,162||18,241||6.1428||3.759
|- align=right
||2013||3,733.46||602,283||1,018,957||8.3||65,105||10,512||17,769||6.1932||3.664
|- align=right
||2012||3,438.24||544,672||965,527||8.1||61,097||9,679||17,157||6.3125||3.561
|- align=right
||2011||3,185.48||493,200||903,939||9.0||57,828||8,953||16,410||6.4588||3.524
|- align=right
||2010||2,739.99||404,755||823,809||11.9||51,110||7,550||15,367||6.7695||3.326
|- align=right
||2005||1,302.83||159,043||454,264||12.9||26,277||3,208||9,162||8.1917||2.868
|- align=right
||2000||616.48||74,468||225,896||11.0||13,467||1,627||4,935||8.2784||2.729
|- align=right
||1995||356.39||42,676||129,927||16.8||8,144||975||2,969||8.3510||2.743
|- align=right
||1990||90.46||18,914||53,136||3.9||2,138||447||1,256||4.7832||1.712
|- align=right
||1985||42.91||14,614||30,617||21.7||1,067||363||761||2.9366||1.404
|- align=right
||1980||17.99||12,007||12,031||16.4||471||314||315||1.4984||1.500
|- align=right
||1978||12.37||7,349||||21.9||331||197||||1.6836||
|}

Zhejiang was the first province to pilot a [[common prosperity]] pilot program.<ref name=":Zhang">{{Cite book |last=Zhang |first=Angela Huyue |title=High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=978-0-19-768225-8 |doi=10.1093/oso/9780197682258.001.0001}}</ref>{{Rp|page=166}}

Traditionally, the province is known as the "Land of Fish and Rice." True to its name, [[rice]] is the main crop, followed by [[wheat]]; north Zhejiang is also a center of [[aquaculture]] in China, and the [[Zhoushan]] fishery is the largest [[fishery]] in the country. The main cash crops include [[jute]] and [[cotton]] and the province also leads the provinces of China in [[tea]] production. (The renowned [[Longjing tea]] is a product of Hangzhou.) Zhejiang's towns have been known for handicraft production of goods such as [[silk]], for which it is ranked second among the provinces. Its many market towns connect the cities with the countryside.

In 1832, the province was exporting silk, paper, fans, pencils, wine, [[dates (fruit)|dates]], tea and "golden-flowered" [[ham]]s.<ref name=Roberts1>{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Edmund|title=Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat|year=1837|publisher=Harper & Brothers|location=New York|page=122|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7317/view/1/122/|access-date=16 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016064127/http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7317/view/1/122/|archive-date=16 October 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

Zhejiang has been leading the digital economy development in China, in recent years, the provincial economy has been boosted by the economic surge brought by internet corporations such as Alibaba and NetEase.<ref>{{Cite web |title=杭州为什么被称为互联网之城-杭州：中国互联网中心 |url=http://www.hivpaper.cn/zxzx/28120.html |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=www.hivpaper.cn |archive-date=7 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007213451/http://www.hivpaper.cn/zxzx/28120.html }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=浙江：数字经济"一号工程"激发"澎湃动力"-新华网 |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2019-07/29/c_1124812877.htm |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=www.xinhuanet.com}}</ref>

{{See also|Pearl farming in China}}

Ningbo, Wenzhou, [[Taizhou, Zhejiang|Taizhou]] and Zhoushan are important commercial ports. The [[Hangzhou Bay Bridge]] between [[Haiyan County, Zhejiang|Haiyan County]] and [[Cixi City|Cixi]], is the longest bridge over a continuous body of sea water in the world.

===Economic and Technological Development Zones===
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2020}}
* Huzhou Economic Development Zone
* Dinghai Industrial Park
* Hangzhou Economic & Technological Developing Area
* Hangzhou New & Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone
* Hangzhou Export Processing Zone
* Hangzhou Zhijiang National Tourist Holiday Resort
* Jiaxing Export Processing Zone
* Ningbo Economic and Technical Development Zone
* Ningbo Daxie Island Development Zone
* Ningbo Free Trade Zone
* Ningbo Export Processing Zone
* Quzhou Industrial Park
* Shenjia Economic and Technological Development Zone
* Wenzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone
* Xiaoshan Economic and Technological Development Zone
* Zhejiang Quzhou Hi-Tech Park
* Zhejiang Zhoushan Economic Development Zone
* Zhejiang Donggang Economic Development Zone
* [[Yuhuan Economic Development Zone|Zhejiang Yuhuan Economic Development Zone]]

===Economic and technological development concerns===
====Waste disposal====
On Thursday, September 15, 2011, more than 500 people from Hongxiao Village protested over the large-scale [[water pollution in China|death of fish in a nearby river]]. Angry protesters stormed the Zhejiang [[Jinko Solar]] Company factory compound, overturned eight company vehicles, and destroyed the offices before police came to disperse the crowd. Protests continued on the two following nights with reports of scuffles, officials said. Chen Hongming, a deputy head of [[Haining City|Haining]]'s environmental protection bureau, said the factory's waste disposal had failed  pollution tests since April. The environmental watchdog had warned the factory, but it had not effectively controlled the pollution, Chen added.<ref>{{cite news
|title= Protest over factory pollution in E China enters third day
|url= http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-09/18/content_13727154.htm
|agency= [[Xinhua]]
|newspaper= [[China Daily]]
|date= 18 September 2011
|access-date= 19 September 2011
|quote= Hangzhou - Hundreds of villagers in East China's Zhejiang Province protested for the third day on Saturday at a solar panel manufacturer, whose parent is a New York-listed firm, over concerns of its harmful wastes.
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110919095015/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-09/18/content_13727154.htm
|archive-date= 19 September 2011
|url-status= live
}}</ref>

==Demographics==
[[File:She ethnic county, townships and towns in Zhejiang.png|thumb|150px|She ethnic county, townships and towns in Zhejiang]]
Han Chinese make up the vast majority of the population and the largest Han subgroup are the [[Wuyue people|speakers of Wu varieties of Chinese]]. There are also 400,000 members of [[List of Chinese ethnic groups|ethnic minorities]], including approximately 200,000 [[She people]] and approximately 20,000 [[Hui Chinese]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.people.cn/data/province/Zhejiang.html|title=Country Profile: Zhejiang Province|date=11 February 2007|via=en.people.cn|access-date=12 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712053120/http://en.people.cn/data/province/Zhejiang.html|archive-date=12 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Jingning She Autonomous County]] in [[Lishui, Zhejiang|Lishui]] is the only She autonomous county in China.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ccpitzj.gov.cn/showlink_E.php?id=23 |title=China council for the promotion of international trade (ccpit)ZheJiang sub-council |publisher=Ccpitzj.gov.cn |access-date=2013-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110314014045/http://www.ccpitzj.gov.cn/showlink_E.php?id=23 |archive-date=14 March 2011 }}</ref>
{{Historical populations
|title       = Historical population
|align = none | cols = 2
|1912<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ja:1912年中国人口|url=http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo2.html|access-date=6 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924032922/http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo2.html|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>  |21,440,000
|1928<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ja:1928年中国人口|url=http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo3.htm|access-date=6 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924032924/http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo3.htm|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> |20,643,000
|1936-37<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ja:1936-37年中国人口|url=http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo4.htm|access-date=6 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924032925/http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo4.htm|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>|21,231,000
|1947<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ja:1947年全国人口|url=http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo5.htm|access-date=6 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913053600/http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo5.htm|archive-date=13 September 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> |19,959,000
|1954<ref name="census1954">{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16767.htm |script-title=zh:中华人民共和国国家统计局关于第一次全国人口调查登记结果的公报|publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805174810/http://www.stats.gov.cn/TJGB/RKPCGB/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16767.htm|archive-date=August 5, 2009}}</ref>|22,865,747
|1964<ref name="census1964">{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16768.htm|script-title=zh:第二次全国人口普查结果的几项主要统计数字|publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120914173158/http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16768.htm|archive-date=September 14, 2012}}</ref>|28,318,573
|1982<ref name="census1982">{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16769.htm |script-title=zh:中华人民共和国国家统计局关于一九八二年人口普查主要数字的公报 |publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510075429/http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16769.htm |archive-date=May 10, 2012}}</ref>|38,884,603
|1990<ref name="census1990">{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16772.htm |script-title=zh:中华人民共和国国家统计局关于一九九〇年人口普查主要数据的公报 |publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619002216/http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16772.htm |archive-date=June 19, 2012}}</ref>|41,445,930
|2000<ref name="census2000">{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020331_15435.htm |script-title=zh:现将2000年第五次全国人口普查快速汇总的人口地区分布数据公布如下 |publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829052024/http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020331_15435.htm |archive-date=August 29, 2012}}</ref>|45,930,651
|2010<ref name="census2010">{{cite web|url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/newsandcomingevents/t20110429_402722516.htm |title=Communiqué of the National Bureau of Statistics of People's Republic of China on Major Figures of the 2010 Population Census |publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727021210/http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/newsandcomingevents/t20110429_402722516.htm |archive-date=July 27, 2013}}</ref>|54,426,891
|2020<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/china-society-census-takeaways-idUSL4N2MY2I6|title = FACTBOX-Key takeaways from China's 2020 population census|newspaper = Reuters|date = 11 May 2021}}</ref>|64,567,588
}}

== Religion ==
{{Pie chart
|caption = Religion in Zhejiang<ref name="Wang2015">China General Social Survey 2009, Chinese Spiritual Life Survey (CSLS) 2007. Report by: [https://baylor-ir.tdl.org/baylor-ir/bitstream/handle/2104/9326/WANG-THESIS-2015.pdf?sequence=1 Xiuhua Wang (2015, p.&nbsp;15)]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925123928/https://baylor-ir.tdl.org/baylor-ir/bitstream/handle/2104/9326/WANG-THESIS-2015.pdf?sequence=1 |date=September 25, 2015}}</ref>{{NoteTag|The data was collected by the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) of 2009 and by the Chinese Spiritual Life Survey (CSLS) of 2007, reported and assembled by Xiuhua Wang (2015)<ref name="Wang2015" /> in order to confront the proportion of people identifying with two similar social structures: ① Christian churches, and ② the traditional Chinese religion of the lineage (i.e. people believing and worshipping ancestral deities often organised into [[Chinese lineage associations|lineage "churches"]] and [[ancestral shrine]]s). Data for other religions with a significant presence in China (deity cults, Buddhism, Taoism, folk religious sects, Islam, et al.) was not reported by Wang.}}
|label1 = Not religious / [[Chinese folk religion]] / [[Buddhism]] / [[Taoism]] / [[Confucianism]] / [[Chinese salvationist religions|folk sects]]{{NoteTag|May also include a tiny number of [[Muslims]].}}
|value1 = 74.36
|color1 = #C00000
|label2 = [[Chinese ancestral religion]]
|value2 = 23.02
|color2 = DarkSlateBlue
|label3 = [[Christianity]]
|value3 = 2.62
|color3 = DodgerBlue
}}
The predominant religions in Zhejiang are [[Chinese folk religion]]s, [[Taoism|Taoist traditions]] and [[Chinese Buddhism]]. According to surveys conducted in 2007 and 2009, 23.02% of the population believes and is involved in [[Chinese ancestral religion|ancestor veneration]], while 2.62% of the population identifies as Christian, decreasing from 3.92% in 2004.<ref name="Wang2015"/> The reports did not give figures for other types of religion; 74.36% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in [[Chinese folk religion|worship of nature deities]], Buddhism, [[Confucianism]], Taoism, [[Chinese salvationist religions|folk religious sects]]. As of the mid-2010s, Zhejiang has 34,880 registered folk religious temples greater than 20 sqm and 10,000 registered places of worship of the [[religion in China|five doctrines]] (Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/book/2017-01/03/c_129429866.htm |script-title=zh:"正名"后的民间信仰 浙江新制度共创社会文化效益 |work=[[Xinhua News Agency|Xinhua]] |date=2017-01-03 |access-date=2017-04-27 |archive-date=27 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427113232/http://news.xinhuanet.com/book/2017-01/03/c_129429866.htm |url-status=bot: unknown }}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Chen |first1=Jinguo |last2=Lin |first2=Minxia |url=http://www.gooread.com/article/20120526871/ |script-title=zh:如何走向"善治"：浙江省民間信仰"社會治理"轉型的反思 |editor-last1=Qiu |editor-first1=Yonghui |work=Chinese Religion Report - Religion Blue Book - 2015 Edition |publisher=Social Science Literature Publishing House |year=2016 |access-date=27 April 2017 |archive-date=27 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427113937/http://www.gooread.com/article/20120526871/ }}</ref><ref name="CZ20172">{{cite journal |last=Wenzel-Teuber |first=Katharina |title=Statistics on Religions and Churches in the People's Republic of China – Update for the Year 2016 |journal=Religions & Christianity in Today's China |volume=VII |number=2 |pages=26–53 |url=http://www.china-zentrum.de/fileadmin/downloads/rctc/2017-2/RCTC_2017-2.26-53_Wenzel-Teuber__Statistics_on_Religions_and_Churches_in_the_PRC_%E2%80%93_Update_for_the_Year_2016.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722112103/http://www.china-zentrum.de/fileadmin/downloads/rctc/2017-2/RCTC_2017-2.26-53_Wenzel-Teuber__Statistics_on_Religions_and_Churches_in_the_PRC_%E2%80%93_Update_for_the_Year_2016.pdf |archive-date=22 July 2017}}</ref>{{rp|35}}

In mid-2015 the government of Zhejiang recognised folk religion as "civil religion" beginning the formal registration of the province's folk religious temples under the aegis of the provincial Bureau of Folk Faith.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zjnews.zjol.com.cn/system/2015/04/16/020605163.shtml|script-title=zh:浙江省启动民间信仰活动场所登记编号 昨颁首张证书|trans-title=Zhejiang started yesterday to award registration certificates to folk religious activities|publisher=Zhejiang News|date=2015-04-16|access-date=19 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427121833/http://zjnews.zjol.com.cn/system/2015/04/16/020605163.shtml|archive-date=27 April 2017}}</ref> [[Buddhism]] has an important presence since its arrival in Zhejiang 1,800 years ago.<ref name="zjsmzw presentation">{{cite web|url=http://www.zjsmzw.gov.cn/Public/NewsInfo.aspx?type=5&id=94faf4c5-8838-4254-b8e4-ff20a136f857|script-title=zh:浙江省宗教概况|script-website=zh:浙江省民族宗教事务委员会access-date=29 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229105517/http://www.zjsmzw.gov.cn/Public/NewsInfo.aspx?type=5&id=94faf4c5-8838-4254-b8e4-ff20a136f857|archive-date=29 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Catholicism]] arrived 400 years ago in the province and [[Protestantism]] 150 years ago.<ref name="zjsmzw presentation"/> Zhejiang is one of the provinces of China with the largest concentrations of Protestants, especially notable in the city of [[Wenzhou]].<ref>Nanlai Cao. ''Constructing China's Jerusalem: Christians, Power and Place in the City of Wenzhou''. Stanford, Stanford University Press, 2010, 232 pp., Chapter One</ref> In 1999, Zhejiang's Protestant population comprised 2.8% of the provincial population, a small percentage but higher than the national average.<ref>Statistics for the Protestant Church: China, Chinese Theological Review, 14, p. 154.</ref>

The rapid development of religions in Zhejiang has driven the local committee of ethnic and religious affairs to enact policies to rationalise them<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zjsmzw.gov.cn/Public/NewsInfo.aspx?type=1&id=19ddc8ee-ea47-407b-80cf-bce5008331ee|script-title=zh:冯志礼主任动员我省基督教界支持参与"三改一拆"行动|script-website=zh:浙江省民族宗教事务委员会|access-date=5 September 2014|archive-date=25 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225200431/http://www.zjsmzw.gov.cn/Public/NewsInfo.aspx?type=1&id=19ddc8ee-ea47-407b-80cf-bce5008331ee}}</ref> in 2014, variously named "Three Remodelings and One Demolition" operations or "Special Treatment Work on Illegally Constructed Sites of Religious and Folk Religion Activities" according to the locality.<ref>[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-113hhrg89906/pdf/CHRG-113hhrg89906.pdf Congressional-Executive Commission on China's Annual Report 2014] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031192216/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-113hhrg89906/pdf/CHRG-113hhrg89906.pdf |date=31 October 2014 }}. p. 221</ref> These regulations have led to cases of demolition of churches and folk religion temples or the removal of crosses from churches' roofs and spires.<ref>Congressional-Executive Commission on China: [http://www.cecc.gov/publications/commission-analysis/zhejiang-government-launches-demolition-campaign-targets-christian Zhejiang Government Launches Demolition Campaign, Targets Christian Churches] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140918225804/http://www.cecc.gov/publications/commission-analysis/zhejiang-government-launches-demolition-campaign-targets-christian |date=18 September 2014 }}.</ref> An exemplary case was that of the [[Sanjiang Church]].<ref>{{Cite news|agency=Agence France-Presse|date=2014-04-28|title=China begins demolition of 'oversized' church|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/28/china-demolition-oversized-church-sanjiang|access-date=2021-02-08|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Despite English-language media focused on Christian churches, only 2.3% of the buildings affected by the regulations were Christian churches; most of them were folk religious temples.<ref name="CZ20172"/>{{rp|36}}

[[Islam]] arrived 1,400 years ago in Zhejiang. Today Islam is practiced by a small number of people including virtually all the [[Hui people|Hui Chinese]] living in Zhejiang.<ref name="zjsmzw presentation"/> In 2020, there are 117,000 Muslims in Zhejiang.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Zhejiang Muslim Population, Restaurant, Mosque in Hangzhou, Ningbo|url=https://www.topchinatravel.com/china-muslim/muslim-in-zhejiang.htm#:~:text=Muslim%20Population%20in%20Zhejiang&text=According%20to%20the%20statistics%20in,for%20more%20than%201,400%20years.|access-date=2021-07-27|website=www.topchinatravel.com}}</ref> Another religion present in the province is [[She people|She shamanism]] (practiced by [[She people|She]] ethnic minority).

{|
|-
|<gallery mode="packed" style="font-size:88%; line-height:130%">
File:Cangnan - Longgang - Dutianmiao - P1210230.JPG|Temple of All-Heaven (都天廟''Dōutiānmiào'') in Longgang, [[Cangnan County|Cangnan]], [[Wenzhou]]
File:2014.11.21.184448 Chenghuangmiao night Wushan Xihu Hangzhou.jpg|Temple of the [[Chenghuangshen]] (City God) of Hangzhou, by night, in Wushan, [[Xihu District, Hangzhou|Xihu]]
File:Bao Gong Temple in Ouhai, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.jpg|Temple of [[Bao Zheng|Bao Gong]] in [[Ouhai District|Ouhai]], Wenzhou
File:Statue of Buddha in Puji Temple on Putuo Shan island.JPG|[[Buddha]] altar in the Puji Temple of [[Mount Putuo]]
File:Jusheng Temple in Wuma, Lucheng, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.jpg|Jusheng Temple in Wuma, [[Lucheng District, Wenzhou|Lucheng]], Wenzhou
File:Temple of the King of Heaven in Little Putuo Buddhist Monastery in Yinzhou, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.jpg|Temple of the King of Heaven of the Little Putuo Buddhist Monastery in [[Yinzhou District, Ningbo|Yinzhou]], [[Ningbo]]
File: Yue Fei temple 1.jpg|Temple of [[Yue Fei]] in Hangzhou
File:Ounan Bridge - P1210194.JPG|Church in Aojiang, [[Pingyang County|Pingyang]], Wenzhou
File:Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Hangzhou - 1.jpg|Catholic Cathedral of Hangzhou, Hangzhou
</gallery>
|}

{{clear}}

==Media==
The [[Zhejiang Radio and Television Group|Zhejiang Radio & Television Group]], Hangzhou Radio & Television Group, Ningbo Radio & Television Group are the local broadcasters in Zhejiang Province.

==Culture==
{{Main|Wuyue culture}}

{{See also|Major national historical and cultural sites (Zhejiang)}}
{{multiple issues|section=yes|{{unreferenced section|date=July 2014}}
{{expand section|date=July 2014}}}}
[[File:shaoxing-ww-s.jpg|thumb|A boat on one of [[Shaoxing]]'s waterways, near the city center. North Zhejiang, known as the "Land of Fish and Rice", is characterized by its canals and waterways.]]

===Languages===
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2025}}
Zhejiang is mountainous and has therefore fostered the development of many distinct local cultures. Linguistically speaking, Zhejiang is extremely diverse. Most inhabitants of Zhejiang speak varieties of [[Wu Chinese|Wu]], but those Wu dialects are very diverse, especially in the south, where one valley may speak a dialect completely unintelligible to the next valley a few kilometers away. Other [[varieties of Chinese]] are spoken as well, mostly along the borders; [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] and [[Huizhou Chinese|Huizhou]] dialects are spoken on the border with Anhui, while [[Min Chinese|Min]] dialects are spoken on the border with Fujian. (See [[Hangzhou dialect]], [[Shaoxing dialect]], [[Ningbo dialect]], [[Wenzhou dialect]], [[Taizhou dialect]], [[Jinhua dialect]] and [[Quzhou dialect]] for more information)

Throughout history there have been a series of ''[[lingua franca]]s'' in the area to allow for better communication. The dialects spoken in Hangzhou, Shaoxing and Ningbo have taken on this role historically. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]], which is not mutually intelligible with any of the Wu dialects, has been promoted as the standard language of communication throughout China. As a result, most of the population now can, to some degree, speak and comprehend Mandarin and can [[Code-switching|code-switch]] when necessary. A majority of the population educated since 1978 can speak some Mandarin. Urban residents tend to be more fluent in Mandarin than rural people. Nevertheless, a Zhejiang accent is detectable in almost everyone from the area communicating in Mandarin and the home dialect remains an important part of the everyday lives and cultural identities of most Zhejiang residents.

===Music===
Zhejiang is the home of [[Yue opera]], one of the most prominent forms of [[Chinese opera]]. ''Yueju'' originated in [[Shengzhou]] and is traditionally performed by actresses only, in both male and female roles. Other important opera traditions include Yongju (of Ningbo), [[Shao opera]] (of [[Shaoxing]]), [[Ouju]] (of Wenzhou), [[Wuju]] (of [[Jinhua]]), Taizhou Luantan (of Taizhou) and Zhuji Luantan (of [[Zhuji]]).

===Cuisine===
[[File:Cangnan - Pacao - P1210261.JPG|thumb|Fish being dried dockside in Pacao Harbor, [[Cangnan County]]]]
Longjing tea (also called dragon well tea), originating in Hangzhou, is one of the most prestigious, if not ''the'' most prestigious Chinese tea. Hangzhou is also renowned for its silk umbrellas and hand fans. [[Zhejiang cuisine]] (itself subdivided into many traditions, including Hangzhou cuisine) is one of the eight great traditions of [[Chinese cuisine]].

Zhejiang cuisine (Zhe cuisine) is known for its refined preparation, fresh seasonal ingredients, and diverse regional styles. It is traditionally divided into Hangzhou, Shaoxing, and Ningbo styles. Hangzhou-style emphasizes freshness and elegance; Shaoxing favors fermented flavors from its famous rice wine culture; and Ningbo specializes in seafood.

Well-known Zhejiang dishes include:

* [[West Lake Fish in Vinegar Gravy]]
* [[Dongpo Pork]]
* [[Longjing prawns]]
* [[Beggar's Chicken]]
* Song Sister Fish Soup

Zhejiang cuisine is considered one of the Eight Culinary Traditions of China. Its influence is prominent in Chinese haute cuisine and continues to gain global recognition.<ref>[https://chinawink.com/my-delicious-journey-through-zhejiang-food-a-culinary-adventure-in-china/ A Comprehensive Guide to Zhejiang Cuisine]. chinawink.com. Retrieved 2025-04-12.</ref>

===Place names===
Since ancient times, north Zhejiang and neighboring south Jiangsu have been famed for their prosperity and opulence{{citation needed|date=December 2011}} and simply inserting north Zhejiang place names (Hangzhou, Jiaxing, etc.) into poetry gave an effect of dreaminess, a practice followed by many noted poets. In particular, the fame of Hangzhou (as well as [[Suzhou]] in neighboring Jiangsu province) has led to the popular saying: "Above there is heaven; below there is Suzhou and Hangzhou" ({{lang-zh|s=上有天堂，下有苏杭|labels=no}}), a saying that continues to be a source of pride for the people of these two still prosperous cities.

==Tourism==
[[File:Guoqingsi006r.jpg|thumb|The Hall of Five Hundred [[Arhat]]s at [[Guoqing Temple]]]]

Tourist destinations in Zhejiang include:
* [[Baoguo Temple (Ningbo)|Baoguo Temple]], one of the oldest intact wooden structures in Southern China, {{Convert|15|km|mi|sp=us}} north of Ningbo.
* [[Mount Putuo]], one of the most noted Buddhist mountains in China. Chinese Buddhists associate it with [[Guan Yin]].
* [[Qita Temple]], Ningbo.
* [[Shaoxing]], site of the Tomb of [[Yu the Great]],  [[Wuzhen]] and other waterway towns.
* The ancient capital of Hangzhou.
* [[Tiantai Mountain|Mount Tiantai]], a mountain important to Zen Buddhism.
* [[West Lake]], in Hangzhou.
* [[Yandangshan]], a mountainous scenic area near Wenzhou.
* [[Qiandao Lake]], lit. ''Thousand-island lake''.
* [[Guoqing Temple]], founded in the Sui dynasty, the founding location of [[Tiantai]] Buddhism
* [[Mount Mogan]], a scenic mountain an hour from Hangzhou with many pre-World War II villas built by foreigners, along with one of Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang compounds
* [[Zhejiang Museum of Natural History]], in Hangzhou.
* [[Taizhou Museum]], in Taizhou.
* [[Lu Xun Native Place]], in Shaoxing

==Sports==
Professional sports teams based in Zhejiang include:
* [[Chinese Basketball Association]]
** [[Zhejiang Golden Bulls]]
** [[Bayi Rockets]] (in Ningbo)
* [[Chinese Super League]]
** [[Zhejiang Professional F.C.]]

==Education and research==
Zhejiang is one of China's leading provinces in research and education. {{As of|2025}}, three major cities in Zhejiang ranked in the world's top 130 cities (Hangzhou 10th, Ningbo 85th and Wenzhou 130th) by scientific research output, as tracked by [[Nature Index]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leading 200 science cities {{!}} {{!}} Supplements {{!}} Nature Index |url=https://www.nature.com/nature-index/supplements/nature-index-2025-science-cities/tables/overall |access-date=2025-11-20 |website=www.nature.com}}</ref>

=== Colleges and universities ===
{{Main list|List of universities and colleges in Zhejiang
}}

* [[Zhejiang University]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|浙江大学}}; Hangzhou)
* [[Zhejiang Sci-Tech University]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|浙江理工大学}}; Hangzhou)
* [[China Academy of Art]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|中国美术学院}}; Hangzhou)
* [[Hangzhou Dianzi University]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|杭州电子科技大学}}; Hangzhou)
* [[China Jiliang University]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|中国计量大学}}; Hangzhou)
* [[Hangzhou Normal University]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|杭州师范大学}}; Hangzhou)
* [[Ningbo University]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|宁波大学}}; Ningbo)
* [[University of Nottingham Ningbo China]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|诺丁汉大学宁波校区}}; Ningbo)
* [[Zhejiang A & F University]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|浙江农林大学}}; Hangzhou)
* [[Zhejiang University of Technology]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|浙江工业大学}}; Hangzhou)
* [[Zhejiang Medical University]]
* [[Zhejiang Normal University]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|浙江师范大学}}; Jinhua)
* [[Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|浙江财经大学}}; Hangzhou)
* [[Zhejiang Gongshang University]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|浙江工商大学}}; Hangzhou)
* [[Shaoxing University]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|绍兴文理学院}}; Shaoxing)
* [[Wenzhou Medical University]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|温州医科大学}}; Wenzhou)
* Wenzhou Teachers College
* [[Wenzhou-Kean University]]
* Shaoxing College of Arts and Science
* Zhejiang Institute of Education
* Hangzhou Institute of Electronic Engineering
* Hangzhou University of Commerce
* Hangzhou Institute of Financial Managers

== Notable people ==
{{Main category|People from Zhejiang}}

* [[Wang Yangming]]: Ming dynasty philosopher
* [[Su Shi]]: Poet and writer from the Song era, also known as a government official who contributed to the maintenance of West Lake.

==See also==
* [[List of railway stations in Zhejiang]]
* [[Archives of Yuhuan]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}
{{NoteFoot}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
* [http://info.hktdc.com/mktprof/china/mpzhj.htm Economic profile of Zhejiang] at [[Hong Kong Trade Development Council|HKTDC]]
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
{{wikivoyage}}
* {{in lang|en|zh}} [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/4448 Complete Map of the Seven Coastal Provinces] from 1821 to 1850
* {{osmrelation-inline|553302}}

{{Geographic location
|Centre    = Zhejiang
|North     = [[Jiangsu]]
|Northeast = [[Shanghai]]
|East      = ''[[East China Sea]]''
|Southeast = 
|South     = [[Fujian]]
|Southwest = [[Jiangxi]]
|West      = 
|Northwest = [[Anhui]]
}}

{{Zhejiang topics}}
{{Zhejiang}}
{{Province-level divisions of the People's Republic of China}}
{{Provincial capitals of China}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Zhejiang| ]]
[[Category:Provinces of China]]
[[Category:East China]]
[[Category:Yangtze River Delta]]
[[Category:Jiangnan]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1368]]