Shanghai is one of the four direct-controlled municipalities of People's Republic of China, and is further divided into 16 districts. Seven of the administrative districts together make up Shanghai's "urban core", and there is no single "city centre" district amongst them, although Huangpu District contains most of the traditional city centre area of Shanghai. Today's Huangpu is the result of the mergers of three old districts: the original Huangpu District merged with Nanshi District in 2000, and in 2011 Luwan District also merged into Huangpu. Huangpu District is now the location of the municipal government headquarters, The Bund (the traditional financial district), and well-known shopping areas including Nanjing Road, Huaihai Road, and Xintiandi. Across the Huangpu River, Pudong includes Lujiazui, the financial center of Shanghai as well as China, and has been undergoing rapid development since its formation in 1992. In April 2009 Nanhui District was merged into Pudong.Chinese Shanghai Statistical Yearbook 2010 Other prominent business and shopping areas include Xujiahui in Xuhui District, Jing'an Temple in Jing'an District, Hongqiao in Changning District, Wujiaochang in Yangpu District, and North Sichuan Road in Hongkou District. Many universities in Shanghai are located in Yangpu, Minhang, and Songjiang Districts.
Seven of the districts are situated in Puxi (literally Huangpu West), or the older part of urban Shanghai on the west bank of the Huangpu River. These seven districts are collectively referred to as the "urban area" of Shanghai () or the city centre (). Additionally, Pudong New Area (on the east bank of the Huangpu River) is also included within the zone enclosed by the S20 Shanghai Outer Ring Expressway, and so is sometimes considered to be the eighth city centre district.
Chongming, Changxing, Hengsha, and Yuansha Islands at the mouth of the Yangtze River are governed by Chongming District.
Administrative divisions All of these administrative divisions are explained in greater detail at Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China. This chart lists only county-level divisions of Shanghai. County LevelNameS. ChineseHanyu PinyinDivision codeArea (km2)Population (2023 census)Density (/km2) Huangpu DistrictHuangpu District's area and population are the sums of Huangpu and Luwan districts in sources, as the two merged in 2011. 310101 HGP 20.46 504,700 24,668 Xuhui District 310104 XHI 54.76 1,109,800 20,267 Changning District 310105 CNQ 38.30 694,900 18,144 Jing'an District 310106 JAQ 36.88 936,500 25,393 Putuo District 310107 PTQ 54.83 1,239,100 22,599 Hongkou District 310109 HKQ 23.48 687,500 29,280 Yangpu District 310110 YPU 60.73 1,210,800 19,937 Pudong New Area 310115 PDX 1,210.41 5,811,100 4,801 Minhang District 310112 MHQ 370.75 2,716,600 7,327 Baoshan District 310113 BAO 270.99 2,265,900 8,362 Jiading District 310114 JDG 464.20 1,886,100 4,063 Jinshan District 310116 JSH 586.05 822,700 1,404 Songjiang District 310117 SOJ 605.64 1,973,500 3,259 Qingpu District 310118 QPU 670.14 1,278,800 1,908 Fengxian District 310120 FXI 687.39 1,144,300 1,665 Chongming District 310151 CMG 1,185.49 592,200 500
Further divisions
As of 2009, these administrative divisions are further divided into the following 210 township-level divisions: 109 towns, 2 townships, 99 subdistricts. Those are in turn divided into the following village-level divisions: 3,640 neighborhood committees and 1,722 village committees.Shanghai Statistical Yearbook 2010 - Administrative Division
Recent changes in administrative divisions Date Before After Note Reference 1980-10-30 Baoshan County Wusong District established 1981-02-22 Xuhui District Minhang District established Shanghai County established 1988-01-12 Baoshan County Baoshan District reorganized Wusong District merged into 1992-09-26 Shanghai County Minhang District merged into State Council 130 1992-10-11 Chuansha County Pudong New Area reorganized State Council 145 Nanshi District Huangpu District Yangpu District Jiading County Jiading District reorganized State Council 147 1997-04-29 Jinshan County Jinshan District reorganized State Council 29 1998-04-29 Songjiang County Songjiang District reorganized State Council 16 1999-09-16 Qingpu County Qingpu District reorganized State Council 113 2000-06-13 Nanshi District Huangpu District merged into State Council 65 2001-01-09 Fengxian County Fengxian District reorganized State Council 2 Nanhui County Nanhui District reorganized State Council 3 2009-04-24 Nanhui District Pudong New Area merged into State Council 52 2011-05-20 Luwan District Huangpu District merged into State Council 59 2015-10-13 Zhabei District Jing'an District merged into State Council 183 2016-06-08 Chongming County Chongming District reorganized State Council 97
Historical divisions
Republic of China era (c.1945-1949) County / City Present division Shanghai City Huangpu, Xuhui, Changning,Jing'an, Putuo, Hongkou,Yangpu Shanghai County, Jiangsu Minhang Songjiang County, Jiangsu Songjiang Nanhui County, Jiangsu Pudong Qingpu County, Jiangsu Qingpu Fengxian County, Jiangsu Fengxian Jinshan County, Jiangsu Jinshan Chuansha County, Jiangsu Pudong Jiading County, Jiangsu Jiading Baoshan County, Jiangsu Baoshan Chongming County, Jiangsu Chongming
References