Description
The Yangtze Delta or Yangtze River Delta ( YRD , Chinese: 长江三角洲 or simply Chinese: 长三角) is a triangle-shaped megalopolis generally comprising the Wu Chinese-speaking areas of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang and northern Jiangxi. The area lies in the heart of the Jiangnan region (literally, "south of the River"), where the Yangtze River drains into the East China Sea. Having fertile soil, the Yangtze Delta abundantly produces grain, cotton, hemp and tea. In 2018, the Yangtze Delta had a GDP of approximately US$2.2 trillion, about the same size as Italy.
The urban build-up in the area has given rise to what may be the largest concentration of adjacent metropolitan areas in the world. It covers an area of around 100,000 square kilometres (39,000 sq mi) and is home to over 115 million people as of 2013, of whom an estimated 83 million are urban. If based on the greater Yangtze Delta zone, it has over 140 million people in this region. With about a tenth of China's population and a fifth of the country's GDP, the YRD is one of the fastest growing and richest regions in East Asia measured by purchasing power parity.
