Geography of Shanghai

The geography of Shanghai is characterised by its location on the Yangtze River Delta on China's east coast and its proximity to the Pacific Ocean via the East China Sea. The city is centred on the Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, and extends outwards in all directions, with the suburbs and satellite towns reaching east to the East China Sea, north and west to Jiangsu province, and south to Zhejiang province over Hangzhou Bay. The vast majority of Shanghai's land area is flat, apart from a few hills in the southwest corner, due to its location on the alluvial plain of the Yangtze's river delta. The city has many rivers and lakes and is known for its rich water resources, and thanks to its coastal, riverside location and warm climate ensuring ice-free waters, provides easy access to China's interior, resulting in Shanghai being the world's largest port. Shanghai is located in the middle of China's east coast, near the mouth of the Yangtze River, being one of the core cities in the Yangtze River Delta region and one of the coastal cities in China. It is bordered by the Yangtze River to the north, the East China Sea to the east, Hangzhou Bay to the south, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces to the west. The city is roughly equidistant to Beijing and Hong Kong, and is located at , roughly the same latitude as San Diego, New Orleans, Bermuda, Marrakech, Cairo, Jerusalem, and Lahore. Cities within mainland China that lie on approximately the same longitude include Fuxin, Jinzhou, Dalian, Yantai, Ningbo, and Taizhou (Zhejiang). The municipality lies about due north of Taipei and Manila. Latitude: 30° 42' to 31° 52' N Longitude: 120° 52' to 121° 58' E Municipality: Total: Land: Water: Shanghai contains of rivers and streams and is part of the Lake Tai drainage area. Suzhou Creek is long and has an average width of 70 to 80 meters, while the Huangpu River is long and is around 400 meters wide. Shanghai's development of the deep-water port of Yangshan in Zhejiang was made necessary by the increasing size of container ships but also the silting of the Yangtze, which narrows to less than as far out as from Hengsha.