Guiyang (gwei'jaeN; ; Mandarin pronunciation: gui4.yang2), historically rendered as Kweiyang, is the capital of Guizhou province of the People's Republic of China. It is located in the center of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and on the north bank of the Nanming River, a branch of the Wu River. The city has an elevation of about . It has an area of . At the 2020 census, its population was 5,987,018, out of whom 4,506,134 lived in the six urban districts.
A city with humid subtropical climate, Guiyang is surrounded by mountains and forest. The area, inhabited since at least the Spring and Autumn period, formally became the capital of the surrounding province in 1413, during the Yuan dynasty. The city is home to a large Miao and Bouyei ethnic minority population. Guiyang has a diversified economy, traditionally a center for aluminum production, phosphate mining, and optical instrument manufacturing. Following reforms, the majority of the city's economic output in the services sector. Since 2015, it has seen targeted investments into big data and quickly emerged as a local innovation hub.
Guiyang is one of the top 500 science cities in the world by scientific research outputs, as tracked by the Nature Index. The city is also home to Guizhou University, a national research university under the Project 211 and under the Double First Class Status in certain disciplines.
The valley approximating present-day Guiyang has been inhabited since the Spring and Autumn period. Guiyang was a 7th-century military outpost under the Sui and Tang, when the area around it was known as Juzhou (). It grew into a city named Shunyuan () under the Mongolian Yuan dynasty sometime between their 1279 southwestern campaigns and 1283. By the time Guizhou became a full province in 1413, its capital at Guiyang was also known as Guizhou. It became a prefectural seat under the Ming and Qing. Guiyang grew rapidly during the development of the southwest that occurred after the Japanese invasion of China during World War II.