Shijiazhuang (,Si:dZi@'dZwaeN,_S3r-; ; Mandarin: shi2.jia1.zhuang1), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijing, and it administers eight districts, two county-level cities, and 12 counties.
As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 11,235,086, with 6,230,709 in the built-up (or metro) area comprising all urban districts but Jingxing District not agglomerated and Zhengding County largely conurbated with the Shijiazhuang metropolitan area as urbanization continues to proliferate. Shijiazhuang's total population ranked twelfth in mainland China.
Shijiazhuang experienced dramatic growth after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The population of the metropolitan area has more than quadrupled in 30 years as a result of industrialization and infrastructural developments. From 2008 to 2011, Shijiazhuang implemented a three-year plan which concluded with the reorganization of the city, resulting in an increase of green areas and new buildings and roads. A train station, airport and a subway system have been opened.
Shijiazhuang is situated east of the Taihang Mountains, a mountain range extending over from north to south with an average elevation of .
The city's present name, Shijiazhuang (), first appeared during the Ming dynasty. Its literal meaning is "Shi family's village". The word Shijiazhuang was generally used after construction of the Shijiazhuang station of the Zhengtai Railway in 1907.
The origin of the name is heavily disputed. One story claimed that the Wanli Emperor sent 24 officers and their families to the area, after which the group splits into two settlements consisting of 10 and 14 families. The imperial court then named the settlements "village of 10 families" () and "village of 14 families" (), respectively. Since the Chinese characters for ten () and stone () are homophones, it is speculated that the city name gradually evolved into its current spelling.