| Shantou | |
| Native Name: | 汕头市 |
| Native Name Lang: | zh-Hans |
| Other Name: | Swatow; Shantow |
| Settlement Type: | Prefecture-level city |
| Image Map1: | Guangdong subdivisions - Shantou.svg |
| Map Caption1: | Location of Shantou City jurisdiction in Guangdong |
| Pushpin Map: | China |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in China |
| Coor Pinpoint: | Shantou municipal government |
| Coordinates: | 23.354°N 116.682°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | People's Republic of China |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Guangdong |
| Seat Type: | Municipal seat |
| Seat: | Jinping District |
| Leader Title: | CPC Committee Secretary |
| Leader Name: | Fang Lixu (Chinese: 方利旭) |
| Leader Title1: | Mayor |
| Leader Name1: | Zheng Jiange (Chinese: 郑剑戈) |
| Area Total Km2: | 2248.39 |
| Area Metro Km2: | 9297.1 |
| Elevation M: | 51 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 5502031 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 census |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Urban: | 4,312,192 |
| Population Metro: | 12543024 |
| Population Metro Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Density Metro Km2: | auto |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Major Nationalities |
| Population Blank1: | Han |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Language |
| Blank Info Sec1: | Min |
| Blank2 Name Sec1: | Local dialect |
| Blank2 Info Sec1: | Swatow dialect |
| Demographics Type2: | GDP |
| Demographics2 Info1: | CN¥ 293 billion US$ 45.4 billion |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Per capita |
| Demographics2 Info2: | CN¥ 53,106 US$ 8,232 |
| Timezone: | China Standard |
| Utc Offset: | +8 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal Code |
| Postal Code: | 515000, 515041 |
| Area Code: | 754 |
| Iso Code: | CN-GD-05 |
| Blank Name: | License Plate Prefix |
| Blank Info: | Chinese: 粤D |
| Pic: | ST name.svg |
| Piccap: | "Shàntóu", as written in Chinese |
| Picsize: | 125px |
| Psp: | Swatow |
| Order: | st |
| P: | Shàntóu |
| Teo: | Suan1tao5 |
| Poj: | Sòaⁿ-thâu |
| Ipa: | sũã˧ tʰaʊ˥ |
| J: | Saan3 tau4 |
| Y: | Saantàuh |
| Wuu: | Sae去deu平 |
| H: | Sân-thèu |
| Showflag: | teo |
Shantou, alternately romanized as Swatow[3] [4] and sometimes known as Santow,[5] is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 2020 census (5,391,028 in 2010) and an administrative area of . However, its built-up (or metro) area is much bigger with 12,543,024 inhabitants including Rongcheng and Jiedong districts, Jiexi county and Puning city in Jieyang plus all of Chaozhou city largely conurbated. This is de facto the 5th built-up area in mainland China between Hangzhou-Shaoxing (13,035,026 inhabitants), Xi'an-Xianyang (12,283,922 inhabitants) and Tianjin (11,165,706 inhabitants).
Shantou, a city significant in 19th-century Chinese history as one of the treaty ports established for Western trade and contact, was one of the original special economic zones of China established in the 1980s, but did not blossom in the manner that cities such as Shenzhen, Xiamen and Zhuhai did. However, it remains eastern Guangdong's economic centre, and is home to Shantou University, which is under the provincial Project 211 program in Guangdong.
Shantou was a fishing village part of Tuojiang Du, Jieyang County during the Song dynasty. It came to be known as Xialing during the Yuan dynasty. In 1563, Shantou became a part of Chenghai County in Chao Prefecture (Chaozhou). As early as 1574, Shantou had been called Shashanping . In the seventeenth century, a cannon platform called Shashantou Cannon was made here, and the place name later was shortened to "Shantou". Locally it has been referred to as Kialat.
Connecting to Shantou across the Queshi Bridge is Queshi which had been known by the local people through the 19th century as Kakchio. It was the main site for the American and British consulates. Today the area is a scenic park but some of the structures from its earlier history are somewhat preserved. In 1860, Shantou was opened for foreigners and became a trading port according to Treaty of Tientsin.[6]
It became a city in 1919, and was separated from Chenghai in 1921. 1922 saw the devastating Swatow Typhoon, which killed 5,000 out of the 65,000 people then inhabiting the city.[7] Some nearby villages were totally destroyed.[8] Several ships near the coast were totally wrecked.[9] Other ones were blown as far as two miles inland.[8] The area around the city had around another 50,000 casualties.[9] The total death toll was above 60,000,[10] and may have been higher than 100,000.[9]
In the 1930s, as a transport hub and a merchandise distribution centre in Southeast China, Shantou Port's cargo throughput ranked third in the country. A brief account of a visit to the city in English during this period is the English accountant Max Relton's A Man in the East: A Journey through French Indo-China (Michael Joseph Ltd., London, 1939). On 21 June 1939, Japanese troops invaded Shantou.[11] Japanese forces occupied Shantou until 15 August 1945.[12] The Communist People's Liberation Army captured Shantou on 24 October 1949, 23 days after the People's Republic of China was founded.[13]
With higher-level administrative authority, Shantou governed Chaozhou City and Jieyang City from 1983 to 1989.[14]
Shantou is located in eastern Guangdong with latitude spanning 23°02′33″ – 23°38′50″ N and longitude 116°14′40″ – 117°19′35″ E; the Tropic of Cancer passes through the northern part of the city, and along it there is a monument, in fact the easternmost in mainland China, at 23.4424°N 116.5889°W.[15] The highest peak in the city's administration is Mount Dajian (Chinese: 大尖山) on Nan'ao Island, at 587m (1,926feet); the highest peak on the geographic mainland is Mount Lianhua (Chinese: 莲花山), at 562m (1,844feet) in Chenghai District. The city is located at the mouths of the Han, Rong (Chinese: 榕江), and Lian Rivers.
Shantou is 301km (187miles) northeast of Hong Kong.[16]
Shantou has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), with short, mild to warm winters, and long, hot, humid summers. Winter begins sunny and dry but becomes progressively wetter and cloudier. Spring is generally overcast, while summer brings the heaviest rains of the year though is much sunnier; there are 8.2 days annually with 50mm of rainfall. Autumn is sunny and dry. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 14.7°C in January to 29.1°C in July, and the annual mean is 22.58°C. The annual rainfall is around 1618mm, about 60% of which occurs from May to August. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 28% in March to 58% in July and October, the city receives 1,979 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from 0.3°C (unofficial record of -0.6°C was set on 18 January 1893) to 38.8°C.[17]