Dalian

Dalian (/dɑːˈljɛn/ dah-LYEN) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang and Harbin). Located on the southern tip of the Liaodong peninsula, it is the southernmost city in both Liaoning and the entire Northeast. Dalian borders the prefectural cities of Yingkou and Anshan to the north and Dandong to the northeast, and also shares maritime boundaries with Qinhuangdao and Huludao across the Liaodong Bay to the west and northwest, Yantai and Weihai on the Shandong peninsula across the Bohai Strait to the south, and North Korea across the Korea Bay to the east.

As of the 2020 census, its total population was 7,450,785 inhabitants of whom 5,106,719 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of 6 out of 7 urban districts, Pulandian District not being conurbated yet.

Today, Dalian is a financial, shipping, and logistics center for East Asia. The city has a significant history of use by foreign powers for its ports. Dalian was previously known as "Dalniy" (Russian: Дальний; Dal'nii), "Dairen" (Japanese: 大連), and "Lüda" or "Luta" (Chinese: 旅大; pinyin: Lǚdà). The city used to be better known as "Port Arthur" and "Ryojun" (Japanese: 旅順) from the original Port Arthur, now the city's Lüshunkou district.

In 2016, Dalian ranked 48th in the Global Financial Centres Index. In 2012, Dalian ranked 82nd in the Global City Competitiveness Index^{[broken anchor]}. In 2006, Dalian was named China's most livable city by China Daily. It is now a Beta-level City under the Globalization and World Cities Research Network classification. The large amount of port traffic makes Dalian a Large-Port Metropolis.

Dalian is one of the top 40 science cities in the world by scientific research as tracked by the Nature Index, ranking 37th globally in 2023. The city is home to several major universities, notably Dalian University of Technology and Dalian Maritime University, members of China's prestigious universities in the Project 211, and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Modern Dalian originated from Qingniwa (traditional Chinese: 青泥窪; simplified Chinese: 青泥洼; pinyin: Qīngníwā; lit. 'green/blue mud swamp') or Qingniwaqiao (青泥窪橋; 青泥洼桥; Qīngníwāqiáo; 'bridge over the green/blue mud swamp'), a small Chinese fishing village. The Russian Empire built a commercial town after coercing a lease of the area from the Qing dynasty in 1898 and called it Dalny (Russian: Дальний, romanized: Dal'nij — "a remote one" or "far-away", in reference to the town's location, rendered in Chinese as 達里尼; 达里尼; Dálǐní) from 1898 to 1905. After the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, Japan occupied the area as the Kwantung Leased Territory and renamed the city Dairen (Japanese: 大連/だいれん), which is the on'yomi (Sino-Japanese reading) of the Chinese name for Dalian Bay (simplified Chinese: 大连湾; traditional Chinese: 大連灣; pinyin: Dàlián Wān) — a name in use since at least 1879.^{[citation needed]} English-language sources called the city Dairen in this period (1905–1945), from Japanese.

In 1950, Dalian, back in Chinese control, merged with the nearby town called Lüshun (traditional Chinese: 旅順; simplified Chinese: 旅顺; formerly Ryojun and before that, Port Arthur) to form the city of Lüda (旅大; Lǚdà), a name (formed from the first syllable of each constituent's name) which was usually rendered as Luta in English during that era. In 1981, the Chinese State Council again renamed the city from Lüda back to Dalian (大連; 大连; Dàlián), effective 5 March 1981.

In the Qin and Han empires (221 BC – AD 220), the Chinese empire annexed Dalian Peninsula from the Korean state. During the Sixteen Kingdoms era (3rd through 5th centuries), the Korean state of Goguryeo controlled this region. In the early Tang dynasty (618–907), the Dalian region formed part of Andong Prefecture in Jili state; during the Liao dynasty (916–1125), it was a part of Dong Jing Tong Liaoyang county. Dalian was named Sanshan in the period of Wei Jin (220–420), San Shanpu in the Tang dynasty (618–907), Sanshan Seaport in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), and Qingniwakou during the early modern era.