Shandong

Shandong is a coastal province in East China which has played a major role in the development of Chinese civilization and culture as it has served as a pivotal cultural and religious center for Taoism, Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism. Shandong's Mount Tai is the most revered mountain of Taoism and a site with one of the longest histories of continuous religious worship in the world. The Buddhist temples in the mountains south of the provincial capital of Jinan were once among the foremost Buddhist sites in China. The city of Qufu was the birthplace of Confucius, and later became the center of Confucianism.

Shandong's location at the intersection of ancient and modern north–south and east–west trading routes has helped establish it as an economic center. After a period of political instability and economic hardship beginning in the late 19th century, Shandong has experienced rapid growth in recent decades. Home to over 100 million inhabitants, Shandong is the world's sixth-most populous subnational entity, and China's second-most populous province. The economy of Shandong is China's third-largest provincial economy with a GDP of CN¥8.3 trillion (US$1.3 trillion) in 2021, equivalent to the GDP of Mexico. If considered among sovereign states, Shandong would rank as the 15th-largest economy and the 15th-most populous as of 2021^[update]. Its GDP per capita is slightly above the national average.

Shandong is one of China's leading provinces in education and research. It has 153 higher education institutions, ranking second in East China after Jiangsu and fourth among all Chinese first-level divisions after Jiangsu, Guangdong and Henan. As of 2024^[update], the Nature Index ranked two major cities in Shandong (Jinan #31 and Qingdao #38) in the global top 40 cities by scientific research output.

The name Shandong (山东) literally translates to "east of the mountain," from 'mountain' (山) and 'east' (东), the name first came into being in Jin Dynasty, when two circuits of Shandong were created. The name refers to the province's location to the east of the Taihang Mountains. It counterpart is Shanxi, which literally means 'west of the mountains' and locates in the western side of Taihang Mountains.

A common nickname for Shandong is Qilu (齐鲁; 齊魯), from the states of Qi and Lu that existed in the area during the Spring and Autumn period. Whereas Qi was a major political power, Lu played only a minor political role but became renowned as the home of Confucius, and its cultural influence came to eclipse that of Qi. The cultural legacy of Lu is reflected in the province's official abbreviation of Lǔ (鲁; 魯).

The province's old spelling is Shantung, which can be seen in Shantungosuchus, Shantungosaurus and Shantung fabric.^{[citation needed]}

With its location on the eastern edge of the North China Plain, Shandong was home to a succession of Neolithic cultures for millennia, including the Houli (c. 6500–5500 BC), Beixin (c. 5300–4100 BC), Dawenkou (c. 4100–2600 BC), Longshan (c. 3000–2000 BC), and Yueshi cultures (c. 1900–1500 BC).

The Shang and Zhou dynasties exerted varying degrees of control over western Shandong, while eastern Shandong was inhabited by Dongyi peoples, who were considered barbarians by the inhabitants of the Central Plain. Following the annexation of Lai [zh] by the state of Qi in 567 BC, the Dongyi gradually became sinicized.