Nanjing, formerly romanized as Nanking and Nankin, is a city situated in the heartland of the lower Yangtze River region in China, which has long been a major centre of culture, education, research, politics, economy, transport networks and tourism. It is the capital city of Jiangsu province of People's Republic of China and the second largest city in the east China region, with acreage about 6600 square kilometers and a total population of 8,230,000.