General facts

Geographical facts

Tianjin, with Bohai Sea to its east and with Beijing and Hebei province to its west, lies on the North China Plain covering a land area of 11,917.3 square kilometers, including 153.3 kilometers of coastline.

As one of the four municipalities directly under the jurisdiction of the Central government and only 120 kilometers away from Beijing, capital of China, Tianjin serves as the largest port city in the north of China and a major channel for more than a dozen provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in the north to enable them to communicate with foreign countries.

Tianjin’s land slopes from the northwest mountain area to the lower southeast near the sea. Accounting for 94 percent of the total land area, the plain is generally 2 to 5 meters high above sea level. In the most northern part of Tianjin, the upland areas south of Yanshan Mountain are generally 100 to 500 meters high above sea level, with the highest point of 1,078.5 meters at Jiushanding Mountain.

Weather and climate

Tianjin has a sub-humid continental monsoon climate. The four seasons are very distinct. In spring, it is dry, windy, with fluctuating temperatures. In summer, the subtropical high in the Northwest Pacific often brings southerly wind, as well as high temperatures and humidity, accompanied with rain. In autumn, the sky is usually clear, bright and sunny. In winter, controlled by the Mongolian cold front, Tianjin receives northwesterly winds, which brings cold and dry weather.

The annual precipitation is 566 mm, about 85 percent of which is concentrated in summer and autumn. The average annual sunshine duration is 2,471—2,769 hours. The average wind speed is 2.3 m/s. The average temperature in Tianjin is 11.4°C—12.9°C. In January, the coldest month, the average temperature is -5.4°C—-3.0°C, while in July, the hottest month, the average temperature is 25.9°C—26.7°C.

Spring, from March to May, is windy and rainless. Temperature changes constantly and will dramatically increase after April.

Summer, from June to August, is hot, humid and sunny. People often refer to Tianjin's muggy days as 'sauna day'.

Autumn, from September to November, is generally warm and comfortable yet at night it can be slightly cold.

Winter, from December to February, is chilly and dry. It could be snowy and temperatures can be as low as -10.0°C—-20.0°C during a windy day.

Natural resources

Tianjin enjoys a rich supply of natural resources including soil, petroleum, gas, sea salt, minerals and geothermal resources.

Soil resources: Tianjin 7,169.9 square kilometers of land for agricultural use, accounting for 60.2 percent of the total land area of Tianjin, 4,497.3 square kilometers is arable land. In Tianjin Binhai New Area, there is about 1,200 square kilometers of fertile land and mudflats.

Oil and gas resources: Bohai and Dagang Oilfield are key oil and gas fields in China, with a proven reserve of 4 billion tons of petroleum. The oil fields cover an area of more than 100 square kilometers and their annual output of natural crude oil reached 33.3273 million tons in 2010.The proven geological reserves of natural gas is more than 150 billion cubic meters. In 2010, the annual output of natural gas reached 1.719 billion cubic meters.

Sea salt resources: Changlu Salt Field, the most famous sea salt production base in China, is located in Tianjin. In 2010, this salt field turned around 2.076 million tons of crude salt.

Minerals resources: There are over 20 kinds of metallic minerals, including jimboite, manganese, gold, tungsten, molybdenum, copper, zinc, iron, etc. Non-metallic minerals include cement limestone, barite, stacked stone, marble, natural stone, purple clay, medical stone, etc. They all have high exploitation values.

Geothermal Resources: Ten zones with geothermal resources have been discovered, with a total area of 2,434 square kilometers; the water temperature ranges from 30°C—90°C.

Demography and ethnicity

At the end of 2010, the population in Tianjin totaled 12.9929 million, 711,300 more from the year earlier. Of the total resident population, 10.3359 million were urban residents while 2.657 million were rural residents. In 2010, the city’s fresh workers received an average education of 14.68 years.

Tianjin gathers people with diverse ethnic background. There are 50 out of total 56 different nationalities in Tianjin, among which Han is the nationality that has the largest population accounting for 97 percent of Tianjin’s entire population. Approximately 300,000 residents belong to the other 49 minority groups. Hui has the largest population accounting for 65 percent of the total population of the 49 minority groups. Other minority groups that have population over 1,000 are Manchu, Mongol, Korean, Zhuang, Tujia, Miao, and Zang.

Minority groups started to settle in Tianjin as early as the Yuan Dynasty and stayed through the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty to the present day. After People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, especially after the reform and opening up along with the rapid economic development, an increasing number of people from minority groups have come to Tianjin seeking business, employment, and education opportunities. People with different ethnic backgrounds live in Tianjin harmoniously with the government respecting customs of minority groups, securing their legal rights, developing their economy, promoting their cultures, and providing equal education for them. e. Administrative Districts

Tianjin makes up of 13 districts and counties.

Central districts: Heping District, Hedong District, Hexi District, Nankai District, Hebei District, and Hongqiao District;

Other districts: Tianjin Binhai New Area, Dongli District, Xiqing District, Jinnan District, Beichen District, Wuqing District, and Baodi District;

Counties: Ninghe County, Jinghai County, and Ji County.

Friendship cities