Xingtai (simplified Chinese: 邢台; pinyin: Xíngtái; Wade-Giles: Hsingtai) is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, China. The prefecture-level city of Xingtai, with a total area of 12,486 square kilometers, administers 2 districts, 2 county-level cities and 15 counties. In 2004 it had an urban population of 561,400 and a total population of 6.73 million. It borders Shijiazhuang and Hengshui in the north, Handan in the south, and the provinces of Shandong and Shanxi in the east and west respectively.
Administrative divisions
History
Xingtai is the oldest City in North China. The history of Xingtai can be traced back 3500 years ago. During the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC ), Xingtai functioned as a capital city. During the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC-256 BC), the state of Xing (邢) was founded in the city from which its present-day name derives. During the Warring States Period (473 BC-221 BC), the state of Zhao made Xingtai its provisional capital. The city was known as Xindu for most of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC) but after the Battle of Julu (in modern Xingtai, 207 BC) it became known as Xiangguo, the capital of the state of Zhao (Changshan). When the Later Zhao (a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms, 319-351) was founded by Shi Le of the Jie ethnicity, the capital was again at Xiangguo. During the Sui (580-630) and Tang (630-907) Dynasties, the city was known as Xingzhou. From the times of the Yuan Dynasty (Mongol, 1271-1368) to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties, Xingtai was called Shundefu (Wade-Giles: Shuntehfu), and functioned as a prefecture in China.
Xingtai earthquake
A major earthquake, known as the Xingtai Earthquake, with magnitude 6.8 on the Richter scale and epicenter in Longyao County occurred in the early morning of March 8, 1966. It was followed by 5 earthquakes above magnitude 6 on the Richter scale that lasted until March 29, 1966. The strongest of these quakes had a magnitude of 7.2 and took place in the southeastern part of Ningjin County on March 22. The earthquake damage included 8,064 dead, 38,000 injured and more than 5 million destroyed houses[1].
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Coordinates: 37°04′N 114°29′E / 37.067°N 114.483°E / 37.067; 114.483
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