,
formerly written Ningpo, is a
sub-provincial city in northeast
Zhejiang province in the
People's Republic of China. It comprises the urban districts of Ningbo proper, three
satellite cities, and a number of rural counties including islands in
Hangzhou Bay and the
East China Sea.
Its port, spread across several locations, is among the busiest in the world and the municipality possesses a separate state-planning status. As of the
2010 census, the entire administrated area had a population of 7.6 million, with 3.5 million in the six urban districts of Ningbo proper. To the north, Hangzhou Bay separates Ningbo from
Shanghai; to the east lies
Zhoushan in the
East China Sea; on the west and south, Ningbo borders
Shaoxing and
Taizhou respectively.