Chaohu was formerly a prefecture-level city and is now a county-level city in central Anhui province, People's Republic of China. Embracing the Lake Chao, from which the city was named, Chaohu borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the northwest, Lu'an to the west, Anqing to the southwest, Tongling to the south, Wuhu to the southeast, and Ma'anshan and the province of Jiangsu to the east.