Fuzhou, alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area.
Fuzhou lies on the north bank of the estuary of Fujian's largest river, the Min River. All along its northern border lies Ningde, and Ningde's Gutian County lies upriver. Its population was 7,115,370 inhabitants as of the 2010 census, of whom 4,408,076 inhabitants are urban representing around 61.95%, while rural population is at 2,707,294 representing around 38.05%. As of 31 December 2018, the total population was estimated at 7,740,000 whom 4,665,000 lived in the built-up area made of 5 urban districts plus Minhou County. In 2015, Fuzhou was ranked as the 10th fastest growing metropolitan area in the world by Brookings Institution.
Fuzhou is listed as No. 20 in China
Integrated City Index 2016's total ranking, a study conducted by National Development and Reform Commission.
Fuzhou is also a major city for scientific research, appearing in the global top 100 cities as tracked by the Nature Index.