Wenzhou is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province in the People's Republic of China. Wenzhou is located at the extreme south east of Zhejiang Province with its borders connecting to Lishui on the west, Taizhou on the north, and Fujian to the south. It is surrounded by mountains, the East China Sea, and 436 islands, while its lowlands are almost entirely along its East China Sea coast, which is nearly 355 kilometres in length. Most of Wenzhou's area is mountainous as almost 76 percent of its 11,784-square-kilometre surface area is classified as mountains and hills. It is said that Wenzhou has 7/10 mountains, 1/10 water, and 2/10 farmland. At the time of the 2010 Chinese census, 3,039,500 people lived in Wenzhou's urban area; the area under its jurisdiction held a population of 9,122,100 of which 31.16% are non-local residents from outside of Wenzhou.
Originally known as Yongjia, Wenzhou was a prosperous foreign treaty port, which remains well-preserved today.