Shantou, formerly romanized as Swatow[1] and sometimes known as Santow,[2] is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,391,028 as of 2010 and an administrative area of 2,064 square kilometres (797 sq mi). Shantou has direct jurisdiction over six districts and one county, and the six urban districts of Shantou have a population of 5,330,764. With it and the surrounding cities of Jieyang and Chaozhou, the metropolitan region known as Chaoshan covers an area of 10,404 km2 (4,017 sq mi), and had a permanent population of 13,937,897 at the end of 2010. It's built up area spread of 11 districts was home to 11,635,577 inhabitants at the 2010 census.[3]