Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and
a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of
the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of
history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty.
Xi'an is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, having
held the position under several of the most important dynasties
in Chinese history, including Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang.
Xi'an is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and home to the
Terracotta Army.Since the 1990s, as part of the economic revival
of interior China especially for the central and northwest
regions, the city of Xi'an has re-emerged as an important
cultural, industrial and educational centre of the
central-northwest region, with facilities for research and
development, national security and China's space exploration
program. It's now one of the most populous metropolitan areas in
inland China with more than 8 million inhabitants, including
urban parts of Xianyang.
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