Harbin Special Administrative Region

Harbin Special Administrative Region (Mandarin: 哈尔滨特别行政区) or Harbin (Mandarin:哈尔滨) is the only Special Administrative Region in Nanzhao. Located in North East Nanzhao on the Northern side of the Yellow River Delta. With a land area of ??? and a population of 10,450,300 it is one of the most densely populated areas on Gaea.

Harbin is 90% ethnic Nanzhese, 3.4% Ethnic Kobayashian, 3.2% of other Orientian origin, 2.4% Ethnic Caucasion and the remaining 1% are of other orign.

Harbin is under both United Kingdom and Nanzhao rule. Harbin is a leading finacial centre, with a major capitalist economy characterised by low taxation, free trade and minimum government intervention under the ethos of positive non-interventionism.

20th Century
After the Communist party took hold of mainland Nanzhao, many companies and foreign nationals fled to Harbin and many textile and manufacturing factories opened and filled by the waves of immigrants from mainland Nanzhao, Harbin's economy and standard of living increased significantly. In 1974 when Changshu was made a Special Economic Zone, Harbin's compentitiveness diminished as there was more land and less regulation in Changshu and Kunshan and so Harbin's economy shifted to a more service orientated economy. Now Harbin is the largest investor in the Yellow River Delta region with over 2,000 Harbin owned factories operating in the region.

Geography and Climate
Harbin is located in north east Nanzhao on the East Nanzhao sea. It is bordered by Kunshan to the south and Changshu the third largest city in Nanzhao to north and west.

Much of the land is hilly to mountainous with steep slopes that make building very difficult so only 30% of all land is built upon with most development hugging the coast.

Harbin experinces severe smog, much of it (86%) originates from other parts of the Yellow River Delta.

Harbin features a four season, monsoon-influenced climate, typical of East Orientia, with cold, windy, dry winters and hot, humid summers, due to the monsoon. Spring in the city is dry and windy, occasionally seeing sandstorms blowing in from the Xinjiang Desert, capable of lasting for several days. Monthly mean temperatures range from -2.9 to 26.9 °C (26.8 to 80.4 °F) from January to July; the year averages out at 13.2 °C (55.8 °F) and more than half of the 540 millimetres (21.3 in) of precipitation falls in July and August alone.

Economy
Harbin is one of the world's leading financial centers. Its highly developed capitalist economy has been ranked the freest in the world by the Index of Economic Freedom for 15 consecutive years. It is an important centre for international finance and trade, with one of the greatest concentration of corporate headquarters in the East Orientia region In addition, Hong Kong's gross domestic product, between 1961 and 1997, has grown 180 times larger than the former while per capita GDP rose by 87 times.

The Harbin Stock Exchange is one of the largest on Gaea with a market capitalisation of ??. The currency is the Harbin Pound and it is pegged to the Amagosian Dollar since 1989.

Demographics
The territory's population is 10.45 million. In 2009, Harbin had a low birth rate of 11.7 per 1,000 population and a fertility rate of 1,032 children per 1,000 women. However, the population in Harbin continues to grow due to the influx of immigrants from Nanzhao proper, approximating 50,000 per year. Life expectancy in Harbin is 81.8 years for males and 86.1 years for females, as of 2009, among the highest on Gaea.

Harbin's de facto official language is Mandarin. English? is also an official language, and according to a 1996 by-census is spoken by 3.1% of the population as an everyday language and by 34.9% of the population as a second language. Signs displaying both Nanzhese and English are common throughout the territory.

Education
Harbin's education system roughly follows the system in the United Kingdom, although international systems exist. The government maintains a policy in which the medium of instruction is Mandarin.

Culture
Harbin is frequently described as a place where "East meets West", reflecting the culture's mix of the territory's Nanzhese roots with the culture brought to it during its time as a UK colony. One of the more noticeable contradictions is Harbin's balancing of a modernised way of life with traditional Nanzhese practices. Concepts like feng shui are taken very seriously, with expensive construction projects often hiring expert consultants, and are often believed to make or break a business.

Architecture
According to Emporis, there are 10,382 skyscrapers in Harbin, putting the city at the top of world rankings. The high density and tall skyline of Harbin's urban area is due to a lack of available sprawl space.

This lack of space causing demand for dense, high-rise offices and housing, has resulted in 40 of the world's 100 tallest residential buildings being in Harbin, and more people living or working above the 10th floor than anywhere else on Gaea, making it the world's most vertical city.

Transport
Harbin has a very extensive Public transport system with over 90% of the population using it.

Metro

Harbin metro is one of Orientia's oldest systems but is suprisingly modern and clean. It services almost all parts of Nanzhao and there is a route that is being built to neghbouring Changshu city where there is to be a checkpoint on the Nanzhese side and it is expected to increase flow and ease congestion between the two cities.

Tram

Harbin is one of the few places where trams still run. Since 1949 when double decker trams where introduced they now are only exclusively used and are heavly used and now form a major part of the public transport system in Harbin.