• Area: 2,020 km²
• Location: north of Hong Kong
• Climate: sub-tropical maritime
• Population: 8.27 million (as of 2005)
• People: Han Chinese
• Language: Mandarin Chinese, YUe Yu (Cantonese)
• Currency and monetary unit: Renminbi (Yuan, CNY)
• Administrative demarcations: 6 county-level divisions

Geography
Shenzhen is a sub-provincial city of Guangdong province in southern People's Republic of China, situated north of Hong Kong. The boomtown of Shenzhen is located in the Pearl River Delta. The municipality covers an area of 2,020 km² (780 sq. miles) including urban and rural areas. The county-level divisions include Luohu District, Futian District, Nanshan District, Yantian District, Bao’an District, and Longgang District.

Economy
Shenzhen is a center of foreign investment and since the late 1970s has been one of the fastest growing cities in the world. It is also the busiest port in the People's Republic of China after Shanghai. In the past two decades, outsiders have invested more than $30 billion in Shenzhen for building factories and forming joint ventures.
Shenzhen's GDP totaled CNY 568.439 billion in 2006. Shenzhen is in the top ranks among mainland Chinese cities in terms of comprehensive economic power. It ranked fourth in GDP among mainland Chinese cities in 2001, while it ranked the top in GDP per capita during the same period. Its import and export volumes have been first for the last nine consecutive years. It is the second in terms of industrial output. For five consecutive years, its internal revenue within local budget ranks third. It also ranks third in the actual use of foreign capital.
Shenzhen is a major manufacturing centre in China. With 13 buildings at over 200 metres tall, including the Shun Hing Square (the 9th tallest building in the world), Shenzhen is a marvel of lights after sunset.
Shenzhen is home to some of China's most successful high-tech companies, such as Huawei and ZTE. A number of foreign IT companies also have facilities in the city. Foxconn has a manufacturing plant based in Shenzhen where they make most of the iPods, iPhones and notebooks for Apple, Inc. Lenovo, the Chinese conglomerate that bought the personal computing division of IBM in 2005, manufactures its line of ThinkPad notebook computers in Shenzhen. IBM still has a joint venture in Shenzhen manufacturing server products. Many of these foreign high-tech companies have their operations in the Science and Technology park in Nanshan District or outside the core districts where labor and land are much cheaper. In the financial sector, China Merchants' Bank, one of the largest banks in China, has its headquarters in Shenzhen. Shenzhen City Commercial Bank is also based in the city. It is expected that more foreign financial institutions will invest in Shenzhen.

Culture and Tourism
Although Shenzhen enjoys a good reputation for shopping and travel, some Hong Kong citizens are concerned about the relatively high crime rate in Shenzhen. Reports of businessmen and tourists being robbed and kidnapped in Shenzhen are not uncommon in Hong Kong newspapers. Shenzhen's major tourist attractions include the Chinese Folk Culture Villages, the Window of the World, Happy Valley, Splendid China, the Safari Park in Nanshan district, the Dameisha Promenade, Xiaomeisha Beach Resort in Yantian district, Zhongying Street, Xianhu Lake Botanical Garden, and Minsk World. The city also offers free admission to a number of public parks including the Lianhuashan Park, Lizhi Park, Zhongshan Park and Wutongshan Park. Shenzhen is famous for the great variety of cuisines that its numerous restaurants provide.

Daily life
The Shenzhen Metro system opened on 27 December 2004. It has two lines, one from Luohu (Lo Wu & Shenzhen railway stations) to Window of the World, and the other from Huanggang to Shaonian gong (youth palace). Shenzhen is also connected by fast ferries linking Shekou, on the west edge of the SEZ with Zhuhai, Macau, Hong Kong International Airport, Kowloon, and Hong Kong Island.