Harbin is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population and largest city by metropolitan population in Northeast China. Harbin has direct jurisdiction over nine metropolitan districts, two county-level cities and seven counties, and is the eighth most populous Chinese city according to the 2010 census, the built-up area had 5,282,093 inhabitants, while the total metropolitan population was up to 10,635,971, making it one of the 50 largest urban areas in the world. Harbin serves as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural and communications hub in Northeast China, as well as an important industrial base of the nation. Harbin is also one of the top 200 science cities and metropolitan areas in the world by scientific research output as tracked by the Nature Index. The city is the seat of several major universities in the Project 211, including Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin Engineering University, Northeast Agricultural University and Northeast Forestry University.
