Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China, a municipality directly under the Central Government, a national central city, a mega-city, and the political, cultural, international, and scientific and technological innovation centre of China, as determined by the State Council. It has a total area of 16,410.54 square kilometres. According to the seventh census, the resident population of Beijing will be 21.886 million by the end of 2021. In 2021, Beijing's annual gross regional product will be RMB 4,026.96 billion, an increase of 8.5% over the previous year at constant prices. The city's per capita gross regional product was 184,000 yuan.
Beijing is located in the north of China and the northern part of the North China Plain, adjoining Tianjin to the east and Hebei to the rest, with its centre at 116°20′ E and 39°56′ N. It is a world-famous ancient capital and a modern international city, as well as the seat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China and the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China .
The topography of Beijing is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. It is surrounded by mountains in the west, north and northeast, and a plain that slopes gently towards the Bohai Sea in the southeast. The main rivers flowing through the city include the Yongding, Chaobai, Beiyun and Reomar rivers, which originate from the mountains in the northwest, pass through the mountains and meander southeastward through the plains and eventually join the Bohai Sea. Beijing's climate is warm-temperate semi-humid and semi-arid monsoon climate, with high temperatures and rain in summer, cold and dry winters, and short springs and autumns.
Beijing is ranked as a top tier city in the world by GaWC, a world city research institute, and the United Nations reports that Beijing ranks second in China in terms of human development index.