Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwestern part of Hebei Province of China. The population at the 2010 census was estimated at 1,371,000 for the built up area and 9,174,679 for the entire Prefecture-level city area of 12,087 km2 (4,667 sq mi). The Cishan Culture made this area a glowing pearl in Central Plain of China about 8,000 years ago. As the most time-honored city in Hebei, Handan was the capital of Zhao Kingdom in Warring States Period (476 BC-221 BC) as a political, economic and cultural center of northern China. In Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), it enjoyed a high reputation as one of the five essential cities of China. Then it gained its name for the Hanshan Mountain in the east of the city.