Hefei is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province in Eastern China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural centre of Anhui. Hefei has an area of 7,048 sq km and, as of 2010 Census, a population of 5,702,466 inhabitants. Its built-up area ("metro") is home to 3,352,076 inhabitants encompassing all urban districts. From the 8th to the 6th century BC, Hefei was the site of many small states, later a part of the Chu kingdom. The name Hefei was first given to the county set up in the area under the Han dynasty in the 2nd century BC. During the Sui (58-618) and Tang (618-907) periods, it became the seat of Lu prefecture - a title it kept until the 15th century, when it became a superior prefecture named Luzhou.