Jiaozuo is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan Province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yellow River, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the south, Xinxiang to the east, Jiyuan to the west, Luoyang to the southwest, and the Province of Shanxi to the north. Its population is 3,539,860 at the 2010 census whom 838,350 live in the built up area made of 4 urban districts (Jiefang, Shanyang, Zhongzhan and Macun). The city was founded on an industrial site left over from the Opium Wars by the British. Jiaozuo was established as a city in 1953. Mao Zedong has written praise about the hard work of people from Jiaozuo in the coal industry.