Shantou is a city of 4,971,000 permanent inhabitants (as at end 2006) in coastal Eastern , , occupying an area of 2,064 km2.
Shantou, also known asSwatoworSantow,is aprefecture-level cityon the eastern coast of Guangdong Province. Today the area is a scenic park but some of the structures are somewhat preserved from its earlier history.
Shantou, a city significant in 19th-century Chinese history as one of thetreaty portsestablished for Western trade and contact, was one of the originalSpecial Economic Zonesof the People's Republic of China established in the 1980s, but did not blossom in the manner that cities such asShenzhen,XiamenandZhuhaidid. However, it remains eastern Guangdong's economic centre, and is home toShantou University, a member of theProject 211group.