Jilin (Chinese: 吉林; pinyin: Jílín; Wade-Giles: Chi-lin; Postal map spelling: Kirin; Manchu: Girin ula), is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west. The name was transliterated to Kirin before standardization to pinyin. The name "Jilin" probably originates from Girin ula, a Manchu term meaning "along the river"; this was transcribed into Jilin wula (T: 吉林烏拉 / S: 吉林乌拉) in Chinese, then shortened to Jilin. The literal meaning of the Chinese characters for "Jilin" is "auspicious forest".