Hangzhou (Chinese: 杭州; pinyin: Hángzhōu; Postal map spelling: Hangchow) is a sub-provincial city located in the Yangtze River Delta in the People's Republic of China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. Located 180 km southwest of Shanghai, as of 2004 the entire Hangzhou Municipality (area administered by city government) had a registered population of 6.5 million people. The urban agglomeration of the Hangzhou metropolitan area (杭州市区) has a resident population of 3,931,900 as of 2003, of which 2,636,700 are legal residents, of which there are 1,910,000 residents in the urban core six districts. As one of the most renowned and prosperous cities of China for much of the last 1,000 years, Hangzhou is also well-known for its beautiful natural scenery, with the West Lake (Xī Hú, 西湖) as the most noteworthy location.