Handan, a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of Hebei Province, is a Type II large city, and is the central city of the southern region of Hebei Province as approved by the State Council. As of the end of 2023, the city has 6 districts, 11 counties and 1 county-level city under its jurisdiction, with a total area of 12,066 square kilometers and a resident population of 9,173,100.
Handan City is located in the southern tip of Hebei Province, west of the Taihang Mountains, east of the North China Plain, bordering Jin, Lu and Henan provinces, is the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Synergistic Development and the Central Plains Economic Zone regional center of the city, but also the country's focus on the construction of the old industrial base. Handan is an important node connecting east to west and south to north, with railroads such as Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, Hand-Changzhou Railway, Hand-Jinan Railway, Hand-Huangzhou Railway and Beijing-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway; and trunk highways such as 6 expressways, 7 national highways and 17 provincial highways.
Handan is a national historical and cultural city with a history of 3100 years. During the Warring States period, Handan served as the capital of the State of Zhao for 158 years; during the Western Han Dynasty, Handan was the royal capital of the State of Zhao (a vassal state), and shared the reputation of "Five Metropolises" with Luoyang, Linzi, Wancheng and Chengdu; during the Three Kingdoms period of Wei, Jin and the North and South Dynasties, Yecheng in the southern part of Handan (in the territory of present-day Linzhang County) served as the ancient capital of the six dynasties of Cao Wei, Houzhao, Ran Wei, Qianyan, Eastern Wei and Northern Qi; during the Five Dynasties period, the city was the ancient capital of the five dynasties, and the city was the ancient capital of the five dynasties. During the Five Dynasties period, Daming in the eastern part of Handan was the capital of the Later Tang Dynasty, and later the capital of the Later Tang Dynasty, the Later Jin Dynasty, the Later Han Dynasty, the Later Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty. There are 1,584 idioms from or related to Handan, and the city is known as the "Capital of Chinese Idioms and Tropes".
In 2023, Handan's GDP amounted to 438.22 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%.