Hangzhou, formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Hangzhou is also the center of the Hangzhou Metropolitan Area, which is the fourth-largest metropolitan area nationally. It is governed as a sub-provincial city. As of 2010, the entire administrative division (“shì”, 杭州市) or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people.