Nanjing (About this sound listen), formerly romanized as Nanking and Nankin, is the capital of Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China and the second largest city in the east China region, with a total population of 8,230,000, Situated in the heartland of the Yangtze River Delta, it has long been a major center of culture, education, research, politics, economy, transport networks and tourism, and legally remains the de jure capital of Republic of China which lost the mainland during the civil war.