Xi'an
Xi'an (Chinese: 西安; pinyin: Xī'ān; Wade–Giles: Hsi-An, also spelled Hsi-an, Hsian, or Sian) is the capital of Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty. Xi'an is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, having held the position under several of the most important dynasties in Chinese history, including Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang. Xi'an is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and home to the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
Since the 1990s, as part of the economic revival of interior China especially for the central and northwest regions, the city of Xi'an has re-emerged as an important cultural, industrial and educational centre of the central-northwest region, with facilities for research and development, national security and China's space exploration program. It is now one of the most populous built-up areas in inland China with 7,168,005 inhabitants, including urban parts of Xianyang (Weicheng and Qindu districts). According to a July 2012 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, it was recently named as one of the 13 emerging megacities, or megalopolises, in China. The report pinpoints and highlights the demographic and income trends that are shaping these cities' development.
Chang'an
Chang'an (simplified Chinese: 长安; traditional Chinese: 长安; pinyin: Cháng'ān; Wade–Giles: Ch'ang-an) is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" (Chinese: 常安; pinyin: Cháng'ān); yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored. By the time of the Ming Dynasty, the name was again changed to Xi'an, meaning "Western Peace", which has remained its name to the present day.
Chang'an had been settled since the Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao Culture established in Banpo in the city's suburb. Also in the northern vicinity of the modern Xi'an, the tumulus ruler Qin Shi Huang of Qin Dynasty held his imperial court, and constructed his massive mausoleum guarded by the famed Terracotta Army.
From its capital at Xianyang, the Qin dynasty ruled a larger area than either of the preceding dynasties. The imperial city of Chang'an during the Han Dynasty was located in northwest of today's Xi'an. During the Tang Dynasty, the area to be known as Chang'an included the area inside the Ming Xi'an fortification, plus some small areas to its east and west, and a major part of its southern suburbs. The Tang Chang'an hence, was 8 times the size of the Ming Xi'an, which was reconstructed upon the premise of the former imperial quarter of the Sui and Tang city. During its heyday, Chang'an was one of the largest and most populous cities in the world. Around AD 750, Chang'an was called a "million people's city" in Chinese records, while modern estimates put it at around 800,000–1,000,000 within city walls.[1] According to the census in 742 recorded in the New Book of Tang, 362,921 families with 1,960,188 persons were counted in Jingzhao Fu (京兆府), the metropolitan area including small cities in the vicinity.
Die Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen wurde 1732/1734 von Georg II. gegründet und 1737 eröffnet. Die Universität entwickelte sich schnell und zählte mit fast 1.000 Studenten zu den größeren im Europa der damaligen Zeit. Sie ist die älteste noch existierende Universität in Niedersachsen und mit 26.381 Studierenden auch die größte (Stand Sommersemester 2013[2]).
Seit dem 1. Januar 2003 befindet sich die Universität – als eine der ersten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland – in der Trägerschaft einer öffentlich-rechtlichen Stiftung; sie ist seitdem eine Stiftungsuniversität. Präsidentin der Universität ist seit dem Jahr 2011 die Biochemikerin Ulrike Beisiegel. Von Oktober 2007 bis Juni 2012 wurde im Rahmen der Exzellenzinitiative das Zukunftskonzept der Georgia Augusta gefördert. Laut den World University Rankings 2012/2013 der Times Higher Education ist die Georg-August-Universität weltweit auf Platz 70 und damit die am zweithöchsten gewertete deutsche Universität.
Die Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen ist mit etwa 4,5 Millionen Bänden eine der größten Bibliotheken Deutschlands, die zahlreiche Sondersammelgebiete und im Rahmen der Sammlung Deutscher Drucke das 18. Jahrhundert abdeckt. Göttingen ist mit ihr in die „verteilte Nationalbibliothek“ für Deutschland eingebunden.