Chengdu, formerly romanized as Chengtu, is the provincial capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China,[as well as a major city in Western China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status.The administrative area houses 14,047,625 inhabitants: 7,123,697 within the municipality's nine urban districts and 6,730,749 in the surrounding suburbs and rural area. According to the 2010 census, Chengdu is the fourth most populous city in mainland China,and most populous among prefecture-level cities as well.