Pearl River Delta

Pearl River Delta 珠江三角洲 Delta do Rio das Pérolas
Megalopolis
Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area
2014 satellite view of the Pearl River Delta from the NASA Earth Observatory
Detailed map of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area
Provinces	Guangdong Hong Kong Macau
Major Cities	Guangzhou Shenzhen Zhuhai Foshan Dongguan Zhongshan Jiangmen Huizhou Zhaoqing Hong Kong Macau
Government
• Governor of Guangdong	Wang Weizhong
• Chief Executive of Hong Kong	John Lee
• Chief Executive of Macau	Ho Iat Seng
Area
• Total	55,800 km2 (21,500 sq mi)
Population  (2020)
• Total	86,100,000
• Density	1,500/km2 (4,000/sq mi)
Languages
•	Cantonese and other varieties of Yue Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, English, Portuguese, Macanese Patois, and numerous other languages
GDP [1]
• Total	CN¥ 13.0 trillion US$ 1.9 trillion (nominal)
• Per capita	CN¥ 150,600 US$ 22,400 (nominal)
Time zone	UTC+8 (CST, HKT, MST)

The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region^[a] is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, the region is one of the most densely populated and urbanized regions in the world, and is considered a megacity by numerous scholars.^[2] It is currently the wealthiest region in Southern China and one of the wealthiest regions in China along with the Yangtze River Delta in Eastern China and Jingjinji in Northern China. Most of the region is part of the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, which is a special economic zone of China.

The region is a megalopolis, and is at the southern end of a larger megalopolis running along the southern coast of China, which include metropolises such as Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Macao. The nine largest cities of the PRD had a combined population of 86 million in 2022, the PRD has become the largest urban area in the world in both size and population.^[3] The region's traditional language is Cantonese; in the late 20th century and the 21st century, due to the high inflow of migrant workers coming from other regions, Mandarin has gradually become a lingua franca.

The west side of this region, along with Chaoshan, was also the source of much Chinese emigration from the 19th to the mid 20th centuries, including to the Western world, where they formed many Chinatowns. Today, much of the Chinese diaspora in the US, Canada, Australia, Latin America, and much of Southeast Asia traces their ancestry to the west side of this region.

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