Jining () is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. It borders Heze to the southwest, Zaozhuang to the southeast, Tai'an to the northeast, and the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu to the northwest and south respectively. Jining, which is located directly to the north of Lake Nanyang (), is today the northernmost city reachable by navigation on the Grand Canal of China making it an important inland port. Its population was 8,081,905 at the 2010 census, of whom 1,518,000 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made up of Rencheng urban district on , Yanzhou district not being totally conurbated yet. History The name Jining was first given to the region in the year 1271 during the Song dynasty, although the exact area and type of administrative district it refers to have varied over the centuries. Jining has several distinctive associations in Chinese history and culture, as in antiquity it was the birthplace and home of Confucius, along with many of his more famous disciples, including Mencius. Temples to a number of these philosophers still exist in various parts of the prefecture. Liangshan, a county of Jining, is also famous as the principal setting of the Chinese literary classic, Water Margin. COVID-19 outbreak In 2020, the Shandong government reported that a prison guard at Rencheng jail in Jining had shown COVID-19 symptoms in early February and that subsequently more than 2,000 inmates and staff were tested, with 200 prisoners and seven officers coming back positive. The provincial government said Xie Weijun, party secretary for Shandong's department of justice, and seven prison officials had been fired for mismanagement of the outbreak. Administration The prefecture-level city of Jining administers 11 county-level divisions, including two districts, two county-level cities and seven counties. Rencheng District () Yanzhou District () Qufu City () Zoucheng City () Weishan County () Yutai County () - originally in Huxi prefecture Jinxiang County () - originally in Huxi Jiaxiang County () - originally in Huxi Wenshang County () Sishui County () Liangshan County () Climate Economy Jining is situated in a coal mining area in the southwest of Shandong. An industrial city, Jining has a coal-fired power station, the Jining Power Plant. The city is served by Jining Qufu Airport. Notable people Confucius (551 – 479 BC), central Chinese thinker, founder of Confucianism (main temple and tomb in Qufu) Zengzi (505 BC - 436 BC), Chinese philosopher and