Beijing or Pekin, is one of the four municipalities that, together with the twenty-two provinces, five autonomous regions and two special administrative regions, make up the People's Republic of China. In addition, Beijing is the capital of the country and one of the most populated cities in the world with 21,710,000 inhabitants in 2013 Beijing became the stronghold of the foreign powers that occupied North China between the 10th and 12th centuries.
