Dalian

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Port in Liaoning province, China, on the Liaodong Peninsula, facing the Yellow Sea; population (2000) 2,872,000. Industries include engineering (especially machine tools), oil-refining, shipbuilding, food-processing (soybeans), and the manufacture of chemicals, textiles, cement, railway locomotives and rolling stock, and fertilizers. It has ice-free, deep-water facilities, and comprises the naval base of Lüshun (known under 19th-century Russian occupation as Port Arthur) and the commercial port of Dalian, together formerly known as Lüda.

History
Both the naval base and port were leased to Russia (which needed an ice-free naval base) in 1898; under the Russian lease the port was also known as Dalny. Lüshun was under Japanese siege from June 1904 until January 1905, and it was ceded to Japan after the Russo-Japanese War, along with the port. Dalian was developed and partly colonized by the Japanese, who named it Dairen, and by 1938 its population had risen to 500,000.

After World War II Lüshun was occupied by Russian airborne troops, but it was returned to China in 1955 and Russia was granted shared facilities at Dalian; this ended on the deterioration of Sino-Russian relations in 1955.

The flag is modelled on the Stars and Stripes of the United States' flag. The stripes represent the nine provinces at the time of liberation. Blue and white are the colours of Argentina and also of national hero, José Gervasio Artigas. Effective date: 12 July 1830. >>