By the end of 1886

The urbanization rate of the Tang Empire reached 59.62%, with a population of about 77.2 million distributed among the 681 large and small cities in the country, and the urbanization rate ranked behind the United States, Britain, Germany, Hobbitan and other countries, and was at the same level as France, and higher than the level of the Austrian Empire.

In the past decade or so, the newly conquered provinces of Colombia, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Luzon, together with the new provinces of Zhongzhou (formerly Ecuador) and Fuyuan (ceded by Peru), have reduced the proportion of urbanization in the Tang Empire by 5.3%.

The largest city of the empire was still the imperial capital of Chang'an, with a population of 3.66 million at the end of the period, making it one of the second largest cities in the world.

The smallest city is the high-latitude Snow City north of the northern Yukon province, which is covered in snow and ice for most of the year, with a total population of only 831 residents.

With the release of the final statistics for 1886, the ranking of the Empire's top 20 cities was finally determined.

No. 1, the imperial capital Chang'an, with a total population of 3.66 million.

In second place, Los Angeles, with a total population of 2.41 million.

In third place, Chicago, has a total population of 2.275 million.

In fourth place, Mexico City, with a total population of 1.77 million.

The fifth place, New Xi'an, has a total population of 1.628 million

No. 6, Taoyuan, with a total population of 1.512 million

In 7th place, Salem, has a total population of 1.39 million

In 8th place, Detroit has a total population of 1.317 million

No. 9, Seattle, has a total population of 1,184,300

In 10th place, Portland, has a total population of 1.072 million.

The 11th place, Donggang City, has a total population of 1.059 million.

In 12th place, Gallup, with a total population of 1,013,300.

In 13th place, Houston has a total population of 932,000.

In 14th place, Chihuahua, has a total population of 905,000

In 15th place, Dallas has a total population of 823,000.

16th, Sacramento, with a total population of 755,600

In 17th place, Salt Lake City, with a total population of 727,000.

In 18th place, Panama has a total population of 679,000

No. 19, Glory City (South America) has a total population of 624,000.

In 20th place, the city of Huwan (Central America) has a total population of 586,000.

As can be seen from the above city rankings;

The center of gravity of the Tang Empire is still the urban agglomeration dominated by the west coast of the United States, including Chang'an, the first city, Los Angeles, the second city, Salem, the seventh city, Seattle, the ninth city, and Portland, the tenth city, and 5 of the top ten cities are West Coast cities, accounting for half of them.

Among the top ten cities, except for New Xi'an, which ranks fifth, the others are all North American cities, which shows that the economic development center and industrial center of gravity of the Tang Empire are all concentrated in North America, showing a clear distribution of industrial clusters.

There are three main industrial belts, one is the West Coast Industrial Belt, which includes the imperial capital of Chang'an, Los Angeles, Salem, Portland and Seattle, bringing together up to 60% of the industrial output of the Tang Empire, which is the most important industrial belt.

The region is home to a large number of universities and some world-class research institutes, with a high level of industrialization. The supporting system of heavy chemical industry is perfect, and there are many factories and mining enterprises, forming a light and heavy industrial belt that stretches for thousands of kilometers.

The second is the Great Lakes Heavy Industry Region.

With Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Davenport and other large and medium-sized industrial cities as the mainstay, supplemented by dozens of small and medium-sized cities around the Great Lakes, it has formed an industrial system dominated by steel, machinery manufacturing, agricultural machinery and automobiles, and petrochemical products, mainly facing North American countries and European export markets.

The third is the central industrial belt.

The northernmost point of the Central Industrial Belt originates in the city of Taoyuan, extends south to the city of Gallup, known as a treasure trove of resources, and continues south through Chihuahua, the center of the textile industry, to Mexico City.

This industrial belt is dominated by light textile, food processing, sugar and flue-cured tobacco, wine-making and oil extraction, clothing and other light industries, forming a characteristic industrial belt.

Among the top 20 major cities, New Xi'an and Donggang City from Paradise Island are ranked fifth and eleventh respectively, which is an extremely impressive performance among overseas provinces.

Thanks to its geographical proximity to the mainland of China, Paradise Island (New Guinea Island) has grown to more than 6.33 million inhabitants after 35 years of continuous development, and the total population is more than two and a half times that of British Australia in the south.

Australia's largest city, Melbourne, has a population of only 430,000, and New Xi'an, which is almost four times the size, has grown into the largest metropolis and regional economic center in the Western Pacific.

After the rise of the Melbourne Gold Rush in 1851, Australia's population reached more than 1.7 million in just over 20 years, and by 1885, the total population had reached more than 2.4 million.

Among them, there are about 85~900,000 Chinese, which is the second largest ethnic group in the region, second only to whites.

More than half of the Chinese immigrants travel to Australia from Paradise Island, and the 330-kilometre sea route from Eastport to Darwin can be reached by boat for a day and a night.

There are regular flights from East Port to Melbourne, which sail a liner every Monday and Friday, and the whole journey takes about 10~11 days, stopping in Sydney on the way.

To talk about the experience of the Chinese in Australia, there are quite a few twists and turns.

Originally a carpenter surnamed Mai, he arrived in Melbourne in 1811 and married two white wives here before dying in 1880.

In 1825, there were only about 70,000 people in Australia, mainly white convicts exiled from the British, living around cities such as Sydney and Melbourne.

The real explosion of population growth came after the discovery of gold in Melbourne in 1851, when the early British colonial government welcomed Chinese immigrants due to a shortage of manpower.

But more than 10 years later, the tide of Chinese immigrants grew, which caused considerable panic among the local white gold mine owners.

Together with the British colonial government, they introduced a number of local laws aimed at restricting Chinese immigration and erecting many obstacles.

It was also at this time

Unwilling to be oppressed, the Chinese gangs, mainly Hongmen, took up arms to resist, resulting in urban riots and chaos infested with horse banditry, leaving the British and white gold mine owners anxious.

The chaos lasted for many years and attracted serious attention from the Tang Empire, said;

If the situation of Chinese immigrants cannot be fundamentally improved, the Tang Empire will support the just struggle of Chinese immigrants until the final victory is achieved.

Under heavy pressure, the British colonial authorities had to make concessions and successively banned a series of unequal policies, allowing the Chinese to enjoy equal treatment as colonial citizens.

But at the same time, it has also further tightened immigration policies, especially for mainland immigrants.

The Tang Empire also acquiesced in the British approach, after all, it was someone else's territory and had the right to formulate an immigration introduction policy suitable for Australia.

If it weren't for the restrictions, Australia's Chinese population would have exceeded half.

Paradise Island is the most economically developed region in the Overseas Province and the most proud model area of the Colonial Ministry, with steady population and economic growth over the years.

After the Tang Empire included the Luzon Islands, more than 100,000 Paradise Island residents followed the expeditionary army into the Luzon Islands one after another, becoming the backbone of the local resumption of production.

They brought with them advanced cultivation experience, and showed their skills in the fields of urban construction and commerce, transportation, agricultural and animal husbandry production, and became good helpers in the development of the empire's colonization.

(End of chapter)