Shandong Peninsula

Map which includes the Jiaodong Peninsula

The waters bordering the peninsula are Laizhou Bay to the northwest, which opens into the Bohai Sea to the north, which in turn passes through the Bohai Strait to the northeast into the Yellow Sea to the east and south. The peninsula's territory comprises three prefecture-level cities of Shandong: Qingdao in the southwest, Yantai in the north and centre, and Weihai at the eastern tip.

The Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory was a leased territory of the German Empire from 1898 to 1914 located around Jiaozhou Bay, where the village of Qingdao (Tsingtao) developed into a major seaport.

German 1912 map of the Shandong Peninsula showing the Kiautschou Bay concession

Japan seized the territory from Germany in 1914 in the First World War. In the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Germany lost Qingdao and its sphere of influence in Shandong. Instead of restoring Chinese sovereignty over the area, the treaty transferred the leased territory to the Empire of Japan. This resulted in popular dissatisfaction with the outcome, known as the Shandong Problem, and led to the May Fourth Movement. Eventually, Shandong was reverted to Chinese control in 1922 after mediation by the United States during the Washington Naval Conference. However, Japan retained economic influence in the area.

• Geography of China