Heze is a prefecture-level city located in the westernmost part of Shandong province, China. Formerly known as Caozhou, the city covers a total area of 12,238.62 square kilometers and has a population of approximately 10.58 million people.
The city borders Jining to the east and shares boundaries with Henan and Anhui provinces to the west and south, respectively. Administratively, Heze governs two districts—Mudan and Dingtao—along with seven counties: Caoxian, Chengwu, Shanxian, Juye, Yuncheng, Juancheng, and Dongming.