The Sixteen Prefectures are a region in northern China stretching from present-day Beijing westward to Datong. In most areas, it is approximately seventy to one hundred miles in width. It covers a strategic area of modern Hebei and Shanxi that became the focus of contention between the Khitan Liao Dynasty to the north and the Shatuo Turk Later Tang Dynasty, Later Jin Dynasty and Later Han Dynasty, along with the Han Chinese Later Zhou Dynasty and the Song Dynasty.
The Sixteen Prefectures are a region in northern China stretching from present-day Beijing westward to Datong. In most areas, it is approximately seventy to one hundred miles in width. It covers a strategic area of modern Hebei and Shanxi that became the focus of contention between the Khitan Liao Dynasty to the north and the Shatuo Turk Later Tang Dynasty, Later Jin Dynasty and Later Han Dynasty, along with the Han Chinese Later Zhou Dynasty and the Song Dynasty.