This topic describes the concept of Alibaba Cloud regions and zones, the relationship between regions and zones, and the regions and zones that are supported by Alibaba Cloud. This topic also describes how to select regions and zones.

Regions

Concept

Regions are geographical locations where Alibaba Cloud data centers are deployed. Regions are divided based on cities where data centers reside. For example, the data centers of the Australia (Sydney) region reside in Sydney.

Select a region

Important When you create or purchase an Alibaba Cloud resource, you must select a region to deploy the resource. After the resource is created or purchased, you cannot change the region of the resource.
When you select a region, you must consider the factors described in the following table.
FactorDescription
Geographical location

A region that is closer to the geographical location of your users provides lower latency and higher access speed.

We recommend that you select a region based on your business requirements on network latency.

Communication between cloud services over an internal network
Important If you have purchased a cloud network service to connect cloud services, ignore this item.
  • If you do not need cloud services to communicate with each other over an internal network, deploy the services in different regions or in the same region.
  • If you need the cloud services to communicate with each other over an internal network, deploy the services in the same region.
Access from Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances located inside greater China to ECS instances outside greater ChinaECS instances located inside greater China may experience high network latency and even packet loss when they access ECS instances located outside greater China by using public IP addresses. We recommend that you deploy ECS instances in the same region if they require mutual access.
Resource priceYou can select a region based on your budget.

The prices of resources may vary based on regions. For more information, see the product page or resource buy page.

Zones

Concept

The zone in which you want to create the instance. Each region has multiple isolated locations known as zones. Each zone has its own independent power supply and network. For example, the China (Qingdao) region has two zones, which are Qingdao Zone B and Qingdao Zone C. When instances are deployed within the same zone, the network latency is low and the access speed is high between the instances.

How to select zones

Important When you create or purchase an Alibaba Cloud resource, you must select a zone to deploy the resource. After the resource is created or purchased, you cannot change the zone of the resource.
Zones within the same region can communicate with each other over an internal network. Fault isolation can be enabled between zones. This way, if faults occur in a zone, other zones are not affected and continue to run as expected. We recommend that you select zones based on your business requirements on disaster recovery and network latency.
  • If your application requires high disaster recovery capabilities, we recommend that you deploy instances in different zones within the same region.
  • If your application requires low latency, we recommend that you deploy instances within the same zone.

Relationship between regions and zones

A region consists of multiple zones. Only zones in the same region can communicate with each other over an internal network and are connected by using low-latency links. Zones in different regions are completely isolated.

The following figure shows the relationships between regions and zones.

Important In the figure, Region 1 has three zones and Region 2 has three zones.
Regions and zones (updated)

Supported regions and zones

For more information about regions and zones, see Global Infrastructure of Alibaba Cloud.

Important This topic lists all regions and zones that are supported by Alibaba Cloud. The regions and zones supported by each cloud service may vary. For more information about the regions and zones supported by a specific cloud service, see the documentation of the cloud service.

Alibaba Cloud public cloud

The following table lists all regions and zones that are supported by Alibaba Cloud.

  • Regions and zones in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong (China), and Macao (China)
    Region nameRegion IDNumber of zonesZone

    China (Qingdao)

    		cn-qingdao2
    • Qingdao Zone B
    • Qingdao Zone C

    Beijing, China

    		cn-beijing12
    • Beijing Zone A
    • Beijing Zone B
    • Beijing Zone C
    • Beijing Zone D
    • Beijing Zone E
    • Beijing Zone F
    • Beijing Zone G
    • Beijing Zone H
    • Beijing Zone I
    • Beijing Zone J
    • Beijing Zone K
    • Beijing Zone L

    Zhangjiakou, China

    		cn-zhangjiakou4
    • Zhangjiakou Zone A
    • Zhangjiakou Zone B
    • Zhangjiakou Zone C
    • Zhangjiakou Zone D

    China (Hohhot)

    		cn-huhehaote2
    • Hohhot Zone A
    • Hohhot Zone B

    China (Ulanqab)

    		cn-wulanchabu3
    • Ulanqab Zone A
    • Ulanqab Zone B
    • Ulanqab Zone C

    Hangzhou, China

    		cn-hangzhou8
    • Hangzhou Zone B
    • Hangzhou Zone E
    • Hangzhou Zone F
    • Hangzhou Zone G
    • Hangzhou Zone H
    • Hangzhou Zone I
    • Hangzhou Zone J
    • Hangzhou Zone K

    Shanghai, China

    		cn-shanghai11
    • Shanghai Zone A
    • Shanghai Zone B
    • Shanghai Zone C
    • Shanghai Zone D
    • Shanghai Zone E
    • Shanghai Zone F
    • Shanghai Zone G
    • Shanghai Zone K
    • Shanghai Zone L
    • Shanghai Zone M
    • Shanghai Zone N

    China (Nanjing-Local Region)

    		cn-nanjing1

    Nanjing-Local Region Zone A

    China (Fuzhou - Local Region)cn-fuzhou1Fuzhou-Local Region Zone A

    Shenzhen, China

    		cn-shenzhen6
    • Shenzhen Zone A
    • Shenzhen Zone B
    • Shenzhen Zone C
    • Shenzhen Zone D
    • Shenzhen Zone E
    • Shenzhen Zone F

    China (Heyuan)

    		cn-heyuan2
    • Heyuan Zone A
    • Heyuan Zone B

    Guangzhou, China

    		cn-guangzhou2
    • Guangzhou Zone A
    • Guangzhou Zone B

    China (Chengdu)

    		cn-chengdu2
    • Chengdu Zone A
    • Chengdu Zone B

    China (Hong Kong)

    		cn-hongkong3
    • Hong Kong Zone B
    • Hong Kong Zone C
    • Hong Kong Zone D
  • Regions outside the Chinese mainland
    Region nameRegion IDNumber of zonesZone

    Singapore

    		ap-southeast-13
    • Singapore Zone A
    • Singapore Zone B
    • Singapore Zone C

    Australia (Sydney)

    		ap-southeast-22
    • Sydney Zone A
    • Sydney Zone B

    Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)

    		ap-southeast-32
    • Kuala Lumpur Zone A
    • Kuala Lumpur Zone B

    Indonesia (Jakarta)

    		ap-southeast-53
    • Jakarta Zone A
    • Jakarta Zone B
    • Jakarta Zone C

    Philippines (Manila)

    		ap-southeast-61

    Manila Zone A

    Thailand (Bangkok)

    		ap-southeast-71

    Bangkok Zone A

    India (Mumbai)

    		ap-south-12
    • Mumbai Zone A
    • Mumbai Zone B

    Japan (Tokyo)

    		ap-northeast-12
    • Tokyo Zone A
    • Tokyo Zone B

    South Korea (Seoul)

    		ap-northeast-21

    Seoul Zone A

    US (Silicon Valley)

    		us-west-12
    • Silicon Valley Zone A
    • Silicon Valley Zone B

    US (Virginia)

    		us-east-12
    • Virginia Zone A
    • Virginia Zone B

    Germany (Frankfurt)

    		eu-central-13
    • Frankfurt Zone A
    • Frankfurt Zone B
    • Frankfurt Zone C

    UK (London)

    		eu-west-12
    • London Zone A
    • London Zone B

    UAE (Dubai)

    		me-east-11

    Dubai Zone A

Alibaba Finance Cloud

The following table lists all regions and zones that are supported by Alibaba Cloud.

  • Regions and zones in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong (China), and Macao (China)
    Region nameRegion IDCityNumber of zonesZone

    China East 1 Finance

    		cn-hangzhouHangzhou7
    • China East 1 Finance Zone B
    • China East 1 Finance Zone C
    • China East 1 Finance Zone D
    • China East 1 Finance Zone H
    • China East 1 Finance Zone I
    • China East 1 Finance Zone J
    • China East 1 Finance Zone K

    China East 2 Finance

    		cn-shanghai-finance-1Shanghai6
    • China East 2 Finance Zone A
    • China East 2 Finance Zone B
    • China East 2 Finance Zone F
    • China East 2 Finance Zone G
    • China East 2 Finance Zone K
    • China East 2 Finance Zone Z

    China South 1 Finance

    		cn-shenzhen-finance-1China (Shenzhen)4
    • China South 1 Finance Zone A
    • China South 1 Finance Zone B
    • China South 1 Finance Zone D
    • China South 1 Finance Zone E

    China North 2 Finance Cloud

    		cn-beijing-finance-1China (Beijing)3
    • China North 2 Finance Zone K
    • China North 2 Finance Zone L
    • China North 2 Finance Zone Z
  • Regions outside the Chinese mainland

    None

Alibaba Gov Cloud

The following table lists all regions and zones that are supported by Alibaba Cloud.

  • Regions and zones in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong (China), and Macao (China)
    Region nameRegion IDCityNumber of zonesZone

    China North 2 Ali Gov 1

    		cn-north-2-gov-1China (Beijing)5
    • China North 2 Ali Gov Zone A
    • China North 2 Ali Gov Zone B
    • China North 2 Ali Gov Zone C
    • China North 2 Ali Gov Zone D
    • China North 2 Ali Gov Zone E
  • Regions outside the Chinese mainland

    None