Forest is the major land
use type, which covered an area of 6870.8 km2 (42% of the total
area) in 2008 and is distributed mainly in the mountainous areas.
Urban land took up 21% of Beijing in 2008, located on the plains
area surrounding the city center. There were 2316.86 km2 of
farmland (14% of the total area) in 2008, mainly located in the
periphery of the city on the plains areas (Beijing Municipal Bureau
of Land and Resources, 2009).