Botou City was originally Jiaohe County. The Han Dynasty belonged to Lecheng, Chengping and Jiancheng counties. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the province was built into Pingcheng, and the Sui Dynasty was changed to Pingcheng as Jingcheng, and Lecheng as Leshou. In the sixth year of Xining in Song Shenzong (AD 173), the provincial scenic city entered Leshou, and the river town was interchanged with Shijiaquan. In the seventh year of Jin Dading (AD 1167), Leshou was located in Jiaohe County, and xinqiao town was located in the east of Jiaohe County and on the west bank of the canal. In the Ming Dynasty, it was renamed Botou Town and a Tucheng was built. Because there is a Xinqiao Post in Hedong, which is close to Nanpi County, in the 19th year of Kangxi (AD 168), part of Hedong was placed under Nanpi's jurisdiction. In 1946, after the liberation of Botou, the administrative office of Jizhong District decided to separate Botou City from Jiaohe and Nanpi counties and set up Botou City. In October 1949, it was changed to a county-level town, and in 1953 it was relocated to Botou City. In December 1958, Jiaohe, Nanpi, Dongguang, Fucheng and Botou were merged into Jiaohe County. After 1961, the establishment of counties resumed one after another. In May 1962, Botou was changed to Jiaohe County. In December 1982, the State Council decided to resume the construction of Botou City. In May 1983, Jiaohe County was revoked and its jurisdiction was merged into Botou City.
Botou is located in Hebei Plain, with open ground and flat terrain, with an average elevation of 13.2m (the elevation of the Yellow Sea) and a natural slope of only one ten thousandth. Before the Qing Dynasty, the Yellow River, Zhanghe River, Hutuo River and other rivers flowed through the city many times, leaving behind criss-crossing old rivers and abundant groundwater resources. Today, there are 13 large and small rivers in China, with an average of 5,465 cubic meters of shallow fresh water reserves. The climate belongs to the continental monsoon climate of warm temperate zone, with four distinct seasons and abundant sunshine. The average annual temperature is 12.6℃ and the average frost-free period for many years is 187 days. The average sunshine hours are 2783.6 hours, and the average annual precipitation is 529.8 mm. The soil is fertile, and it belongs to a farming area with three crops in two years or two crops in one year.
In ancient times, there was a canal in the east and a post road in the west, which was a strategic place for military strategists. On both sides of the canal, ships converge and merchants gather, and it is also a major commercial port in Jinnan. Since the beginning of modern times, the national trunk highways such as Jingfu, Jingda and Cangshi have been built one after another, and Botou's position as a transportation hub, business center, material distribution center and strategic economic zone has become more prominent and important.
There are outstanding people in Botou, such as Liu Li and Wang Lansheng, outstanding Confucians in Qing Dynasty, outstanding figures such as Wang Zhuquan, a famous modern geologist, Sun Tongxuan, a patriotic and democratic educator, Nan Hanchen, and outstanding producers such as Huang Lirong and Shen Xianzhi. Yanjiapu Village in the city is the Rihua Palace built by Liu De, the king of Hejian in the Han Dynasty, which is a treasure house of geomantic omen, and a mosque built in the Ming Dynasty, which is famous at home and abroad for its grand scale and unique style.