Abstract: 125 Characteristic towns published in the national and provincial lists are selected as the research samples, and the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of characteristic towns in Shandong province are analyzed by using ArcGIS 10.2 software. The results show that the spatial distribution of characteristic towns in Shandong province is discrete. There are some differences between the characteristic towns and the uniform distribution in Shandong province,which are in a decentralized state, but the dispersion tends to be uniform. It is roughly divided by the eastern coastline of Dongying and the eastern boundary of Linyi. The number of characteristic towns in the west is large and scattered, while the distribution of cities in the east is relatively dense. The spatial distribution of characteristic towns in Shandong province has a high degree of coordination with economic development and population. The spatial connection is relatively close. The above analysis provides a useful reference for optimizing the spatial layout of characteristic towns in Shandong province.

Key words: characteristic towns, spatial distribution, influencing factors, Shandong province