OFFICIAL NAME: People's Republic of China
CAPITAL: Beijing (Peking)
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT: Single Party Socialist Republic
AREA: 9,596,961 Sq Km (3,705,408 Sq Mi)
ESTIMATED 2000 POPULATION 1,275,631,000
LOCATION & GEOGRAPHY: China is located in Central and East Asia. It is bound by Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan to the north, North Korea, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea to the east, the South China Sea, the Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, India, Bhutan and Nepal to the south as well as India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to the west. Over 66% of China is upland hill, mountains and plateaux while the highest mountains and plateaux are found to the west. To the north and east of the Tibetan Plateau the land decreases to the desert or semidesert areas of Sinkiang and Inner Mongolia. To the northeast the broad fertile Manchurian Plains are separated from North Korea by the densely forested uplands of Changpai Shan. East of the Tibetan Plateau and south of Inner Mongolia is the Sichuan Basin which is drained by the Yangtze River that flows east across the southern plains to the East China Sea. The southern plains along the east coast of China have rich, fertile soils and are protected from the north winds. Both Hong Kong and Macau are enclosed on the southeast coast. Major Cities (pop. est.); Shanghai 7,496,500, Beijing 5,769,600, Tientsen 4,574,700, Shen-yang 3,603,700, Wu-han 3,284,200, Canton 2,914,300, Harbin 2,443,400 (1990). Land Use; forested 14%, pastures 43%, agricultural-cultivated 10%, other 33% (1992).
CLIMATE: China has a varied climate that can be divided into seven climatic zones. (1.) North East China which has cold winters that are influenced by strong northerly continental winds while summers are warm and humid with unreliable rainfall. (2.) Central China which has warm humid summers with the coastal regions occasionally subject to cyclones and typhoons. (3.) South China where summers are hot and humid with heavy rainfalls between April to September. (4.) South West China which is mountainous with the summer temperatures moderated by altitude, while the wet winters are mild with little rain. (5.) The Tibetan region which is a high plateau where winters are severe with frequent light snow and frost, while summers are warm during the day but drop to extremes at night. Rainfall is also heaviest in summer. (6.) The western interior zone which has an arid desert climate with cold winters and rainfall is distributed evenly throughout the year. (7.) Inner Mongolia which comprises the mountain ranges and semi-desert lowlands has an extreme continental climate with cold winters and warm summers. Rainfall is vast while strong winds in winter and spring make the temperatures even colder. Average temperature ranges in Shanghai are from 1 to 8 degrees Celsius (34 to 36 degrees Fahrenheit) in January to 23 to 32 degrees Celsius (73 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit) in July or August.
PEOPLE: The principal ethnic majority are the Han Chinese who account for 92% of the population. The remaining 8% include Chuang, Hui, Uigur, Yi, Miao, Mangchu, Tibetans, Mongols, Ruyi and Koreans. Also other numerous lesser nationalities account for 67 Million, of which there are 55 ethnic groups.
DEMOGRAPHIC/VITAL STATISTICS: Density; 120 persons per sq km (311 persons per sq mi) (1991). Urban-Rural; 26.2% urban, 73.8% rural (1990). Sex Distribution; 51.6% male, 48.4% female (1990). Life Expectancy at Birth; 68.4 years male, 71.4 years female (1989). Age Breakdown; 28% under 15, 31% 15 to 29, 20% 30 to 44, 12% 45 to 59, 7% 60 to 74, 2% 75 and over (1989). Birth Rate; 21.0 per 1,000 (1990). Death Rate; 6.3 per 1,000 (1990). Increase Rate; 14.7 per 1,000 (1990). Infant Mortality Rate; 32.0 per 1,000 live births (1988).
RELIGIONS: Although officially an atheist state, the most important religious beliefs include Confucianism which accounts for 20% of the population while Taoism accounts for 2%, Buddhism for 6% with around 2% of the population Muslim and 1% Christian.
LANGUAGES: The official and national language is Putonghua or Mandarin which is based on the Beijing dialect with other principal dialects including Cantonese or Yue, Shanghainese or Wu, Fuzhou, Hokkien and Hakka as well as minority languages such as Tibetan and Mongolian.
EDUCATION: Aged 25 or over and having attained: no formal schooling or incomplete primary 44.5%, complete primary 32.7%, lower secondary 16.1%, upper secondary 5.6%, higher 1.1% (1982). Literacy; literate population aged 15 or over 609,283,011 or 72.6% (1982).
CURRENCY: The official currency is the Yuan (Y) divided into 10 Jiao and 100 Fen.
ECONOMY: Gross National Product; USD $581,109,000,000 (1993). Public Debt; USD $70,024,000,000 (1993). Imports; USD $103,950,000,000 (1993). Exports; USD $91,763,000,000 (1993). Tourism Receipts; USD $7,323,000,000 (1994). Balance of Trade; Y 126,800,000,000 (1994). Economically Active Population; 584,569,200 or 54.7% of total population (1987). Unemployed; 2.0% (1987).
MAIN TRADING PARTNERS: Its main trading partners are the USA, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Canada, Australia and Singapore.
MAIN PRIMARY PRODUCTS: Aluminum, Antimony, Asbestos, Bauxite, Coal, Copper, Cotton, Fish, Iron Ore, Jute and Hemp, Lead, Livestock, Manganese, Mercury, Oil and Natural Gas, Phosphate Rock, Rice, Salt, Soya Beans, Sugar Beets, Sulfur, Tea, Timber, Tin Ore, Tobacco, Uranium, Wheat, Zinc.
MAJOR INDUSTRIES: Agriculture, Cement, Fertilizers, Iron and Steel, Light Industry, Machinery, Mining, Ornaments, Petroleum Refining, Products, Textiles, Vehicles.
MAIN EXPORTS: Chemicals, Clothing, Crude Oil, Coal, Foodstuffs, Machinery, Minerals, Petroleum Products, Textiles Yarns and Fabrics.
TRANSPORT: Railroads; route length 66,918 km (41,581 mi) (1990), passenger-km 261,600,000,000 (162,551,000,000 passenger-mi) (1990), cargo ton-km 1,059,300,000,000 (725,515,000,000 short ton-mi) (1990). Roads; length 1,014,342 km (630,283 mi) (1990). Vehicles; cars and buses 1,464,297 (1989), trucks 3,463,735 (1989). Merchant Marine; vessels 1,948 (1990), deadweight tonnage 20,749,954 (1990). Air Transport; passenger-km 21,800,000,000 (13,546,000,000 passenger-mi) (1990), cargo ton-km 800,000,000 (547,920,000 short ton-mi) (1990).
COMMUNICATIONS: Daily Newspapers; total of 74 with a total circulation of 39,597,000 (1988). Radio; receivers 206,000,000 (1994). Television; receivers 227,880,000 (1994). Telephones; units 18,888,200 (1992).
MILITARY: 2,930,000 (1994) total active duty personnel with 75.1% army, 8.9% navy and 16.0% air force while military expenditure accounts for 2.7% (1993) of the Gross National Product (GNP).