Introduction

Background: For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.

Geography

Location: Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam

Geographic coordinates: 35 00 N, 105 00 E

Map references: Asia

Area: total: 9,596,960 sq km;  land: 9,326,410 sq km;  water: 270,550 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than the US

Land boundaries: total: 22,117 km

border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Mongolia 4,677 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km

regional borders: Hong Kong 30 km, Macau 0.34 km

Coastline: 14,500 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm;  contiguous zone: 24 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;  continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north

Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m; highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m

Natural resources: coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)

Land use: arable land: 15.4%;  permanent crops: 1.25%; other: 83.35% (2001)

Irrigated land: 525,800 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence

Environment - current issues: air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species

Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak

People

Population: 1,306,313,812 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 21.4% (male 148,134,928/female 131,045,415)

15-64 years: 71% (male 477,182,072/female 450,664,933)

65 years and over: 7.6% (male 47,400,282/female 51,886,182) (2005 est.)

Median age: total: 32.26 years; male: 31.87 years; female: 32.67 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.58% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 13.14 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 6.94 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.12 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.13 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female

total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 24.18 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 21.21 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 27.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.27 years; male: 70.65 years;  female: 74.09 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.72 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 840,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 44,000 (2003 est.)

Nationality: noun: Chinese (singular and plural);  adjective: Chinese

Ethnic groups: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%

Religions: Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%

note: officially atheist (2002 est.)

Languages: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry)

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 90.9%;  male: 95.1%; female: 86.5% (2002)

Government

Country name: conventional long form: People's Republic of China

conventional short form: China

local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo

local short form: Zhong Guo

abbreviation: PRC

Government type: Communist state

Capital: Beijing

Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities (shi, singular and plural)

provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang

autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Xizang (Tibet)

municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin

note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau

Independence: 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty); 1 January 1912 (Manchu Dynasty replaced by a Republic); 1 October 1949 (People's Republic established)

National holiday: Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949)

Constitution: most recent promulgation 4 December 1982

Legal system: a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003) and Vice President ZENG Qinghong (since 15 March 2003)

head of government: Premier WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003); Vice Premiers HUANG Ju (since 17 March 2003), WU Yi (17 March 2003), ZENG Peiyan (since 17 March 2003), and HUI Liangyu (since 17 March 2003)

cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC)

elections: president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress for five-year terms; elections last held 15-17 March 2003 (next to be held mid-March 2008); premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress

election results: HU Jintao elected president by the Tenth National People's Congress with a total of 2,937 votes (four delegates voted against him, four abstained, and 38 did not vote); ZENG Qinghong elected vice president by the Tenth National People's Congress with a total of 2,578 votes (177 delegates voted against him, 190 abstained, and 38 did not vote); two seats were vacant

Legislative branch: unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,985 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms)

elections: last held December 2002-February 2003 (next to be held late 2007-February 2008)

election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - NA <span lang="EN