Country Profiles: China

China is located in Asia.

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, MAO's 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. China since the early 1990s has increased its global outreach and participation in international organizations.
CIA World Factbook

With an area of 9,596,961 sq km, it is slightly smaller than the United States.

China shares a border with Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, India, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Krygyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Vietnam. It is mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west, with plains, deltas, and hills in east.

People who live in China are called Chinese, which is also an adjective used to describe something from this country. As of July 2012, there are 1,343,239,923 people in China. The ethnic groups that reside in China are mostly Han Chinese (91.5%) with Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uighur, Tujia, Yi, Mongol, Tibetan, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Korean, and other nationalities (8.5%) making up the rest. Several languages are spoken there: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, and minority languages. The main religions in China are Daoism (Taoism) and Buddhism, with some Christians (3%-4%) and Muslims (1%-2%).

The country's official name is People's Republic of China (locally Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo). The capital is Beijing, and the country is made up of 23 provinces and 4 municipalities. The current constitution from 1982 can be found here through Constitution Finder. The current president is Hu Jintao. Information about the leaders of China's government can be found here. The currency is the Renminbi yuan (abbreviated RMB), which stands at 6.4615 RMB per USD as of 2011.

All of this information was gathered from the CIA World Factbook. For more information, check out these resources...

People's Republic of China Government Site

China, CIA World Factbook

Background Notes: China, U.S. Department of State

2011 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in China, U.S. Department of State.

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