|
 China
Map of China
Geography
China is the world's third-largest
country (after Russia and Canada), slightly larger than the United
States.
| Location:
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Eastern Asia, bordering
the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea,
between North Korea, Vietnam |
| Area:
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slightly larger than
the US Total area: 9,596,960 sq km Land area: 9,326,410 sq km |
| Climate:
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extremely diverse; tropical
in south to subarctic in north Terrain: mostly mountains, high
plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east |
| Natural
resources: |
coal, iron ore, petroleum,
mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium,
magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential
(world's largest) |
People/History
China is and may always have been the
world's most populous nation. Its population may have been in excess
of 40 million during the time of Christ. The current Chinese population
is over 1 billion.
Population: 1,203,097,268
(July 1995 est.)
- 0-14 years: 26% (female 151,266,866;
male 167,234,782)
- 15-64 years: 67% (female 391,917,572;
male 419,103,994)
- 65 years and over: 7% (female 39,591,692;
male 33,982,362)
- (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.04% (1995 est.)
Ethnicity:
While the majority of Chinese people
is of Han ethnic origin, there are 55 other major ethnic groups
intermingled in various locales. Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur,
Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other
nationalities 8.1%
Religions/Philosophy:
Daoism (Taoism) has the longest history.
Buddhism came to China from India during the first century A.D.
Most of the exsisting temples are Buddhist. Islam came later with
about 2%-3% Muslim. Christianity is the latest at1% (est.) China
is officially atheist. Lao Tzu (c.604 -531 B.C. ) is considered
to be the founding father of Chinese philosophy. Confucius (551-470
B.C.) is most often honored as the "Great Teacher" in China. His
moral teaching became the standard for personal behavior, official
conduct and the norm for relationships. It is a way of living,
rather than a religion. He persuaded people to cultivate their
minds, seek harmony within the family, show loyalty towards the
nation and moral authority, and be at peace with the world.
Languages:
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua,
based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese),
Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka
dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic divisions entry)
Chinese History:
The second longest among all known
civilizations, spans over 50 centuries, with a written record
of 4693 years. First discovered on oracle bones, Chinese written
characters incorporate meaning and sound as well as visual image
into a coherent whole, and is the only major writing system in
the world that continued its pictograph-based development without
interruption, and is still in general use.
Literacy:
- age 15 and over can read and write
(1990)
- Total population: 78% (male: 87%
female: 68%)
Education:
Since the beginning, the government
has periodically scheduled examinations, first based on the classics
and now including up-to-date scientific subjects, to select civil
officials. Examinations have been open to everyone. Today, compulsory
education ends with the 6th grade. This can be followed by three-year
middle school and either three-year high school or trade school.Hours
are 8-5, monday-Friday, 8-noon on Saturdays.
Government
Names:
- The People's Republic of China
- conventional short form: China
- local long form: Zhonghua Renmin
Gongheguo local short form: Zhong Guo
Capital: Beijing
Independence:
221 BC (unification under the Qin
or Ch'in Dynasty 221 BC; Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the
Republic on 12 February 1912; People's Republic established 1
October 1949)
National holiday:
National Day, 1 October (1949)
Economy
National product:
GDP - purchasing power parity - $2.9788
trillion (1994 estimate as extrapolated from World Bank estimate
for 1992 by use of official Chinese growth statistics for 1993-94;
because of the difficulties with official statistics in this time
of rapid change, the result may overstate China's GDP by as much
as 25%)
Exports: $121
billion (f.o.b., 1994)
textiles, garments, footwear, toys,
machinery and equipment, weapon systems
Imports:
$115.7 billion (c.i.f., 1994)
rolled steel, motor vehicles, textile
machinery, oil products, aircraft
Industrial production: growth
rate 17.5% (1994 est.)
Industries:
iron and steel, coal, machine building,
armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers,
consumer durables, food processing, autos, consumer electronics,
telecommunications
Agriculture:
accounts for almost 30% of GDP; among
the world's largest producers of rice, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts,
tea, millet, barley, and pork; commercial crops include cotton,
other fibers, and oilseeds; produces variety of livestock products;
basically self-sufficient in food; fish catch of 13.35 million
metric tons (including fresh water and pond raised) (1991)
Currency: 1
yuan (Y) = 10 jiao
Exchange rates:
yuan (Y) per US$1 - 8.4413 (January
1995), 8.6187 (1994), 5.7620 (1993), 5.5146 (1992), 5.3234 (1991),
4.7832 (1990) note: beginning 1 January 1994, the People's Bank
of China quotes the midpoint rate against the US dollar based
on the previous day's prevailing rate in the interbank foreign
exchange market
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Cambodia
China
Japan
Laos
North
Korea
Philippines
South
Korea
Taiwan
Thailand
Vietnam
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