CHINA
OFFICIAL NAME:
People's Republic of China
Geography
Total area: 9,596,960 sq. km. (about 3.7 million sq.
mi.).
Cities: Capital--Beijing. Other major cities--Shanghai,
Tianjin, Shenyang, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Harbin, Chengdu.
Terrain:
Plains, deltas, and hills in east; mountains, high plateaus, deserts in
west.
Climate: Tropical in south to subarctic in north.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Chinese (singular
and plural).
Population (July 2007 est.): 1,321,851,888.
Population
growth rate (2006 est.): 0.6%.
Health (2007 est.): Infant mortality
rate--22.12/1,000. Life expectancy--72.88 years (overall); 71.13
years for males, 74.82 years for females.
Ethnic groups: Han Chinese--91.9%;
Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uygur, Yi, Mongolian, Tibetan, Buyi, Korean, and
other--8.1%.
Religions: Officially atheist; Taoism, Buddhism, Islam,
Christianity.
Language: Mandarin (Putonghua), plus many local
dialects.
Education: Years compulsory--9.
Literacy--90.9%.
Work force (2006 est., 798 million): Agriculture
and forestry--45%; industry --24%; services--31%.
Government
Type: Communist party-led state.
Constitution:
December 4, 1982.
Independence: Unification under the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty 221
BC; Qing (Ch'ing or Manchu) Dynasty replaced by a republic on February 12, 1912;
People's Republic established October 1, 1949.
Branches:
Executive--president, vice president, State Council, premier.
Legislative--unicameral National People's Congress.
Judicial--Supreme People's Court.
Administrative divisions: 23
provinces (the P.R.C. considers Taiwan to be its 23rd province); 5 autonomous
regions, including Tibet; 4 municipalities directly under the State
Council.
Political parties: Chinese Communist Party, 70.8 million members; 8
minor parties under communist supervision.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.
Economy
GDP (2006): $2.755 trillion (exchange rate
based).
Per capita GDP (2006): $2,084 (exchange rate based).
GDP real
growth rate (2006): 11.1%.
Natural resources: Coal, iron ore, crude oil,
mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite,
aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's
largest).
Agriculture: Products--Among the world's largest producers
of rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley; commercial crops
include cotton, other fibers, apples, oilseeds, pork and fish; produces variety
of livestock products.
Industry: Types--mining and ore processing;
iron; steel; aluminum; coal, machinery; textiles and apparel; armaments;
petroleum; cement; chemicals; fertilizers; consumer products including footwear,
toys, and electronics; automobiles and other transportation equipment including
rail cars and locomotives, ships, and aircraft; and telecommunications.
Trade
(2006): Exports--$969.3 billion: electronics; machinery; apparel;
optical, photographic, and medical equipment; and furniture. Main
partners--U.S., Hong Kong, Japan, EU, South Korea, Singapore.
Imports--$791.8 billion: electronics, machinery, mineral fuel and oil,
chemicals, plastic. Main partners--Japan, EU, Taiwan, South Korea,
U.S., Malaysia, Australia.
Ethnic Groups
The largest ethnic group is the Han Chinese, who
constitute about 91.9% of the total population. The remaining 8.1% are Zhuang
(16 million), Manchu (10 million), Hui (9 million), Miao (8 million), Uygur (7
million), Yi (7 million), Mongolian (5 million), Tibetan (5 million), Buyi (3
million), Korean (2 million), and other ethnic minorities.
Language
There are seven major Chinese dialects and many
subdialects. Mandarin (or Putonghua), the predominant dialect, is spoken by over
70% of the population. It is taught in all schools and is the medium of
government. About two-thirds of the Han ethnic group are native speakers of
Mandarin; the rest, concentrated in southwest and southeast China, speak one of
the six other major Chinese dialects. Non-Chinese languages spoken widely by
ethnic minorities include Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur and other Turkic languages
(in Xinjiang), and Korean (in the northeast).
The Pinyin System of Romanization
On January 1, 1979, the Chinese
Government officially adopted the pinyin system for spelling Chinese names and
places in Roman letters. A system of Romanization invented by the Chinese,
pinyin has long been widely used in China on street and commercial signs as well
as in elementary Chinese textbooks as an aid in learning Chinese characters.
Variations of pinyin also are used as the written forms of several minority
languages.
Pinyin has now replaced other conventional spellings in China's English-language publications. The U.S. Government also has adopted the pinyin system for all names and places in China. For example, the capital of China is now spelled "Beijing" rather than "Peking."
Religion
Religion plays a significant part in the life of many
Chinese. Buddhism is most widely practiced, with an estimated 100 million
adherents. Traditional Taoism also is practiced. Official figures indicate there
are 20 million Muslims, 5 million Catholics, and 15 million Protestants;
unofficial estimates are much higher.
While the Chinese constitution affirms religious toleration, the Chinese Government places restrictions on religious practice outside officially recognized organizations. Only two Christian organizations--a Catholic church without official ties to Rome and the "Three-Self-Patriotic" Protestant church--are sanctioned by the Chinese Government. Unauthorized churches have sprung up in many parts of the country and unofficial religious practice is flourishing. In some regions authorities have tried to control activities of these unregistered churches. In other regions, registered and unregistered groups are treated similarly by authorities and congregations worship in both types of churches. Most Chinese Catholic bishops are recognized by the Pope, and official priests have Vatican approval to administer all the sacraments.
Population Policy
With a population officially just over 1.3
billion and an estimated growth rate of about 0.6%, China is very concerned
about its population growth and has attempted with mixed results to implement a
strict birth limitation policy. China's 2002 Population and Family Planning Law
and policy permit one child per family, with allowance for a second child under
certain circumstances, especially in rural areas, and with guidelines looser for
ethnic minorities with small populations. Enforcement varies, and relies largely
on "social compensation fees" to discourage extra births. Official government
policy opposes forced abortion or sterilization, but in some localities there
are instances of forced abortion. The government's goal is to stabilize the
population in the first half of the 21st century, and current projections are
that the population will peak at around 1.6 billion by 2050.