China

China 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, China was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship 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 gradually introduced market-oriented reforms and decentralized economic decision making. Output quadrupled by 2000. Political controls remain tight while economic controls continue to be relaxed.

China Information

• Population: 1,298,847,624 (July 2004 est.)
• Nationality: noun: Chinese (singular and plural) adjective: Chinese
• Location:: Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam
• Religions:: Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4% note: officially atheist (2002 est.)
• Ethnic Groups:: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%
• 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
• Area: total: 9,596,960 sq km land: 9,326,410 sq km water: 270,550 sq km
• Coast Line: 14,500 km
• Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
• Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east
• Maritime Claims: territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
• Land Use: arable land: 15.4% permanent crops: 1.25% other: 83.36% (2001)
• Environmental 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 sinc
• 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)
• Highways: total: 1,402,698 km paved: 314,204 km (with at least 16,314 km of expressways) unpaved: 1,088,494 km (2000)
• Railways: total: 70,058 km standard gauge: 68,000 km 1.435-m gauge (18,668 km electrified) narrow gauge: 3,600 km 1.000-m and 0.750-m gauge local industrial lines dual gauge: 22,640 km (not included in total) (2003)
• Ports & Harbours: Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang (2001)
• Airports: 507 (2003 est.)