Portal:China
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China (simplified Chinese: 中国; traditional Chinese: 中國; literally "the Centre Kingdom") is a cultural region, a civilization, and a country in East Asia, that is home to one-fifth of the world's population.
China is the world's oldest continuous civilization, consisting of states and cultures dating back more than 5,000 years. Its history has been largely characterized by repeated divisions and reunifications amid alternating periods of peace and war, and violent imperial dynastic change. The country's territory expanded outwards from a core area in the North China Plain, and varied according to its changing fortunes to include regions of East, Northeast, and Central Asia. For centuries, Imperial China was also one of the world's most technologically advanced civilizations, and East Asia's dominant cultural influence, with Chinese religion, customs, and writing systems being adopted to varying degrees by neighbors such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam, and having an impact lasting to the present day.
China also has the world's longest continuously used written language system, the Chinese language, and is the source of many major inventions, such as the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China: paper, the compass, gunpowder, and the printing press. Its landscape is diverse with forest steppes and deserts in the dry north near Mongolia and Russia's Siberia, and subtropical forests in the south close to Vietnam, Laos, and Burma. The terrain in the west is rugged and high altitude, with the Himalayas and the Tian Shan mountain ranges forming China's natural borders with India and Central Asia, while in contrast, China's eastern seaboard is low-lying and has a 14,500-kilometre long coastline bounded on the southeast by the South China Sea, and on the east by the East China Sea.
Since 1949, and as a result of the stalemate of the Chinese Civil War, two political entities have been using the name "China": the People's Republic of China, which is often what is meant by the term China, and the Republic of China, which is more commonly known as Taiwan.
Selected article
The Rock Springs massacre occurred on September 2, 1885, in the present-day United States city of Rock Springs, Wyoming, in Sweetwater County. The riot, between Chinese immigrant miners and white, mostly immigrant, miners, was the result of racial tensions and an ongoing labor dispute over the Union Pacific Coal Department's policy of paying Chinese miners lower wages than white miners. When the rioting ended, at least 28 Chinese miners were dead and 15 were wounded. Rioters burned 75 Chinese homes resulting in approximately US$150,000 in property damage. Tension between whites and Chinese immigrants in the late 19th century American West was particularly high, especially in the decade preceding the violence. The massacre in Rock Springs was the violent outburst of years of anti-"coolie" sentiment in the United States. In the immediate aftermath of the riot, federal troops were deployed in Rock Springs. They escorted the surviving Chinese miners, most of whom had fled to Evanston, Wyoming, back to Rock Springs a week after the riot. Reaction came swiftly from the era's publications. In Rock Springs, the local newspaper endorsed the outcome of the riot, while in other Wyoming newspapers, support for the riot was limited to sympathy for the causes of the white miners. The massacre in Rock Springs touched off a wave of anti-Chinese violence, especially in the Puget Sound area of Washington Territory.
Selected biography
Sun was a uniting figure in post-imperial China, and remains unique among 20th century Chinese politicians for being widely revered in both mainland China and Taiwan. In Taiwan, he is known by the posthumous name National Father, Mr. Sun Chungshan (國父 孫中山先生). On the mainland, Sun is also seen as a Chinese nationalist, and is highly regarded as the "Forerunner of the Revolution" (革命先行者) and "the Father of Modern China".
Although Sun is considered one of the greatest leaders of modern China, his life was one of constant struggle and frequent exile. He quickly fell out of power in the newly-founded Republic of China, and led successive revolutionary governments as a challenge to the warlords who controlled much of the nation. Unfortunately, Sun did not live to see his party bring about consolidation of power over the country. Although his fragile political alliance with the Communist Party of China fell apart after his death, Sun grew in stature to become a greatly revered figure among Nationalists and Communists alike.
Did you know...
- ... China shares its borders with fourteen different countries, including Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, North Korea, Pakistan and Nepal?
- ... that China has over 1.3 billion people, with the capital (Beijing) having 19 612 368 people, while the largest city in China is Shanghai, having 23 019 148 people?
- ... the average life expectancy age of a Chinese child at birth is 74.68 years, ranking 95th compared to the rest of the world?
- ... the current chief of state is President Hu Jintao, the 6th president and paramount leader of the People's Republic of China?
- ... the head of government in China is the Premier? The current premier of China is Wen Jiabao. A premier has one executive vice premier (currently Li Keqiang) and three vice premiers (Zhang Dejiang, Hui Liangyu and Wang Qishan).
Selected picture
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| A beach in Sanya, on Hainan Island, facing the South China Sea.
Photo credit: Ppntori |
On this day
1954 - Chiang Kai-shek is selected for another term as President of the Republic of China by the National Assembly
In the news
- May 13: 'Django Unchained' returns to Chinese cinemas
- April 4: North Korea's rising tensions: Wikinews interviews Scott Snyder and Dr Robert Kelly
- April 2: Authorities at Jakarta Airport, Indonesia seize 687 endangered pig-nosed turtles
- January 23: Philippines seeks United Nations arbitration on South China Sea claims
- January 8: Three cities submit bids for 2020 Summer Olympics
- December 10: Three dead after setting themselves on fire in Tibet
- November 21: Philippines to host four-country meeting about South China Sea disputes
- October 25: Obama, Romney battle over foreign policy in final U.S. presidential debate
- October 12: USA raises tariffs on inexpensive Chinese solar panels
- September 29: Canberra Capitals beat Chinese women's national B basketball team in pre-season
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