China
This article is about the People's Republic of China. See also Republic of China and porcelain.
The People's Republic of China is a country in east Asia, the fourth largest in the world. China borders 14 countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Vietnam. With a population of 1,250,000,000, it is the world's most populated nation.
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| National motto: Xxxxx | |||||
| Official language | Mandarin Chinese | ||||
| Capital | Beijing | ||||
| President | Jiang Zemin | ||||
| Area - Total - % water | Ranked 4th 9,571,300 km2 xx% | ||||
| Population
- Density | Ranked 1st
129/km2 | ||||
| Currency | Renminbi | ||||
| Time zone | UTC +8 | ||||
| National anthem | The March of the Volunteers (义勇军进行曲) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .CN | ||||
History
Main article: History of China
China was one of the earliest centers of human civization. Relatively early it became a large united country with an advanced culture, outpacing the rest of the world in areas like art and science. From the 15th century, just before the European era of exploration and expansion began, China pulled back from exploration and became relatively stagnant. Europe's imperialistic position forced China to adopt a defensive posture which was relatively unsuccessful although independence was never lost.
After World War II, a Chinese Civil War between the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang ended with the communist in control of mainland China in 1949. The Kuomintang fled to Taiwan, while Mao Zedong established a dictatorship that, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people.
After the death of Mao, China remained nominally communist, but has gradually moved towards both personal and economic freedom while maintaining elements of totalitarianism with regard to political affairs and religious and ethnic minorities, notably the Falun Gong and Tibet.
Politics
Main articles: Politics of China
China is a republic in that the government has some democratic forms but it is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. There is resistance to the dictatorship of the leadership of the Communist Party by the Chinese democracy movement despite long prison terms suffered by advocates of democracy, censorship, and violent suppression of pro-democracy demonstations such as the Tiananmen Square protests. The degree of support among the population is unknown.
Provinces
Main article: Provinces of China
Mainland China has 22 provinces (省 pinyin sheng3):
- Anhui (安徽 pinyin an1 hui3), abbreviations: Wan (皖 pinyin wan3)
- Fujian (福建 fu2 jian4), abbr. Min (闽 min3)
- Gansu (甘肃 gan1 su4), abbr. Gan (甘 gan1), Long (陇 long3)
- Guangdong (广东 guang3 dong1), abbr. Yue (粤 yue4)
- Guizhou (贵州 gui4 zhou1), abbr. Qian (黔 qian2), Gui (贵 gui4)
- Hainan (海南 hai3 nan2), abbr. Hai (海 hai3), Qiong (琼 qiong2)
- Hebei (河北 he2 bei3), abbr. Ji (冀 ji4)
- Heilongjiang (黑龙江 hei1 long2 jiang1), abbr. Hei (黑 hei1)
- Henan (河南 he2 nan2), abbr. Yu (豫 yu4)
- Hubei (湖北 hu2 bei3), abbr. E (鄂 e4)
- Hunan (湖南 hu2 nan2), abbr. Xiang (湘 xiang1)
- Jiangsu (江苏 jiang1 su1), abbr. Su (苏 su1)
- Jiangxi (江西 jiang1 xi1), abbr. Gan (赣 gan4)
- Jilin (吉林 ji2 lin2), abbr. Ji (吉 ji2)
- Liaoning (辽宁 liao2 ning2), abbr. Liao (辽 liao2)
- Qinghai (青海 qing1 hai3), abbr. Qing (青 qing1)
- Shaanxi (陕西 shan3 xi1), abbr. Shan (陕 shan3), Qin (秦 qin2)
- Shandong (山东 shan1 dong1), abbr. Lu (鲁 lu3)
- Shanxi (山西 shan1 xi1), abbr. Jin (晋 jin4)
- Sichuan (四川 si4 chuan1), abbr. Chuan (川 chuan1), Shu (蜀 shu3)
- Yunnan (云南 yun2 nan2), abbr. Dian (滇 dian1), Yun (云 yun2)
- Zhejiang (浙江 zhe4 jiang1), abbr. Zhe (浙 zhe4)
The government of China considers Taiwan (台湾 tai2 wan1), abbr. Tai (台 tai2) to be its 23rd province. See Political status of Taiwan for more information.
Apart from provinces there are 5 autonomous regions (自治区 pinyin zi4 zhi4 qu1) being concentrations of some Chinese minorities:
- Guangxi Zhuang (广西壮族 guang3 xi1 zhuang4 zu2), abbr. Gui (桂 gui4) - home of Zhuang minority
- Nei Mongol or Inner Mongolia (内蒙古 nei4 meng3 gu3), abbr. Meng (蒙 meng3) - home of Mongol minority
- Ningxia Hui (宁夏回族 ning2 xia4 hui2 zu2), abbr. Ning (宁 ning2) - home of Hui minority
- Xinjiang Uighur (新疆维吾尔族 xin1 jiang1 wei2 wu2 'er3 zu2), abbr. Xin (新 xin1) - home of Uighur minority
- Xizang or Tibet (西藏 xi1 zang4), abbr. Zang (藏 zang4) - home of Tibetans
4 municipalities (市 pinyin shi4):
- Beijing (北京 bei3 jing1), abbr. Jing (京 jing1)
- Chongqing (重庆 chong2 qing4), abbr. Yu (渝 yu2)
- Shanghai (上海 shang4 hai3), abbr. Hu (沪 hu4)
- Tianjin (天津 tian1 jin1), abbr. Jin (津 jin1)
and 2 special administrative regions (SAR):
Geography
Main article: Geography of China
Economy
Main article: Economy of China
Beginning in late 1978 the Chinese leadership has been moving the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented economy but still within a rigid political framework of Communist Party control. To this end the authorities have switched to a system of household responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and investment. The government has emphasized raising personal income and consumption and introducing new management systems to help increase productivity. The government also has focused on foreign trade as a major vehicle for economic growth, for which purpose it set up over 2000 Special economic zones (SEZ) where investment laws are relaxed in order to attract foreign capital. The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978. In 1999, with its 1.25 billion people but a GDP of just $3,800 per capita, China became the second largest economy in the world after the US.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of China
China in an attempt to limit its population growth has adopted a policy which limits most families (ethnic minorities such as Tibetans are an exception) to one child. Because popular culture in China values having a son very much many parents resort to abortion, selective abortion, to ensure that their one child is a boy. There is even a tiny amount of infanticide. This has resulted in 120 boys being born for every 100 girls. The Chinese government is attempting to mitigate this problem by emphasizing the worth of women and has gone so far as to prohibit medical providers from disclosing to parents the sex of an expected baby.
China has two emerging public health problems: an emerging HIV-AIDS epidemic and hundreds of millions of cigarette smokers. The HIV epidemic, in addition to the usual routes of infection, was exacerbated in the past by unsanitary practices used in the collection of blood in rural areas. The problem with tobacco is complicated by the concentration of most cigarette sales in a government controlled monopoly. The government, with limited resources, and dependent on tobacco revenue seems sluggish in its response to both problems.
Hepatitis B is endemic in China, the majority of the population eventually contracting the disease, with about 10% being seriously affected. Often this causes liver failure or liver cancer, a common form of death in China. A program initiated in 2002 will attempt over the next 5 years to vaccinate all newborns in China.
Environment
See Environmental issues in China
Due to a prolonged drought and perhaps poor agricultural practices dust storms have become usual in the spring in China. According to China's Environmental Protection Agency, the Gobi Desert has been expanding and is a major source of dust storms which affect China and other parts of northeast Asia such as Korea and Japan. [1]
Culture
Main article: Culture of China
Miscellaneous topics
External links
- China.org.cn - China's Official Gateway
- China News.