Background:
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| 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, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, MAO's successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight. |
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Location:
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| Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam
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Geographic coordinates:
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35 00 N, 105 00 E
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Area:
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total: 9,596,961 sq km
country comparison to the world: 10
land:
9,569,901 sq km
water:
27,060 sq km
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than the US
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Land boundaries:
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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, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km
regional borders:
Hong Kong 30 km, Macau 0.34 km
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Coastline:
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14,500 km
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone:
24 nm
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
continental shelf:
200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
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Climate:
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extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
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Terrain:
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mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m
highest point:
Mount Everest 8,850 m
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Natural resources:
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coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)
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Land use:
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arable land: 14.86%
permanent crops:
1.27%
other:
83.87% (2005)
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Irrigated land:
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545,960 sq km (2003)
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Total renewable water resources:
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2,829.6 cu km (1999)
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Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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total: 549.76 cu km/yr (7%/26%/68%)
per capita:
415 cu m/yr (2000)
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Natural hazards:
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frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence
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Environment - current issues:
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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 since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
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Geography - note:
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world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak |
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Population:
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| 1,338,612,968 (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 1
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 19.8% (male 140,877,745/female 124,290,090)
15-64 years:
72.1% (male 495,724,889/female 469,182,087)
65 years and over:
8.1% (male 51,774,115/female 56,764,042) (2009 est.)
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Median age:
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total: 34.1 years
male:
33.5 years
female:
34.7 years (2009 est.)
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Population growth rate:
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0.655% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 146
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Birth rate:
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14 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 150
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Death rate:
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7.06 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 130
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Net migration rate:
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-0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 105
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Urbanization:
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urban population: 43% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization:
2.7% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
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Sex ratio:
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at birth: 1.1 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.13 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.91 male(s)/female
total population:
1.06 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
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Infant mortality rate:
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total: 20.25 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 105
male:
18.87 deaths/1,000 live births
female:
21.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 73.47 years
country comparison to the world: 105
male:
71.61 years
female:
75.52 years (2009 est.)
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Total fertility rate:
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1.79 children born/woman (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 158
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.1% (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 115
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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700,000 (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 17
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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39,000 (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 14
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Major infectious diseases:
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degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases:
bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases:
Japanese encephalitis and dengue fever
soil contact disease:
hantaviral hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS)
animal contact disease:
rabies
note:
highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds
(2009)
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Nationality:
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noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
adjective:
Chinese
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Ethnic groups:
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Han Chinese 91.5%, Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uyghur, Tujia, Yi, Mongol, Tibetan, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Korean, and other nationalities 8.5% (2000 census)
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Religions:
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Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%, Muslim 1%-2%
note:
officially atheist (2002 est.)
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Languages:
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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 groups entry)
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
90.9%
male:
95.1%
female:
86.5% (2000 census)
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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
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total: 11 years
male:
11 years
female:
11 years (2006)
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Education expenditures:
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1.9% of GDP (1999)
country comparison to the world: 170
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