China

China, (People's Republic of China), is situated in eastern Asia, bounded by the Pacific in the east. The third largest country in the world, next to Canada and Russia, it has an area of 9.6 million square kilometers, or one-fifteenth of the world's land mass. It begins from the confluence of the Heilong and Wusuli rivers in the east to the Pamirs west of Wuqia County in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the west, about 5,200 kilometers apart; and from the midstream of the Heilong River north of Mohe in the north to the southernmost island Zengmu'ansha in the South China Sea, about 5,500 kilometers apart. The border stretches over 22,000 kilometers on land and the coastline extends well over 18,000 kilometers, washed by the waters of the Bohai, the Huanghai, the East China and the South China seas. The Bohai Sea is the inland sea of China. There are 6,536 islands larger than 500 square meters, the largest is Taiwan, with a total area of about 36,000 square kilometers, and the second, Hainan. The South China Sea Islands are the southernmost island group of China. (ChinaToday.com, 2008)

In the vast western reaches of China - mountains, high plateaus and deserts dominate the landscape, while central and east the land slopes into broad plains and deltas. The Himalayas, the world's most elevated mountain range, forms its southwestern borders with India, Nepal and Bhutan. In the far northeast, high mountains ring its border with the Russian Federation. The Gobi Desert runs west to east along its border with Mongolia. Here the topography varies from sand desert, into the low mountain foothills and plateaus that stretch into Mongolia. From the higher elevations in the west literally thousands of rivers drain the country; the most significant include the Yangtze (third longest river on the planet), and the Heilong (Amur), Mekong, Pearl and Yellow.

пÑ--јHighest Point Mt. Everest - 29,025 ft. (8.850 m)

пÑ--јLowest Point Turpan Pendi (-154 m)

(WorldAtlas.com, China)

Much like the ancient Roman and Egyptian empires, China led much of the world in the arts and sciences for hundreds of years. Then, in the 19th Century, China experienced debilitating civil unrest, significant food shortages, military defeats, and foreign occupation. With the end of World War II, the upstart Communists under the leadership of 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.

Those efforts were successful as GDP output quadrupled by the year 2000. Today, political controls still remain tight, but more and more economic controls continue to be relaxed. China's economy is booming and its influence is growing worldwide. Tourism, always popular in China, is a growth industry, as the country presents, the most fascinating destination on the planet.

пÑ--јPopulation 1,306,313,800

пÑ--јCapital City Beijing metro (14.2 million)

пÑ--јCurrency Yuan (CNY)

пÑ--јLanguages Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua,) Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan, Xiang, Gan and Hakka dialects

пÑ--јNational Day October 1

пÑ--јReligions Officially atheist, with small groups of Daoist, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian

(WorldAtlas.com, China)

China has 1.3 billion people with a growth rate of only 1.1%. Strict family planning laws have been enforced limiting the number of children per woman. In the first half of the 20th century, China was beset by major famines, civil unrest, 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. Political controls remain tight even while economic controls continue to weaken. China remains a communist state with executive, judicial, and legislative branches. There are 23 administrative provinces. The president is the chief of state and the premier is the head of government. (China Profile)

In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic influence of non-state managers and enterprises has been steadily increasing. 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 result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978. In 2000, with its 1.26 billion people but a GDP of just $3,600 per capita, China stood as the second largest economy in the world after the US (measured on a purchasing power parity basis). Popular resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which is essential to maintaining growth in living standards. Another long-term threat to continued rapid economic growth is the deterioration in the environment, notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table especially in the north. (China Profile)

Of the total population, 84.1% were literate by the year 2000. This is due in part to the fact that China has a Compulsory Education Law, which went into effect on July 1, 1986. While the Compulsory Education Law calls for each child to have nine years of formal schooling, it is recognized that certain realities prevent this nine year standard to be implemented immediately. Therefore, a provision of the Education Law is that China shall be divided into three categories: cities and economically developed areas, towns and villages with medium development, and economically backward areas. It should be noted that the most important contributing factor in the drop-out rates at each level is the increasing cost of education