The 2008 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

Everest 8,850 m

      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)

      Land use:

      arable land: 14.86% permanent crops: 1.27% other: 83.87% (2005)

      Irrigated land:

      545,960 sq km (2003)

      Total renewable water resources:

      2,829.6 cu km (1999)

      Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

      total: 549.76 cu km/yr (7%/26%/68%) per capita: 415 cu m/yr (2000)

      Natural hazards:

      frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence

      Environment - current 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 since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species

      Environment - international agreements:

      party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, 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

      Geography - note:

      world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak

      People

       China

      Population:

      1,330,044,544 (July 2008 est.)

      Age structure:

      0–14 years: 20.1% (male 142,085,665/female 125,300,391) 15–64 years: 71.9% (male 491,513,378/female 465,020,030) 65 years and over: 8% (male 50,652,480/female 55,472,661) (2008 est.)

      Median age:

      total: 33.6 years male: 33.1 years female: 34.2 years (2008 est.)

      Population growth rate:

      0.629% (2008 est.)

      Birth rate:

      13.71 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

      Death rate:

      7.03 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

      Net migration rate:

      −0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

      Sex ratio:

      at birth: 1.11 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 (2008 est.)

      Infant mortality rate:

      total: 21.16 deaths/1,000 live births male: 19.43 deaths/1,000 live births female: 23.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

      Life expectancy at birth:

      total population: 73.18 years male: 71.37 years female: 75.18 years (2008 est.)

      Total fertility rate:

      1.77 children born/woman (2008 est.)

      HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

      0.1% (2003 est.)

      HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

      840,000 (2003 est.)

      HIV/AIDS - deaths:

      44,000 (2003 est.)

      Major infectious diseases:

      degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria water contact disease: leptospirosis 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 (2008)

      Nationality:

      noun: Chinese (singular and plural) adjective: Chinese

      Ethnic groups:

      Han Chinese 91.5%, Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uyghur, Tujia, Yi, Mongol, Tibetan, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Korean, and other nationalities 8.5% (2000 census)

      Religions:

      Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%, Muslim 1%-2% note: officially atheist (2002 est.)

      Languages:

      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)

      Literacy:

      definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 90.9% male: 95.1% female: 86.5% (2000 census)

      School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

      total: 11 years male: 11 years female: 11 years (2006)

      Education expenditures:

      1.9% of GDP (1999)

      Government

       China

      Country name:

      conventional long form: People's Republic of China conventional short form: China local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo local short form: Zhongguo abbreviation: PRC

      Government type:

      Communist state

      Capital:

      name: Beijing geographic coordinates: 39 55 N, 116 23 E time difference: UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: despite its size, all of China falls within one time zone

      Administrative divisions:

      23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities (shi, singular and plural) provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang; (see note on Taiwan) autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang Uygur, Xizang (Tibet) municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau

      Independence:

      221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty); 1 January 1912 (Manchu Dynasty replaced by a Republic); 1 October 1949 (People's Republic established)

      National holiday:

      Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1

       October (1949)

      Constitution:

      most recent promulgation 4 December 1982

      Legal system:

      based on civil law system; derived from Soviet and continental civil code legal principles; legislature retains power to interpret statutes; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

      Suffrage:

      18