China
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"PRC" redirects here. For other uses, see PRC (disambiguation). This article is about the People's Republic of China. For other uses, see China (disambiguation). Page semi-protected
People's Republic of China ??????? Zhonghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó
Flag National Emblem
Anthem: "??????" "Yìyongjun Jìnxíngqu" (Pinyin) "March of the Volunteers"
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Area controlled by the People's Republic of China shown in dark green; claimed b ut uncontrolled regions shown in light green. Area controlled by the People's Republic of China shown in dark green; claimed b ut uncontrolled regions shown in light green.
Capital Beijing[b] 39°55'N 116°23'E Largest city Shanghai[1][2] Official languages Standard Chinese[3] Recognised regional languages Mongolian· Tibetan· Uyghur· Zhuang· various others
Official written language Vernacular Chinese Official script Simplified Chinese[3] Ethnic groups 91.51% Han[4]
55 minorities[a] 1.30% Zhuang 0.86% Manchu 0.79% Uyghur 0.79% Hui 0.72% Miao 0.65% Yi 0.62% Tujia 0.47% Mongol 0.44% Tibetan 0.26% Buyei 0.15% Korean 1.05% others
Demonym Chinese Government Single-party socialist state - President Xi Jinping[c] - Premier Li Keqiang - Congress Chairman Zhang Dejiang - Conference Chairman Yu Zhengsheng Legislature National People's Congress Establishment - Unification of China under the Qin Dynasty 221 BC - Republic established 1 January 1912 - People's Republic proclaimed 1 October 1949 Area - Total 9,706,961 km2[d] (3rd/4th) 3,747,879 sq mi - Water (%) 2.8 Population - 2012 estimate 1,353,821,000[4][5] (1st) - 2010 census 1,339,724,852[6] (1st) - Density 139.6/km2 (81st) 363.3/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2012 estimate - Total $12.405 trillion[7] (2nd) - Per capita $9,161[7] (91st) GDP (nominal) 2012 estimate - Total $8.227 trillion[7] (2nd) - Per capita $6,075[7] (90th) Gini (2012) 47.4[8] high HDI (2012) Increase 0.699[9] medium · 101st Currency Renminbi (yuan) (¥) (CNY) Time zone China Standard Time (UTC+8) Date format yyyy-mm-dd or yyyy?m?d? (CE; CE-1949)
Drives on the right[f] Calling code +86 ISO 3166 code CN Internet TLD .cn .??[10] .?? a. ^ Minorities that are recognized officially. b. ^ Or (previously) "Peking". c. ^ Xi Jinping holds four concurrent positions: General Secretary of the Commun ist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission for both state and party.[11] d. ^ The area given is the official United Nations figure for the mainland and e xpressly excludes Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.[12] It also excludes the Trans-Ka rakoram Tract 5,800 km2 (2,200 sq mi), Aksai Chin 37,244 km2 (14,380 sq mi) and other territories in dispute with India. The total area of China is listed as 9, 572,900 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi) by the Encyclopædia Britannica.[13] For further info rmation, see Territorial changes of the People's Republic of China. f. ^ Except Hong Kong and Macau. China (Listeni/'t?a?n?/; Chinese: ??; pinyin: Zhongguó), officially the People's R epublic of China (PRC), is a sovereign state located in East Asia. It is the wor ld's most populous country, with a population of over 1.35 billion. The PRC is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party, with its seat of government in the capital city of Beijing.[14] It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces , five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianj in, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrati ve regions (Hong Kong and Macau).[15] The PRC also claims Taiwan which is contro lled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity as its 23rd pro vince, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and t he unresolved Chinese Civil War.[16] Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, China is the world's secon d-largest country by land area,[17] and the third or fourth-largest by total are a, depending on the definition of total area.[18] China's landscape is vast and diverse, with forest steppes and the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts occupying the a rid north and northwest near Mongolia and Central Asia, and subtropical forests prevalent in the wetter south near Southeast Asia. The terrain of western China is rugged and elevated, with the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mounta in ranges separating China from South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow R ivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, have their sources in the Tibe tan Plateau and continue to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coas tline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometres (9,000 mi) long and is bounde d by the Bohai, Yellow, East and South China Seas. The ancient Chinese civilization one of the world's earliest flourished in the f ertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, China' s political system was based on hereditary monarchies, known as dynasties, begin ning with the semi-mythological Xia of the Yellow River basin (c. 2000 BC). Sinc e 221 BC, when the Qin Dynasty first conquered several states to form a Chinese empire, the country has expanded, fractured and been reformed numerous times. Th e Republic of China overthrew the last dynasty in 1911, and ruled the Chinese ma inland until 1949. After the defeat of the Empire of Japan in World War II, the Communist Party defeated the nationalist Kuomintang in mainland China and establ ished the People's Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, while the Kuo mintang relocated the ROC government to Taipei. The ROC's jurisdiction is now li mited to Taiwan and several outlying islands, including Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu , and it now receives limited diplomatic recognition. Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978, China has become the world's fastest-growing major economy. As of 2013, it is the world's second-largest eco nomy by both nominal total GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP), and is also th e world's largest exporter and importer of goods.[19] China is a recognized nucl ear weapons state and has the world's largest standing army, with the second-lar gest defense budget. The PRC has been a United Nations member since 1971, when i t replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, includ ing the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the BCIM and th e G-20. China has been characterized as a potential superpower by a number of ac ademics,[20] military analysts,[21][22] and public policy and economics analysts .[23][24]
Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 Prehistory 2.2 Early dynastic rule 2.3 Imperial China 2.4 Late dynastic rule 2.5 Republic of China (1912 1949) 2.6 People's Republic of China (1949 present) 3 Geography 3.1 Political geography 3.2 Landscape and climate 3.3 Biodiversity 3.3.1 Fauna 3.3.2 Flora 3.3.3 Fungi 3.4 Environmental issues 4 Politics 4.1 Administrative divisions 4.2 Foreign relations 4.2.1 Trade relations 4.2.2 Territorial disputes 4.2.3 Emerging superpower status 4.3 Sociopolitical issues and reform 5 Military 6 Economy 7 Science and technology 7.1 Historical 7.2 Modern era 8 Infrastructure 8.1 Communications 8.2 Transport 9 Demographics 9.1 Ethnic groups 9.2 Languages 9.3 Urbanization 9.4 Education 9.5 Health 9.6 Religion 10 Culture 10.1 Cuisine 10.2 Sports 11 See also 12 References 13 Further reading 14 External links
Etymology Main article: Names of China
China Chinese name Simplified Chinese: ?? Traditional Chinese: ?? Literal meaning: Middle Kingdom[25][26]
Transliterations Gan - Romanization: Tung-koe?t Kejia - Romanization: Dung24 Gued2 Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin: Zhongguó - Tongyong Pinyin: Jhongguó - Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo - Postal Map: Chungkuo - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Jong'gwo - Bopomofo ??? ???´ - Xiao'erjing ??? ????? Min - Hokkien POJ: Tiong-kok - Min Dong BUC: D??ng-guók Wu - Romanization: Tson? koh? Xiang - Romanization: /tan33 kw?24/ Yue - Jyutping: Zung1 gwok3 - Yale Romanization: Junggwok
People's Republic of China Alternative Chinese name Simplified Chinese: ??????? Traditional Chinese: ???????
Transliterations Gan - Romanization: Chungfa Ninmin Khungfokoet Hakka - Romanization: Dung24 fa11 ngin11 min11 kiung55 fo11 gued2 Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin: Zhonghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó - Bopomofo ??? ???´ ??´ ???´ ???` ??´ ???´ - Xiao'erjing ??? ???? ?? ?? ??? ?? ????? Min - Hokkien POJ: Tiong-hôa jîn-bîn kiong-hô-kok - Min Dong BUC: D??ng-huà Ìng-mìng Gê??ng-huò-guók Wu - Romanization: Tson? gho? zin? min? gon? ghu? koh? Xiang - Romanization: /tan33 go13 ?in13 min13 gan45 gu13 kw?24/ Yue - Jyutping: Zung1 waa4 jan4 man4 gung6 wo4 gwok3 - Yale Romanization: Jungwàh Yàhnmàhn Guhngwòhgwok
Mongolian name Mongolian: Bügüde nayiramdaqu dumdadu arad ulus, ?????? ??????????? ??????? ???? ??? ?
Transliterations - SASM/GNC Bügüde nayiramdaqu dumdadu arad ulus
Tibetan name Tibetan: ???????????????????? ????????????
Transliterations - Wylie: krung hwa mi dmangs spyi mthun rgyal khab - Zangwen Pinyin: Zhunghua Mimang Jitun Gyalkab
Uyghur name Uyghur: ?????? ???? ??????????
Transliterations - Latin Yëziqi: Jungxua Xelq Jumhuriyiti - Yengi Yezik?: Junghua H?lk? Jumh?uriyiti - SASM/GNC: Junghua Hälk^ Jumhuriyiti - Siril Yëziqi: ?????? ???? ???h???????
Zhuang name Zhuang: Cunghvaz Yinzminz Gunghozgoz This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may s ee question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. The word "China" is derived from Persian Cin (???), which is from Sanskrit Cina (???).[27] It is first recorded in 1516 in the journal of Portuguese explorer Du arte Barbosa.[28] It appears in English in a translation published in 1555.[29] It is commonly thought that it is derived from the "Qin" (?) Dynasty.[30] In Chi na, common names for the present country include Zhongguó (Chinese: ??; literally "the Middle State(s)") and Zhonghuá (Chinese: ??), although the country's official name has been changed numerous times by successive dynasties and modern governm ents. The term Zhongguo appeared in various ancient texts, such as the Classic o f History of the 6th century BC,[31] and in pre-imperial times it was often used as a cultural concept to distinguish the Huaxia tribes from perceived "barbaria ns". The term, which can be either singular or plural, referred to the group of states or provinces in the central plain but was not used as a name for the coun try as a whole until the nineteenth century. The Chinese were not unique in rega rding their country as "central", since other civilizations had the same view of themselves.[32] History Main articles: History of China and Timeline of Chinese history Prehistory Main article: Chinese prehistory Archaeological evidence suggests that early hominids inhabited China between 250 ,000 and 2.24 million years ago.[33] A cave in Zhoukoudian (near present-day Bei jing) exhibits fossils dated at between 300,000 and 780,000 BC.[34][35][36] The fossils are of Peking Man, an example of Homo erectus who used fire.[37] The Pek ing Man site has also yielded remains of Homo sapiens dating back to 18,000 11,000 BC.[38] Early dynastic rule See also: Dynasties in Chinese history
Jade deer ornament dating from the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th centuries BC). Chinese tradition names the first imperial dynasty Xia, but it was considered my thical until scientific excavations found early Bronze Age sites at Erlitou in H enan Province in 1959.[39] Archaeologists have since uncovered urban sites, bron ze implements, and tombs in locations cited as Xia's in ancient historical texts , but it is impossible to verify that these remains are of the Xia without writt en records from the period.
Some of the thousands of life-size Terracotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty, ca. 210 BC. The first Chinese dynasty that left historical records, the loosely feudal Shang (Yin), settled along the Yellow River in eastern China from the 17th to the 11t h century BC. The oracle bone script of the Shang Dynasty represents the oldest form of Chinese writing yet found, and the direct ancestor of the modern Chinese characters used throughout East Asia. The Shang were invaded from the west by t he Zhou, who ruled between the 12th and 5th centuries BC, until their centralize d authority was slowly eroded by feudal warlords. Many independent states eventu ally emerged out of the weakened Zhou state, and continually waged war with each other in the 300-year-long Spring and Autumn Period, only occasionally deferrin g to the Zhou king. By the time of the Warring States Period of the 5th 3rd centur ies BC, there were seven powerful sovereign states in what is now China, each wi th its own king, ministry and army.[40]
The Great Wall of China was built by several dynasties over two thousand years to protect the sedentary agricultural regions of the Chinese interior from incur sions by nomadic pastoralists of the northern steppes. Imperial China The first unified Chinese state was established by Qin Shi Huang of the Qin stat e in 221 BC. Qin Shi Huang proclaimed himself the "First Emperor" (???), and imp osed many reforms throughout China, notably the forced standardization of the Ch inese language, measurements, length of cart axles, and currency. The Qin Dynast y lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after Qin Shi Huang's death, as its ha rsh legalist and authoritarian policies led to widespread rebellion.[41][42] The subsequent Han Dynasty ruled China between 206 BC and 220 AD, and created a lasting Han cultural identity among its populace that has endured to the present day.[41][42] The Han Dynasty expanded the empire's territory considerably with military campaigns reaching Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and Central Asia, and also helped establish the Silk Road in Central Asia. Han China gradually became the l argest economy of the ancient world.[43] After the collapse of Han, another peri od of disunion followed, including the highly chivalric period of the Three King doms.[44] Independent Chinese states of this period such as Wu opened diplomatic relations with Japan,[45] introducing the Chinese writing system there. In 580 AD, China was reunited under the Sui.[46] However, the Sui Dynasty declined foll owing its defeat in the Goguryeo Sui War (598 614).[47][48] Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese technology and culture ent ered a golden age.[49] The Tang Empire was at its height of power until the midd le of the 8th century, when the An Shi Rebellion destroyed the prosperity of the empire.[50] The Song Dynasty was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent standing navy .[51] Between the 10th and 11th centuries, the population of China doubled in si ze to around 100 million people, mostly due to the expansion of rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of abundant food surpluses. T he Song Dynasty also saw a flourishing of philosophy and the arts, as landscape art and portrait painting were brought to new levels of maturity and complexity, and social elites gathered to view art, share their own and trade precious artw orks. Philosophers such as Cheng Yi and Chu Hsi reinvigorated Confucianism with new commentary, infused Buddhist ideals, and emphasized a new organization of cl assic texts that brought about the core doctrine of Neo-Confucianism.
Detail from Along the River During the Qingming Festival, a 12th-century painti ng showing everyday life in the Song Dynasty's capital city, Bianjing (today's K aifeng). In 1271, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty; the Yuan co nquered the last remnant of the Song Dynasty in 1279. Before the Mongol invasion , Song Cina reportedly had approximately 120 million citizens; the 1300 census w hich followed the invasion reported roughly 60 million people.[52] Late dynastic rule A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Yuan Dynasty in 1368 and founded the Ming Dynasty.[53] Under the Ming Dynasty, China enjoyed another golden age, dev eloping one of the strongest navies in the world and a rich and prosperous econo my amid a flourishing of art and culture. It was during this period that Zheng H e led explorations throughout the world, reaching as far as Africa.[54] In the e arly years of the Ming Dynasty, China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijin g. During the Ming Dynasty, thinkers such as Wang Yangming further critiqued and ex panded Neo-Confucianism with concepts of individualism and innate morality that would have tremendous impact on later Japanese thought. Chosun Korea also became a nominal vassal state of Ming China, and adopted much of its Neo-Confucian bur eaucratic structure. In 1644, Beijing was sacked by a coalition of rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, a minor Ming official who led the peasant revolt. The last Ming Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu Qing Dynasty then allied with M ing Dynasty general Wu Sangui and overthrew Li's short-lived Shun Dynasty, and s ubsequently seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing Dynasty. In total, the Manchu conquest of China cost as many as 25 million lives .[55] The Qing Dynasty, which lasted until 1912, was the last imperial dynasty of Chin a. In the 19th century, the Qing Dynasty adopted a defensive posture towards Eur opean imperialism, even though it engaged in an imperialistic expansion of its o wn into Central Asia. At this time, China awoke to the significance of the rest of the world, the West in particular. As China opened up to foreign trade and mi ssionary activity, opium produced by British India was forced onto Qing China. T wo Opium Wars with Britain weakened the Emperor's control. Western imperialism p roved to be disastrous for China:
"The end of the Opium War marked the beginning of Western imperialism in China. Unequal treaties, imposed at the end of the war, forced China to relinquish Hong Kong, open new "Treaty Ports" to foreign trade, pay indemnities to her vanquish ers, and allow foreigners to live and work on Chinese soil free of the jurisdict ion of Chinese law (extraterritoriality). Over the years new wars with Western p owers would expand these impositions on China's national sovereignty, culminatin g in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which ended the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 95."[56]
A 19th-century painting depicting the Taiping Rebellion of 1850 1864. The weakening of the Qing regime, and the apparent humiliation of the unequal tr eaties in the eyes of the Chinese people, led to increasing domestic disorder. I n late 1850, southern China erupted in the Taiping Rebellion, a violent civil wa r which lasted until 1864. The rebellion was led by Hong Xiuquan, who was partly influenced by an idiosyncratic interpretation of Christianity. Hong believed hi mself to be the son of God and the younger brother of Jesus. Although the Qing f orces were eventually victorious, the civil war was one of the bloodiest in huma n history, costing at least 20 million lives (more than the total number of fata lities in World War I), with some estimates of up to 40 million. Other costly re bellions followed the Taiping Rebellion, such as the Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (1855 6 7), Nien Rebellion (1851 1868), Miao Rebellion (1854 73), Panthay Rebellion (1856 1873 ) and the Dungan revolt (1862 1877).[57][58] These rebellions each resulted in an estimated loss of several million lives, an d had a devastating impact on the fragile economy.[59][60][61] The flow of Briti sh opium hastened the empire's decline. In the 19th century, the age of colonial ism was at its height and the great Chinese Diaspora began; today, about 35 mill ion overseas Chinese live in Southeast Asia.[62] Emigration rates were strengthe ned by domestic catastrophes such as the Northern Chinese Famine of 1876 1879, whi ch claimed between 9 and 13 million lives in northern China.[63] From 108 BC to 1911 AD, China experienced 1,828 known famines,[64] or nearly one per year, some where in the empire.[65]
In the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894 95, which was fought over influence in Kor ea, Japanese troops defeated Qing forces. While China was wracked by continuous war, Meiji Japan succeeded in rapidly mode rnizing its military, and set its sights on the conquest of Korea and Manchuria. At the request of the Korean emperor, the Qing government sent troops to aid in suppressing the Tonghak Rebellion in 1894. However, Japan also sent troops to K orea, leading to the First Sino-Japanese War, which resulted in Qing China's los s of influence in the Korean Peninsula as well as the cession of Taiwan (includi ng the Pescadores) to Japan in 1895.[66] Following this series of defeats, a reform plan for the empire to become a moder n Meiji-style constitutional monarchy was drafted by the Guangxu Emperor in 1898 , but was opposed and stopped by the Empress Dowager Cixi, who placed Emperor Gu angxu under house arrest in a coup d'état. The ill-fated Boxer Rebellion of 1898 190 1, in which westerners in Beijing were targeted en masse, resulted in as many as 115,000 deaths.[67] Slavery was formally abolished in 1906.[68] By the early 20th century, mass civil disorder had begun, and calls for reform a nd revolution were heard across the country. The 38-year-old Emperor Guangxu die d under house arrest on 14 November 1908, suspiciously just a day before Cixi's own death. With the throne empty, he was succeeded by Cixi's handpicked heir, hi s two-year-old nephew Puyi, who became the Xuantong Emperor. Guangxu's consort b ecame the Empress Dowager Longyu. In another coup d'état in 1912, Yuan Shikai over threw Puyi, and forced Longyu to sign the abdication decree as regent, ending ov er two thousand years of imperial rule in China.[citation needed] Longyu died, c hildless, in 1913.[citation needed] Republic of China (1912 1949) Main articles: Republic of China (1912 1949) and History of the Republic of China
Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China (seated on right), and Chiang Kai-shek, later President of the Republic of China. On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China was established, heralding the end of I mperial China.[69] Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (the KMT or Nationalist Party) was proclaimed provisional president of the republic.[70] However, the presidenc y was later given to Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general, who had ensured the def ection of the entire Beiyang Army from the Qing Empire to the revolution. In 191 5, Yuan proclaimed himself Emperor of China, but was forced to abdicate and rees tablish the republic in the face of popular condemnation, not only from the gene ral population but also from among his own Beiyang Army and its commanders.[71] After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China was politically fragmented, with an int ernationally recognized but virtually powerless national government seated in Be ijing. Regional warlords exercised actual control over their respective territor ies.[72][73] In the late 1920s, the nationalist Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-she k, was able to reunify the country under its own control with a series of deft m ilitary and political maneuverings, known collectively as the Northern Expeditio n.[74][75] The Kuomintang moved the nation's capital to Nanjing and implemented "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's San-min program for transforming China into a modern democratic s tate. Effectively, political tutelage meant one-party rule by the Kuomintang, bu t the party was politically divided into competing cliques.[76][77] This politic al division made it difficult for Chiang to battle the Communists, which the Kuo mintang had been warring against since 1927 in the Chinese Civil War. This war c ontinued successfully for the Kuomintang, especially after the Communists retrea ted in the Long March, until the Xi'an Incident and Japanese aggression forced C hiang to confront Imperial Japan.[78][79] The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937 1945), a part of World War II, forced an uneasy alliance between the Kuomintang and the Communists. The Japanese "three-all pol icy" in northern China "kill all, burn all and destroy all" led to numerous war atrocities being committed against the civilian population; in all, as many as 2 0 million Chinese civilians died.[80][81] An estimated 200,000 Chinese were mass acred in the city of Nanjing alone during the Japanese occupation.[82] Japan unc onditionally surrendered to China in 1945. Taiwan, including the Pescadores, was put under the administrative control of the Republic of China, which immediatel y claimed sovereignty. China emerged victorious but war-ravaged and financially drained. The continued distrust between the Kuomintang and the Communists led to the resumption of civil war. In 1947, constitutional rule was established, but because of the ongoing unrest many provisions of the ROC constitution were never implemented in mainland China.[83][84][85] People's Republic of China (1949 present) Main article: History of the People's Republic of China Major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 with the Communist Party in control of mainland China, and the Kuomintang retreating offshore, reducing the ROC's territory to only Taiwan, Hainan, and their surrounding islands. On 1 Octo ber 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China,[86] which was co mmonly known in the West as "Communist China" or "Red China" during the Cold War .[87] In 1950, the People's Liberation Army succeeded in capturing Hainan from t he ROC, occupying Tibet, and defeating the majority of the remaining Kuomintang forces in Yunnan and Xinjiang provinces, though some Kuomintang holdouts survive d until much later.
Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 19 49. Mao encouraged population growth, and under his leadership the Chinese populatio n almost doubled from around 550 million to over 900 million.[88] However, Mao's Great Leap Forward, a large-scale economic and social reform project, resulted in an estimated 45 million deaths between 1958 and 1961, mostly from starvation. [89] Between 1 and 2 million landlords were executed as "counterrevolutionaries. "[90] In 1966, Mao and his allies launched the Cultural Revolution, which would last until Mao's death a decade later. The Cultural Revolution, motivated by pow er struggles within the Party and a fear of the Soviet Union, led to a major uph eaval in Chinese society. In October 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of Chin a in the United Nations, and took its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council. In that same year, for the first time, the number of countries recogni zing the PRC surpassed those recognizing the ROC in Taipei as the government of China.[91] In February 1972, at the peak of the Sino-Soviet split, Mao and Zhou Enlai met Richard Nixon in Beijing. However, the US did not officially recognise the PRC as China's sole legitimate government until 1 January 1979. After Mao's death in 1976 and the arrest of the Gang of Four, who were blamed fo r the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping quickly wrested power f rom Mao's anointed successor Hua Guofeng. Although he never became the head of t he party or state himself, Deng was in fact the "paramount leader" of China at t hat time, his influence within the Party led the country to significant economic reforms. The Communist Party subsequently loosened governmental control over ci tizens' personal lives and the communes were disbanded with many peasants receiv ing multiple land leases, which greatly increased incentives and agricultural pr oduction. This turn of events marked China's transition from a planned economy t o a mixed economy with an increasingly open market environment, a system termed by some "market socialism";[92] the Communist Party of China officially describe s it as "socialism with Chinese characteristics". China adopted its current cons titution on 4 December 1982. The death of pro-reform official Hu Yaobang helped to spark the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, during which students and others campaigned for several month s, speaking out against corruption and in favour of greater political reform, in cluding democratic rights and freedom of speech. However, they were eventually p ut down on 4 June when PLA troops and vehicles entered and forcibly cleared the square, resulting in numerous casualties. This event was widely reported and bro ught worldwide condemnation and sanctions against the government.[93][94] The "T ank Man" incident in particular became famous.
The city of Shanghai has become a symbol of China's rapid economic expansion si nce the 1990s. President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji, both former mayors of Shanghai, le d the nation in the 1990s. Under Jiang and Zhu's ten years of administration, Ch ina's economic performance pulled an estimated 150 million peasants out of pover ty and sustained an average annual gross domestic product growth rate of 11.2%.[ 95][96] The country formally joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Although rapid economic growth has made the Chinese economy the world's second-l argest, this growth has also severely impacted the country's resources and envir onment.[97] Another concern is that the benefits of economic development has not been distributed evenly, resulting in a wide development gap between urban and rural areas. As a result, under President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, the Chinese government initiated policies to address these issues of equitable distr ibution of resources, though the outcome remains to be seen.[98] More than 40 mi llion farmers have been displaced from their land,[99] usually for economic deve lopment, contributing to the 87,000 demonstrations and riots which took place ac ross China in 2005 alone.[100] Living standards have improved significantly but political controls remain tight.[101] Although China largely succeeded in mainta ining its rapid rate of economic growth despite the late-2000s recession, its gr owth rate began to slow in the early 2010s, and the economy remains overly focus ed on fixed investment.[102][103][104] Preparations for a major Communist Party leadership change in late 2012 were mar ked by factional disputes and political scandals, such as the fall from power of Chongqing official Bo Xilai.[105] During China's decadal leadership reshuffle i n November 2012, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao were replaced as President and Premier by Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, who formally took office in 2013.[106][107] Geography Main article: Geography of China
A composite satellite image showing the topography of China.
Longsheng Rice Terrace in Guangxi.
The Li River in Guangxi. Political geography The People's Republic of China is the second-largest country in the world by lan d area after Russia[17] and is either the third- or fourth-largest by total area , after Russia, Canada and, depending on the definition of total area, the Unite d States.[108][109] China's total area is generally stated as being approximatel y 9,600,000 km2 (3,700,000 sq mi).[110] Specific area figures range from 9,572,9 00 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi) according to the Encyclopædia Britannica,[111] 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the UN Demographic Yearbook,[12] to 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the CIA World Factbook,[112] and 9,640,011 k m2 (3,722,029 sq mi) including Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract, which a re controlled by China and claimed by India.[113] None of these figures include the 1,000 square kilometres (386.1 sq mi) of territory ceded to China by Tajikis tan following the ratification of a Sino-Tajik border agreement in January 2011. [114] China has the longest combined land border in the world, measuring 22,117 km (13 ,743 mi) from the mouth of the Yalu River to the Gulf of Tonkin. China borders 1 4 nations, more than any other country except Russia, which also borders 14. Chi na extends across much of East Asia, bordering Vietnam, Laos, and Burma in South east Asia; India, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan[115] in South Asia; Afghanistan, Ta jikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia; a small section of Russian Altai and Mongolia in Inner Asia; and the Russian Far East and North Korea in No rtheast Asia. China's border with India is disputed, and was a key cause of the 1962 Sino-Indian War. Additionally, China shares maritime boundaries with South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan. The PRC and the Republic of China (Taiwan) make mut ual claims over each other's territory and the frontier between areas under thei r respective control is closest near the islands of Kinmen and Matsu, off the Fu jian coast, but otherwise run through the Taiwan Strait. The PRC and ROC assert identical claims over the entirety of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea , and the southernmost extent of these claims reaches James Shoal, which would f orm a maritime frontier with Malaysia. Landscape and climate
Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, in Tibet.
The South China Sea coast at Hainan. The territory of China lies between latitudes 18° and 54° N, and longitudes 73° and 13 5° E. China's landscapes vary significantly across its vast width. In the east, al ong the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains, while on the edges of the Inner Mongolian pl ateau in the north, broad grasslands predominate. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges, while the central-east hosts the deltas of China 's two major rivers, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. Other major rivers include the Xi, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur. To the west, major mountain ranges , most notably the Himalayas, and high plateaus feature among the more arid land scapes of the north, such as the Taklamakan and the Gobi Desert. The world's hig hest point, Mt. Everest (8848m), lies on the Sino-Nepalese border. The country's lowest point, and the world's fourth-lowest, is the dried lake bed of Ayding La ke (-154m) in the Turpan Depression. A major environmental issue in China is the continued expansion of its deserts, particularly the Gobi Desert, which is currently the world's fifth-largest deser t.[116][117] Although barrier tree lines planted since the 1970s have reduced th e frequency of sandstorms, prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices hav e resulted in dust storms plaguing northern China each spring, which then spread to other parts of East Asia, including Korea and Japan. According to China's en vironmental watchdog, Sepa, China is losing a million acres (4,000 km²) per year t o desertification.[118] Water quality, erosion, and pollution control have becom e important issues in China's relations with other countries. Melting glaciers i n the Himalayas could potentially lead to water shortages for hundreds of millio ns of people.[119] China's climate is mainly dominated by dry seasons and wet monsoons, which lead to pronounced temperature differences between winter and summer. In the winter, northern winds coming from high-latitude areas are cold and dry; in summer, sout hern winds from coastal areas at lower latitudes are warm and moist. The climate in China differs from region to region because of the country's highly complex topography. Biodiversity Main article: Wildlife of China
A giant panda, China's most famous endangered and endemic species, at the Wolon g National Nature Reserve in Sichuan. China is one of 17 megadiverse countries,[120] lying in two of the world's major ecozones: the Palearctic and the Indomalaya. By one measure, China has over 34, 687 species of animals and vascular plants, making it the third-most biodiverse country in the world, after Brazil and Colombia.[121] The country signed the Rio de Janeiro Convention on Biological Diversity on 11 June 1992, and became a par ty to the convention on 5 January 1993.[122] It later produced a National Biodiv ersity Strategy and Action Plan, with one revision which was received by the con vention on 21 September 2010.[123] Fauna China is home to at least 551 species of mammals (the third-highest such number in the world),[124] 1,221 species of birds (eighth),[125] 424 species of reptile s (seventh)[126] and 333 species of amphibians (seventh).[127] China is the most biodiverse country in each category outside of the tropics. Wildlife in China s hare habitat with and bear acute pressure from the world's largest population of homo sapiens. At least 840 animal species are threatened, vulnerable or in dang er of local extinction in China, due mainly to human activity such as habitat de struction, pollution and poaching for food, fur and ingredients for traditional Chinese medicine.[128] Endangered wildlife is protect by law and the country has over 360 nature reserves. The giant panda, the country's most famous endangered and endemic species, lives in protected nature reserves in Sichuan, Gansu and S haanxi province. A number of other species, such as the South China tiger, Chine se alligator and Pere David's deer, are virtually extinct in the wild and surviv e only in captive breeding programs. As the country has grown wealthier in recent years, domestic appetite has grown for wildlife products, leading to a sharp rise in Illegal trading in endangered species such as ivory, rhino horns, shark fins, and threatening wildlife in othe r countries. Laws prohibiting illegal animal trade are unevenly enforced.[129] Flora China has over 32,000 species of vascular plants[130] and is home to a variety o f forest types. Cold coniferous forests predominate in the north of the country, supporting animal species such as moose and the Asian black bear, along with ov er 120 bird species. Moist conifer forests can have thickets of bamboo as an und erstorey, replaced by rhododendrons in higher montane stands of juniper and yew. Subtropical forests, which dominate central and southern China, support as many as 146,000 species of flora. Tropical and seasonal rainforests, though confined to Yunnan and Hainan Island, contain a quarter of all the animal and plant spec ies found in China.[131] Fungi The number of species of fungi recorded in China, including lichen-forming speci es, is not known with precision, but probably exceeds 10,000. More than 2,400 sp ecies were listed by the mycologist S.C. Teng in the first modern treatment of C hinese fungi in the English language, which was published in 1996.[132] More tha n 5,000 species of "higher fungi" mainly basidiomycetes with some ascomycetes we re reported in 2001 for tropical China alone,[133] and nearly 4,000 species of f ungi were reported in 2005 for northwestern China.[134] The exploration and clas sification of the fungi of China is currently being pursued under the auspices o f the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with the production of many volumes in the Fl ora Fungorum Sinicorum series of publications. The issue of fungal conservation, long overlooked in China, was first addressed in the early 2010s, with pioneer publications evaluating the conservation status of individual species.[135] Environmental issues Main article: Environment of China See also: Water resources of the People's Republic of China
Wind turbines in Xinjiang. The Dabancheng project is Asia's largest wind farm. In recent decades, China has suffered from severe environmental deterioration an d pollution.[136][137] While regulations such as the 1979 Environmental Protecti on Law are fairly stringent, they are poorly enforced, as they are frequently di sregarded by local communities and government officials in favour of rapid econo mic development. As a result, public protests and riots over environmental issue s have become increasingly common.[138] Environmental campaigners have warned that water pollution is becoming a severe threat to Chinese society.[139][140] According to the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources, roughly 300 million Chinese do not have access to safe drinking water , and 40% of China's rivers had been polluted by industrial and agricultural was te by late 2011.[141] This crisis is compounded by increasingly severe water sho rtages, particularly in the north-east of the country.[142][143][144] Additional ly, numerous major Chinese coastal cities, including Shanghai, are deemed to be highly vulnerable to large-scale flooding.[145] However, China is the world's leading investor in renewable energy commercialisa tion, with $52 billion invested in 2011 alone.[146][147][148] China produces mor e wind turbines and solar panels than any other country,[149] and renewable ener gy projects, such as solar water heating, are widely pursued at the local level. [150] By 2009, over 17% of China's energy was derived from renewable sources mos t notably hydroelectric power plants, of which China has a total installed capac ity of 197 GW.[151] In 2011, the Chinese government announced plans to invest fo ur trillion yuan (US$618.55 billion) in water infrastructure and desalination pr ojects over a ten-year period, and to complete construction of a flood preventio n and anti-drought system by 2020.[152][142] Politics Main article: Politics of the People's Republic of China The People's Republic of China, along with Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam, is one of th e world's four remaining socialist states espousing communism.[153][154] The Chi nese government has been variously described as communist and socialist, but als o as authoritarian, with heavy restrictions remaining in many areas, most notabl y on the Internet, the press, freedom of assembly, reproductive rights, and free dom of religion.[155] Its current political/economic system has been termed by i ts leaders as "socialism with Chinese characteristics". The country is ruled by the Communist Party of China (CPC), whose power is enshr ined in China's constitution.[156] The Chinese electoral system is hierarchical, whereby local People's Congresses are directly elected, and all higher levels o f People's Congresses up to the National People's Congress (NPC) are indirectly elected by the People's Congress of the level immediately below.[157] The politi cal system is partly decentralized,[158] with limited democratic processes inter nal to the party and at local village levels, although these experiments have be en marred by corruption. There are other political parties in China, referred to in China as democratic parties, which participate in the National People's Cong ress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
The Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where the National People's Congress c onvenes. Compared to its closed-door policies until the mid-1970s, the liberalization of China has resulted in the administrative climate being less restrictive than bef ore. China supports the Leninist principle of "democratic centralism",[159] but the elected National People's Congress has been described as a "rubber stamp" bo dy.[160] The incumbent President is Xi Jinping, who is also the General Secretar y of the Communist Party of China and the Chairman of the Central Military Commi ssion.[106] The current Premier is Li Keqiang, who is also a senior member of th e CPC Politburo Standing Committee. There have been some moves toward political liberalization, in that open contest ed elections are now held at the village and town levels.[161][162] However, the Party retains effective control over government appointments: in the absence of meaningful opposition, the CPC wins by default most of the time. Political conc erns in China include lessening the growing gap between rich and poor and fighti ng corruption within the government leadership.[163] Nonetheless, the level of p ublic support for the government and its management of the nation is among the h ighest in the world, with 86% of Chinese citizens expressing satisfaction with t heir nation's economy according to a 2008 Pew Research Center survey.[164] Administrative divisions Main articles: Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China, Distr icts of Hong Kong, and Municipalities of Macau See also: Administrative divisions of the Republic of China The People's Republic of China has administrative control over 22 provinces, and considers Taiwan to be its 23rd province, although Taiwan is currently governed by the Republic of China, which disputes the PRC's claim.[165] China also has f ive subdivisions officially termed autonomous regions, each with a designated mi nority group; four municipalities; and two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) , which enjoy a degree of political autonomy. These 22 provinces, five autonomou s regions, and four municipalities can be collectively referred to as "mainland China", a term which usually excludes the SARs of Hong Kong and Macau. None of t hese divisions are recognized by the ROC government, which claims the entirety o f the PRC's territory.
Provinces (?)
Anhui (???) Fujian (???) Gansu (???) Guangdong (???) Guizhou (???) Hainan (???) Hebei (???) Heilongjiang (????) Henan (???) Hubei (???) Hunan (???) Jiangsu (???) Jiangxi (???) Jilin (???) Liaoning (???) Qinghai (???) Shaanxi (???) Shandong (???) Shanxi (???) Sichuan (???) Taiwan (???) Yunnan (???) Zhejiang (???)