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THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA |
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DATE OF ESTABLISHMENT: |
October 1, 1949
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CAPITAL: |
Beijing |
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CURRENT PRESIDENT: |
Hu JinTao
General
Secretary of the 17th CPC Central Committee, Member of the Standing
Committee of the Politburo Bureau of the 17th CPC Central Committee,
President of the PRC, Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission,
Chairman, Central Military Commission...Read
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POPULATION: |
Total Population 1.2591
billion (1999), about 22% of total population in the world...Read
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AREA: |
The world's third largest country,
ranking after Russia and Canada, China has a land area of about
9.6 million square kilometers, making up 6.5 percent of earth's
land mass. Approximately 98 percent of China's land area is
located between 20 and 50 north latitude. |
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Chinese LANGUAGE: |
The national language is
Mandarin-Putonghua, Cantonese is one of the local dialects of
southern China...Read
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| TELEPHONE AREA CODE: |
Mainland China 86; Hong Kong
852; Taiwan 886. (Special Telephone Numbers: Police 110; Fire
119; Emergency 120.) |
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| CLIMATE:
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China lies mainly in the northern
temperate zone under the influence of monsoon. From September
and October to March and April next year monsoon blow from
Siberia and the Mongolia Plateau into China and decrease in
force as it goes southward, causing dry and cold winter in the
country and a temperature difference of 40 degree centigrade
between the north and south...Read
more |
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TOPOGRAPHY:
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The territory of China extends about
5,200 kilometers from the Pamirs (longitude 73º40' E) in western
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to the eastern corner of the
boundary marker (longitude 135º5' E) at the confluence of the
Heilong and Wusuli Rivers...Read
more |
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RIVERS: |
China has 50,000 rivers each covering a
catchment area of more than 100 square kilometers, and 1,500 of
them cover a catchment area exceeding 1,000 square kilometers.
Most of them flow from west to east to empty into the Pacific
Ocean. Main rivers include the Yangtze (Changjiang), Yellow (Huanghe),
Heilong, Pearl, Liaohe, Haihe, Qiangtang and Lancang. The
Yangtze of 6,300 kilometers is the longest river in China...Read
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Mountains: |
China (including Tibet) is home to
many sacred mountains.
The Five Great Mountains (五岳 wǔyuè), associated with
Taoism:Mount Tai, Mount Hua, Mount Heng (Hunan), Mount Heng
(Shanxi), Mount Song...
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Administrative
divisions |
China is divided into three basic levels: provinces (autonomous
regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government),
counties (cities, banners, special districts,
industrial-agricultural district, forest district), and
townships (towns)...Read
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HISTORY: |
one of the four oldest civilizations in the world,
has a written history of 4,000 years and boasts rich cultural
relics and historical sites. It is the inventor of compass,
paper-making, gunpowder and printing. The Great Wall, Grand
Canal and Karez irrigation system are three great ancient
engineering projects built 2,000 years ago. Now they are the
symbols of the rich culture of the Chinese nation. China has
gone over a long history of primitive society, slavery society,
feudal society and semi-feudal semi-colonial society and the
present socialist society. Chinese Dynasties and Chinese
Historic Relics...Read
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RELIGIONS: |
Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%, Muslim 1%-2%
(officially atheist).China is a multi-religious country. Buddhism,
Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism, with the first
three being more wide spread.Various religions exert different
influence on different ethnic groups. Islam is followed by the
Hui, Uygur, Kazak, Kirgiz, Tatar, Dongxiang, Salar and Bonan
nationalities...Read
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NATIONALITIES:
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China is a unified, multi-national
country, comprising 56 nationalities. The Han people make up
91.02 percent of the total population, leaving 8.98 percent for
the other 55 ethnic minorities.
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Chinese Currency: |
Chinese Money is called Renminbi (RMB). The popular
unit of RMB is Yuan. 1 Yuan to 10 Jiao, 1 Jiao to 10 Fen.
Chinese currency is issued in the following denominations: one,
two, five, ten, fifty and a hundred Yuan; one, two and five
Jiao; and one, two and five Fen...Read
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ECONOMY IN BRIEF: |
Economic Growth:
(1995-2000)
GDP (1999): 8205.4 billion Yuan RMB (about $980.6 billion USD)
China's economy speeds up in 2003, expanding 9.1 percent for its
best performance since 1997...
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