The 2004 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
passed on to Bolivia; domestic cocaine consumption is rising
This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005
======================================================================
@China
Introduction China
Background:
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, his 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.
Geography China
Location:
Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea,
and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam
Geographic coordinates:
35 00 N, 105 00 E
Map references:
Asia
Area:
total: 9,596,960 sq km
land: 9,326,410 sq km
water: 270,550 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than the US
Land boundaries:
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
Coastline:
14,500 km
Maritime claims: 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
Climate:
extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
Terrain:
mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas,
and hills in east
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Turpan Pendi −154 m
highest point: Mount 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: 15.4%
other: 83.36% (2001)
permanent crops: 1.25%
Irrigated land:
525,800 sq km (1998 est.)
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:
1,298,847,624 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 22.3% (male 153,401,051; female 135,812,993)
15–64 years: 70.3% (male 469,328,664; female 443,248,860)
65 years and over: 7.5% (male 46,308,923; female 50,747,133) (2004
est.)
Median age:
total: 31.8 years
male: 31.5 years
female: 32.2 years (2004 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.57% (2004 est.)
Birth rate:
12.98 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Death rate:
6.92 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Net migration rate:
−0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.12 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 (2004 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 25.28 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 29.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 21.84 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.96 years
male: 70.4 years
female: 73.72 years (2004 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.69 children born/woman (2004 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.1% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS