The 1996 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
km, North Korea
1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia
4,673 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605
km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km
Coastline: 14,500 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: claim to shallow areas of East China Sea and
Yellow Sea
territorial sea: 12 nm
International disputes: boundary with India in dispute; disputed
sections of the boundary with Russia remain to be settled; boundary
with Tajikistan in dispute; short section of the boundary with North
Korea is indefinite; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly
Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly
Brunei; maritime boundary dispute with Vietnam in the Gulf of
Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam
and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku
Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan
Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east lowest point: Turpan Pendi −154 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,848 m
Natural resources: coal, iron ore, petroleum, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)
Land use:
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 31%
forest and woodland: 14%
other: 45%
Irrigated land: 478,220 sq km (1991)
Environment:
current issues: air pollution from the overwhelming use of
high-sulfur coal as a fuel, produces acid rain which is damaging
forests; water shortages experienced throughout the country,
particularly in urban areas; future growth in water usage threatens
to outpace supplies; water pollution from industrial effluents; much
of the population does not have access to potable water; less than
10% of sewage receives treatment; deforestation; estimated loss of
one-fifth of agricultural land since 1957 to soil erosion and
economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species
natural hazards: frequent typhoons (about five per year along
southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis;
earthquakes; droughts
international agreements: party to - Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands;
signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Law of the Sea
Geographic note: world's third-largest country (after Russia and
Canada)
People———
Population: 1,210,004,956 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 26% (male 167,448,148; female 151,601,650)
15–64 years: 67% (male 421,455,418; female 393,913,510)
65 years and over: 7% (male 35,056,409; female 40,529,821) (July
1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.98% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 17.01 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Death rate: 6.92 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Net migration rate: −0.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.11 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female
all ages: 1.06 male(s)/female (1996 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 39.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 69.62 years male: 68.33 years female: 71.06 years (1996 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.81 children born/woman (1996 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
adjective: Chinese
Ethnic divisions: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi,
Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities
8.1%
Religions: Daoism (Taoism), Buddhism, Muslim 2%-3%, Christian 1%
(est.)
note: officially atheist, but traditionally pragmatic and eclectic
Languages: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the
Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei
(Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects,
minority languages (see Ethnic divisions entry)
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.)
total population: 81.5%
male: 89.9%
female: 72.7%
Government—————
Name of country:
conventional long form: People's Republic of China
conventional short form: China
local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo
local short form: Zhong Guo
abbreviation: PRC
Data code: CH
Type of government: Communist state
Capital: Beijing
Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (sheng, singular and
plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 3
municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**,
Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei,
Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin,
Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong,
Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**, Xinjiang*, Xizang* (Tibet),
Yunnan, Zhejiang
note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province
Independence: 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty
221 BC; Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12
February 1912; People's Republic established 1 October 1949)
National holiday: National Day, 1 October (1949)