![]()
GeographyLocation: Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea,and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam
Area: Land boundaries: total 22,143.34 km, Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km,Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 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
PeoplePopulation: 1,203,097,268 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
Population growth rate: 1.04% (1995 est.) Birth rate: 17.78 births/1,000 population Death rate: 7.36 deaths/1,000 population Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population Infant mortality rate: 52.1 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
Total fertility rate: 1.84 children born/woman 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.) 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 divisions entry)
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
Government
Names:
Type: Communist state Capital: Beijing Independence: 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty 221 BC; Qing orCh'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912; People's Republic established 1 October 1949) Constitution: most recent promulgated 4 December 1982
EconomyNational product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $2.9788 trillion National product real growth rate: 11.8% National product per capita: $2,500 Inflation rate (consumer prices): 25.5% Unemployment rate: 2.7% in urban areas
Electricity:
|
| The volunteer staff of the 1996 Olympic Games totaled 50,152. They worked an estimated 850,000 shifts. |