Geography	China is situated in eastern Asia, bounded by the Pacific in the east. The third largest country in the world, next to Canada and Russia, it has an area of 9.6 million square kilometers, or one-fifteenth of the world's land mass. It begins from the confluence of the Heilong and Wusuli rivers (135 degrees and 5 minutes east longitude) in the east to the Pamirs west of Wuqia County in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (73 degrees and 40 minutes east longitude) in the west, about 5,200 kilometers apart; and from the midstream of the Heilong River north of Mohe (53 degrees and 31 minutes north latitude) in the north to the southernmost island Zengmu'ansha in the South China Sea (4 degrees and 15 minutes north latitude), about 5,500 kilometers apart. The border stretches over 22,000 kilometers on land and the coastline extends well over 18,000 kilometers, washed by the waters of the Bohai, the Huanghai, the East China and the South China seas. The Bohai Sea is the inland sea of China. There are 6,536 islands larger than 500 square meters, the largest is Taiwan, with a total area of about 36,000 square kilometers, and the second, Hainan. The South China Sea Islands are the southernmost island group of China.
Climate	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. The temperature in China in the winter is 5 to 18 degree centigrade lower than that in other countries on the same latitude in winter. Monsoon blows into China from the ocean in summer, bringing with them warm and wet currents, thus rain. Great differences in climate are found from region to region owing to China's extensive territory and complex topography. The northern part of Heilongjiang Province in northeast China has no summer, Hainan Island has a long summer but no winter; the Huaihe River valley features four distinct seasons; the western part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is covered by snow all year round; the southern part of the Yunan-Guizhou Plateau is spring-like all the year; and the northwestern inland region sees a great drop of temperature in the day. Annual precipitation also varies greatly from region to region; it is as high as 1,500 millimeters along the southeastern coast. Decreasing landward, it is less than 50 millimeters in northwest China. Please click here for current weather report, weather forecast for major Chinese cities and weather analysis.
Administrative Divisions	Administrative Divisions China is administratively divided into 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 centrally administrative municipalities and 2 special administrative regions. Municipalities are directly under the administration of central government. A municipality has the same political, economical and jurisdictional rights as a province. The statistics of areas are from official information issued in mid 1997 (CHINA 1997, Published by New Star Publishers.). Anhui Province Area: 139,000 square kilometers Population: 60.70 millions Capital: Hefei Major Cities: Huangshan; Bengbu; Tongling; Ma'anshan Beijing Area: 16,800 square kilometers Population: 12.59 millions Chongqing (Municipality) (Newly Promoted as Municipality in 1997) Area: 82,000 square kilometers Population: 30.02 millions Fujian Province Area: 120,000 square kilometers Population: 32.61 millions Capital: Fuzhou Major Cities: Xiamen; Zhangzhou Gansu Province Area: 450,000 square kilometers Population: 24.67 millions Capital: Lanzhou Major Cities: Dunhuang; Jiayuguan; Jiayuguan Guangdong Province Area: 186,000 square kilometers Population: 69.61 millions Capital: Guangzhou Major Cities: Chaozhou; Dongguan; Shantou; Shenzhen; Shunde; Zhuhai; Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Area: 236,300 square kilometers Population: 45.89 millions Capital: Nanning Major Cities: Beihai; Guilin; Liuzhou Guizhou Province Area: 170,000 square kilometers Population: 35.55 millions Capital: Guiyang Major Cities: Anshun; Zunyi Hainan Province Area: 34,000 square kilometers Population: 7.34 millions Capital: Haikou Major Cities: Sanya Hebei Province Area: 190,000 square kilometers Population: 64.84 millions Capital: Shijiazhuang Major Cities: Cangzhou; Chengde; Qinhuangdao(Including Beidaihe and Shanhaiguan); Tangshan; Baoding; Zhangjiakou Heilongjiang Province Area: 469,000 square kilometers Population: 37.28 millions Capital: Harbin Major Cities: Hailaer; Mohe; Mudanjiang; Qiqihar; Suifenhe Henan Province Area: 167,000 square kilometers Population: 91.72 millions Capital: Zhengzhou Major Cities: Anyang; Kaifeng; Luoyang; Sanmenxia Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Area: 1,092 square kilometers Population: 6.31 millions Hubei Province Area: 187,400 square kilometers Population: 58.25 millions Capital: Wuhan Major Cities: Huangshi; Shiyan; Shashi; Xiangfan; Yichang; Hunan Province Area: 210,000 square kilometers Population: 64.28 millions Capital: Changsha Major Cities: Changde; Dayong; Hengyang; Xiangtan; Zhangjiajie Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Area: 1,183,000 square kilometers Population: 23.07 millions Capital: Hohhot Major Cities: Baotou; Chifeng; Wuhai Jiangsu Province Area: 102,600 square kilometers Population: 71.10 millions Capital: Nanjing Major Cities: Lianyungang; Xuzhou; Suzhou; Wuxi; Zhenjiang Jiangxi Province Area: 166,600 square kilometers Population: 41.05 millions Capital: Nanchang Major Cities: Jiujiang; Lushan; Jian, Jinggangshan Jilin Province Area: 187,000 square kilometers Population: 26.10 millions Capital: Changchun Major Cities: Jilin; Tuman; Yanji Liaoning Province Area: 145,700 square kilometers Population: 41.16 millions Capital: Shenyang Major Cities: Dalian; Dandong; Anshan, Wafangdian Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Area: 66,400 square kilometers Population: 5.21 millions Capital: Yinchuan Major Cities: Shizuishan Qinghai Province Area: 720,000 square kilometers Population: 4.88 millions Capital: Xining Shaanxi Province Area: 205,000 square kilometers Population: 35.43 millions Capital: Xi'an Major Cities: Xianyang; Baoji; Hanzhong; Shandong Province Area: 153,000 square kilometers Population: 87.38 millions Capital: Jinan Major Cities: Dezhou; Linyi; Qingdao;Qufu; Tai'an; Yantai Shanghai (Municipality) Area: 6,200 square kilometers Population: 14.19 millions Shanxi Province Area: 156,000 square kilometers Population: 31.09 millions Capital: Taiyuan Major Cities: Datong; Linfen; Yangquan Sichuan Province Area: 488,000 square kilometers Population: 84.28 millions Capital: Chengdu Major Cities: Emeishan; Zigong; Daxianshi Taiwan Province Area: 36,000 square kilometers Population: 21.30 millions Major Cities: Taipei; Gaoxiong; Tainan; Xinzhu Tianjin (Municipality) Area: 11,300 square kilometers Population: 9.48 millions Tibet Autonomous Region Area: 1,220,000 square kilometers Population: 2.44 millions Capital: Lhasa Major Cities: Xigaze Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Area: 1,600,000 square kilometers Population: 16.89 millions Capital: Urumqi Major Cities: Kashgar; Turfan Yunnan Province Area: 394,000 square kilometers Population: 40.42 millions Capital: Kunming Major Cities: Dali; Simao; Xishuangbanna Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Area: 23.8 square kilometers Population: 435,000 Zhejiang Province Area: 101,800 square kilometers Population: 43.43 millions Capital: Hangzhou Major Cities: Jiaxing; Ningbo; Shaoxing; Wenzhou;
Ethnic Groups	There are 56 ethnic groups in China. The Han people form the largest, numbering 1.1 billion and making up 93.3 percent of the country's population. The other ethnic groups, that is the minority nationalities, total 160 million, only 6.7 percent of the Chinese nation. Of the minority nationalities, 15 have over a million people each; 13 over 100,000 each; 7 over 50,000 each; and 20 have fewer than 50,000 people each. The Han people live all over the country but their compact communities are in the Huanghe, Changjiang and Zhujiang valleys and the Songhua-Liaohe Plain of the northeast. The minority nationalities inhabit 60 percent of the country's total area, and they live mainly in the border regions. All nationalities in China are equal, as stipulated by the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, They take part in the administration of state affairs as equals, irrespective of their numbers or the size of areas they inhabit. Every minority nationality is represented in the National People's Congress, which is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China. National regional autonomy is practiced in areas where the minority nationalities live in compact communities. There are 5 national autonomous and 75 autonomous counties (or banners in Inner Mongolia). Local autonomous governments are established and local affairs are administered by the minorities themselves. All national autonomous regions are inalienable parts of the People's Republic of China. At present, because of various historical factors the minority nationality areas are less developed than Han areas economically and culturally. Over the last three decades, the Chinese Government has adopted many policies and measures, including the provision of manpower, financial and technical support, to help develop these minority nationality areas. Such help, of course, is a two-way street, for minority nationality areas have also contributed to the economic development of the areas inhabited by the Han people.
Population	Year Total Population Urban Population Rural Population 1995 1.21121 billion 1996 1.22389 billion 359.5 million 864.39 million 1997 1.23626 billion 369.89 million 866.37 million 1998 1.24810 billion Year Birth Rate Death Rate Natural Growth Rate Unit: per thousand 1995 17.12 6.57 1996 16.98 6.56 10.42 1997 16.57 6.51 10.06 1998 16.30 6.50 9.53 The year of 1998 saw19.91 million births, 8.07 million deaths of the population, with a net growth polulation of 11.84 million (compared with 12.37 million in 1997). China population is distributed unevenly with more in the east (more than 300 persons per square kilometer) and fewer in the west (about 40 persons per square kilometer. The national average density of population is 119 per square kilometer (1990 census). For basic urban population data, please visit "ChinaToday.com" Provinces and Cities page. The average size of household was 3.7 persons. The proportion of population aged at 0-14 was 26.4 percent, those aged 15-64 was 67.2 percent, and that of the people aged 65 and over was 6.4 percent. The Average Chinese Life-Span of the population was 70.8 years, that for male was 68.71, and female, 73.04. (Some of the above data are based on the report from China National Statistics Bureau, FOR YOUR REFERENCE ONLY).
Religions	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; Buddhism and Lamaism are followed by the Tibetan, Mongolian, Dai and Yugur nationalities; Christianity is followed by the Miao, Yao and Yi nationalities; Shamanism is followed by the Oroqen, Ewenki and Daur nationalities; the majority Han nationality believes in Buddhism, Christianity and Taoism
National Flag	The national flag of the PRCis a red rectangle emblazoned with five stars. The red of the flag symbolizes revolution;the stars are yellow so that they will stand out brightly against the red ground. The larger star represents the CPC and the four smaller ones, the Chinese people. This expresses the great unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC.
National Emblem	The national emblem of the PRC features Tiananmen Gate beneath the five shining stars, encircled by ears of grain and with a cogwheel at the bottom. The ears of grain, stars, Tiananmen and cogwheel are gold; the field within the circle is red, as are the ribbons festooning the bottom of the circle. These two colors traditionaly represent auspiciousness and happiness. Tiananmen symbolizes the unyielding spirit of the Chinese people in their fight against imperialism and feudalism; the cogwheel and ears of grain represent the working class and the peasantry, respectively; the five stars, as above, stand for the great unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC.
National Anthem	The national anthem was written in 1935, with lyrics by the noted poet Tian Han and music by the famous composer Nie Er. The lyrics are as follows: Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves; With our very flesh and blood Let us build our new Great Wall! The peoples of China are at their most critical time, Everybody must roar defiance. Arise!Arise!Arise! Millions of hearts with one mind, Brave the enemy's gunfire, March on! Brave the enemy's gunfire, March on! March on! March on, on! This song,originally named March of the Volunteers,was the theme song of the film, Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm. The film tells the story of those who went to the front to fight the Japanese invaders in northeast China in the 1930s, when the fate of the nation was hanging in the balance. Moving and powerful, the March of the Volunteers gave voice to the Chinese people's determination to sacrifice themselves for national liberation, expressing China's admirable tradition of courage, resolution and unity in fighting foreign aggression. It was for this reason that the CPPCCon September 27, 1949 decided to adopt the song as the provisional national anthem of the PRC, and the NPC on December 4, 1982 officially decided to adopt the song as the national anthem of the PRC.