Name of the Country

The People's Republic of China

 

Capital City

Beijing

 

Population

1295.33 million (by 2000)

 

Territory

China has a territory area of 9.6 million square km, second to Russia and Canada,with a sea area of about 4.73 million square km.

 

Location

In East Asia, border on the west Pacific Ocean

 

National Flag

 

The National Flag of the PRC is a red rectangle emblazoned with five stars. The proportion of its length and height is 3 to 2. The upper left of the face of the Flag is studded with five yellow five-pointed stars. One of the stars is bigger than the others, with its circumcircle's diameter being three-tenth of the height of the Flag, and is placed in the left; the other four stars are smaller, with their circumcircle's diameter being one-tenth of the height of the Flag, encircling the big star on its right in the shape of an arch.

 

National Anthem

March of the Volunteers (lines: Arise, those who do not want to be slaves! We will use our flesh and blood to build another Great Wall. China has reached the brink of national collapse. All the people have been making their last outcry. Arise! Arise! Arise! All our hearts become one. Let us face the enemy's gunfire. March on! Let us face the enemy's gunfire. March on! March on! March on! On!)

 

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.

 

President

 

 

Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was elected President of the PRC on March 15, 2003. He was born  in December 1942, in Jixi, Anhui Province.

 

Premier

 

Wen Jiabao is Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Premier of the State Council. He was born in Tianjin in September 1942.

 

Ethnic Groups

There are 56 ethnic groups in China. The Han people make up 92 percent of the country's total population, totaling 1159.4 million; and the other 55 ethnic groups, 8 percent, totaling 106.43 million.

 

Languages

Of the 56 ethnic groups in China , the Hui and Manchu use the same language as Han people, while the rest have their own spoken and / or written languages.

Religion

The main religions are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam and Christianity. Chinese citizens' right of the freedom of religious belief is protected by the Constitution and laws.

Main Festivals

New Year's Day (January 1), the Spring Festival (the New Year's Day by Chinese lunar calendar), International Labor Day (May 1), and the National Day (October 1)

Currency

Renminbi (RMB) yuan

Time Zone

8 hours earlier than the Greenwich Time

Climate

Most of the country is in the temperate zone, although geographically the country stretches from the tropical and subtropical zones in the south to the frigid zone in the north.

 

Topography

High in its west and low in its east: mountain areas 33.3%, plateaus 26%, basins 18.8%, plains 12% and hills 9.9%.

Mountains

Among the 19 mountains over 7,000 meters high in the world, seven are in China. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as "the roof of the world", has many high mountains. The Himalayas, with an average elevation of 6,000 meters, have the world's highest peak Mount Qomolangma, 8,848 meters above sea level.

Rivers

The Yangtze River, 6,300 km long, is the third longest in the world after the Nile and the Amazon. The Yellow River, the second longest in China, stretching 5,464 km.

Canals

The Grand Canal, 1,801 km long, is the longest man-made river in the world. Its cutting began in the fifth century BC.

Lakes

The Poyang Lake on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is China's largest freshwater lake, with an area of 3583 sq. km; the Qinghai Lake on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the country's largest salt lake, covering 4583 sq. km.

 

History

China is one of the world's oldest civilizations with a chronicled history of more than 5,000 years. 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. In 221 BC, Qinshihuang established the Qin Dynasty, the first feudal autocracy in Chinese history, thereby unveiling a 2,000-year period of feudalism which was to last through a succession of dynasties such as the Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing, a period which finally met its demise in the bourgeois democratic Revolution of 1911 by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. October 1, 1949 saw the founding of the People's Republic of China.