_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70–89), $521 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970–88), $1.4 billion; Communist countries (1970–88), $386 million
_#_Currency: Chilean peso (plural—pesos); 1 Chilean peso (Ch$) = 100 centavos
_#_Exchange rates: Chilean pesos (Ch$) per US$1—337.24 (January 1991), 305.06 (1990), 267.16 (1989), 245.05 (1988), 219.54 (1987), 193.02 (1986), 161.08 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*Communications #_Railroads: 8,613 km total; 4,257 km 1.676-meter gauge, 135 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 4,221 km 1.000-meter gauge; electrification, 1,865 km 1.676-meter gauge, 80 km 1.000-meter gauge
_#_Highways: 79,025 km total; 9,913 km paved, 33,140 km gravel, 35,972 km improved and unimproved earth (1984)
_#_Inland waterways: 725 km
_#_Pipelines: crude oil, 755 km; refined products, 785 km; natural gas, 320 km
_#_Ports: Antofagasta, Iquique, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Valparaiso, San Antonio, Talcahuano, Arica
_#_Merchant marine: 35 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 485,935 GRT/800,969 DWT; includes 14 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 3 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 2 liquefied gas, 3 combination ore/oil, 9 bulk; note—in addition, 2 naval tanker and 2 military transport are sometimes used commercially
_#_Civil air: 22 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 392 total, 353 usable; 50 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 12 with runways 2,440–3,659 m; 55 with runways 1,220–2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: modern telephone system based on extensive radio relay facilities; 768,000 telephones; stations—159 AM, no FM, 131 TV, 11 shortwave; satellite stations—2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 3 domestic
_*Defense Forces #_Branches: Army of the Nation, National Navy (including Naval Air and Marines), Air Force of the Nation, Carabineros of Chile (National Police)
_#_Manpower availability: males 15–49, 3,544,962; 2,647,148 fit for military service; 119,511 reach military age (19) annually
_#Defense expenditures: $737 million, 3% of GNP (1991 est.) % @China (also see separate Taiwan entry) *Geography #_Total area: 9,596,960 km2; land area: 9,326,410 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly larger than the US
_#_Land boundaries: 23,213.34 km total; Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,673 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, USSR 7,520 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
_#_Disputes: boundary with India; bilateral negotiations are under way to resolve disputed sections of the boundary with the USSR; a short section of the boundary with North Korea is indefinite; sporadic border clashes with Vietnam; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam; 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)
_#_Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
_#_Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east
_#_Natural resources: coal, iron ore, crude oil, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, world's largest hydropower potential
_#_Land use: arable land 10%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 31%; forest and woodland 14%; other 45%; includes irrigated 5%
_#_Environment: frequent typhoons (about five times per year along southern and eastern coasts), damaging floods, tsunamis, earthquakes; deforestation; soil erosion; industrial pollution; water pollution; air pollution; desertification
_#_Note: world's third-largest country (after USSR and Canada)
_*People #_Population: 1,151,486,981 (July 1991), growth rate 1.6% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 22 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 33 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 72 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 2.3 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun—Chinese (sing., pl.); adjective—Chinese
_#_Ethnic divisions: Han Chinese 93.3%; Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 6.7%
_#_Religion: officially atheist, but traditionally pragmatic and eclectic; most important elements of religion are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism; Muslim 2–3%, Christian 1% (est.)
_#_Language: Standard Chinese (Putonghua) or Mandarin (based on the Beijing dialect); also Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, and minority languages (see ethnic divisions)
_#_Literacy: 73% (male 84%, female 62%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
_#_Labor force: 553,000,000; agriculture and forestry 60%, industry and commerce 25%, construction and mining 5%, social services 5%, other 5% (1989 est.)
_#_Organized labor: All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) follows the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party; membership over 80 million or about 65% of the urban work force (1985)
_*Government #_Long-form name: People's Republic of China; abbreviated PRC
_#_Type: Communist Party-led 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*, Yunnan, Zhejiang; note—China considers Taiwan its 23rd province
_#_Independence: unification under the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty 221 BC, Qing (Ch'ing or Manchu) Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912, People's Republic established 1 October 1949
_#_Constitution: 4 December 1982
_#_Legal
