Terrain:mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and
hills in east
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 - Chinese statistic)
Environment:
current issues:
air pollution from the overwhelming use of coal as a fuel, produces
acid rain which is damaging forests; water pollution from industrial
effluents; many people do not have access to safe drinking water; less
than 10% of sewage receives treatment; deforestation; estimated loss
of one-third of agricultural land since 1957 to soil erosion and
economic development; desertification
natural hazards:
frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern
coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes
international agreements:
party to - Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Whaling; signed,
but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea
Note:
world's third-largest country (after Russia and Canada)
@China, People
Population:
1,190,431,106 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.08% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
18.1 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
7.35 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
52.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
67.91 years
male:
66.93 years
female:
68.99 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.84 children born/woman (1994 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 (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)
total population:
78%
male:
87%
female:
68%
Labor force:
567.4 million
by occupation:
agriculture and forestry 60%, industry and commerce 25%, construction
and mining 5%, social services 5%, other 5% (1990 est.)
@China, Government
Names:
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
Digraph:
CH
Type:
Communist state
