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)
Environment:
current issues: air pollution from the overwhelming use of
high-sulfur coal as a fuel, produces acid rain which is damaging
forests; water shortages experienced throughout the country,
particularly in urban areas; future growth in water usage threatens
to outpace supplies; water pollution from industrial effluents; much
of the population does not have access to potable water; less than
10% of sewage receives treatment; deforestation; estimated loss of
one-fifth of agricultural land since 1957 to soil erosion and
economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species
natural hazards: frequent typhoons (about five per year along
southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis;
earthquakes; droughts
international agreements: party to - Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands;
signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Law of the Sea
Geographic note: world's third-largest country (after Russia and
Canada)
People———
Population: 1,210,004,956 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 26% (male 167,448,148; female 151,601,650)
15–64 years: 67% (male 421,455,418; female 393,913,510)
65 years and over: 7% (male 35,056,409; female 40,529,821) (July
1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.98% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 17.01 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Death rate: 6.92 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Net migration rate: −0.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.11 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female
all ages: 1.06 male(s)/female (1996 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 39.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 69.62 years male: 68.33 years female: 71.06 years (1996 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.81 children born/woman (1996 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 (Shanghaiese), Minbei
(Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects,
minority languages (see Ethnic divisions entry)
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.)
total population: 81.5%
male: 89.9%
female: 72.7%
Government—————
Name of country:
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
Data code: CH
Type of government: Communist 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* (Tibet),
Yunnan, Zhejiang
note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province
Independence: 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty
221 BC; Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12
February 1912; People's Republic established 1 October 1949)
National
