China, or the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as is its official name, is instantly recognisable for being the most populous country worldwide (with some 1.37 billion inhabitants as estimated for 2016), for the Great Wall (the longest man-made structure in the world), for its long history and significant advancements in the arts and sciences, and its strong sense of tradition.
The country is located in East Asia and is the 2nd largest state in terms of land area (and 4th in terms of total area – including land and water), spanning some 9.4 Million square kilometres, trailing only Russia. The vast territory of the country is split into 22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, and 4 municipalities under direct control of the central government (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing). It also has two special autonomous regions, namely Hong Kong and Macau, which were ‘inherited’ from the United Kingdom (in July of 1997) and Portugal (in December of 1999) respectively, following related agreements.
As China is situated in the centre of Eastern Asia, it shares land or sea borders, with most of the other countries in the region. Namely, it has land borders with: North Korea to the North East; with Mongolia and Russia to the North; with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan to the West/North West; and Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam to the South/South West. In addition, the country borders across the sea, with South Korea, Japan and Taiwan to the East, and the Philippines, Brunei-Darussalam and Malaysia (the part on the island of Borneo) to the South East.
The country’s capital city is Beijing, with an estimated population of 20.4 million (2015). Nevertheless, the largest city in China, by population, is Shanghai, with some 23.7 million residents. Other major cities of China include Chongqing (13.3 million), Guangdong (12.5 million), Tianjin (11.2 million) and Shenzhen (10.7 million). Principally, the ethnic group accounting for the vast majority of the country’s population, is Han Chinese, amounting to some 91.6% of the population. Other ethnic groups account for less than 1.5% each (e.g. Zhuang 1.3%, while all others together (including Hui, Manchu, Uighur, Miao, Yi, Tujia, Tibetan, Mongol, Dong, Buyei, Yao, Bai, Korean, Hani, Li, Kazakh, Dai), account for the remaining 7.1%).
The country’s currency is known as the “Chinese Yuan Renminbi” or “CNY”, as frequently abbreviated. The official language for the whole of China, is Standard Chinese or Mandarin. Other languages/dialects are official, per particular province, namely, Zhuang is official in Guangxi Zhuang, Yue is official in Guangdong, Mongolian is official in Nei Mongol, Uighur is official in Xinjiang Uygur, Kyrgyz is official in Xinjiang Uygur, and Tibetan is official in Xizang (Tibet).
More than half of China’s population, specifically some 52.2% according to findings of 2010, is officially classed as “atheist”, while for the rest, a large variety in religious believes are noted, with Buddhists accounting for 18.2% of the total population, Christians for 5.1%, Muslims for 1.8%, various folk religions for 21.9%, Hindus and Jews for less than 0.1%, and others for 0.7% (including Daoist (Taoist)).
The state is governed by the Communist Party of China (CPC), the sole party in power. Founded in 1921, the CPC established the People’s Republic of China, in 1949, following many years of armed struggle. The CPC establishes formal (through elections within the Party) and informal (appointed by an organization at a higher level) organizations within the Chinese government and various levels and walks of life in the country. The CPC is guided in all its efforts and initiatives by the principles of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory.
The terrain of the country, as also its climate, are quite diverse, since the territory of China spans various degrees of latitude and longitude. Alluvial plains extend to most of the east of the country, which as a consequence, is the most densely populated region of the country. The Gobi desert, inner Mongolian plateau and grasslands, cover most of the north region. To the south, hills and low mountain regions, are predominant. To the west of the country, the Tibetan plateau, the tallest natural landmark on earth, i.e. the mountainous volume of the Himalayas, as well as the Taklamakan desert, historically have acted as deterring factors to any potential invasions. The country is also fortunate enough to be traversed by 3 major navigable rivers, namely the Yellow River, the Yangtze and the Pearl River.
The climate varies considerably from winter to summer, being mostly dominated by monsoons and dry seasons respectively. In terms of temperature, large differences are notable across the country’s various regions, with tropical temperatures being predominant in the south, and subarctic in the north of the country.
In terms of the Human Development Index (HDI), a composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development, i.e. a long and healthy life, the level of knowledge and the standard of living of an individual, the UN’s 2014 Human Development Report, ranks China as a “High” Human Development country, in 90th place worldwide, with an HDI of 0.727. Nevertheless, the fact that China ranks in the middle of the related list (90th out of 188 countries), indicates that there is still considerable room for improvement with regards to this measure.
On the other side, as far as the Gini index, a measure of the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country, China ranks in 28th position (out of a list of 145 countries), with a score of 46.9 (for 2014). This reflects the fact that there are quite sizable inequalities in terms of family income across the country’s population, since a Gini index score of ‘0’ stands for “total equality”, whereas a score of ‘100’ would stand for “total inequality”.
In October of 2015, after many years of very strict birth rate control by the Chinese Government (since 1979), it was announced that couples would be allowed to have up to 2 children, instead of just one. This policy became effective as of the 1st of January 2016, mostly so as to address China’s rapidly aging population and requirements for sustaining its long-term economic growth.