China is situated in eastern Asia, bounded by the Pacific in the east. The third largest country in the world, next to Canada and Russia, it has an area of 9.6 million square kilometers, or one-fifteenth of the world's landmass. It begins from the confluence of the Heilong and Wusuli Rivers (135 degrees and 5 minutes east longitude) in the east to the Pamirs west of Wuqia County in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (73 degrees and 40 minutes east longitude) in the west, with about 5,200 kilometers apart. In the north, it starts from the midstream of the Heilong River north of Mohe (53 degrees and 31 minutes north latitude) and stretches south to the southernmost island Zengmu'ansha in the South China Sea (4 degrees and 15 minutes north latitude), with about 5,500 kilometers in between.
The Chinese border stretches over 22,000 kilometers on land and its coastline extends well over 18,000 kilometers, washed by the waters of the Bohai Sea, the Huanghai, the East China and the South China Seas. The Bohai Sea is China’s only inland sea.
There are 6,536 islands larger than 500 square meters, the largest being Taiwan, with a total area of about 36,000 square kilometers, and the second, Hainan. The South China Sea Islands are the southernmost island group of China.
CAPITAL: Beijing (Area: 16,800 square kilometers; Population: 12.59 million)
CLIMATE: China lies mainly in the northern temperate zone under the influence of monsoon. From September and October to March and April next year monsoon blows from Siberia and the Mongolian Plateau into China and decreases in force as it goes southward, causing dry and cold winter in the country and a temperature difference of 40 degrees centigrade between the north and the south. The temperature in China in the winter is 5 to 18 degrees centigrade lower than that in other countries on the same latitude in winter. Monsoon blows into China from the ocean in summer, bringing with them warm and wet currents, thus rain. Great differences in climate are found from region to region owing to China's extensive territory and complex topography. The northern part of Heilongjiang Province in the northeast has no summer, while Hainan Island in the south has a long summer but no winter. The Huaihe River valley features four distinct seasons, and the western part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is covered by snow all year round. The southern part of the Yunan-Guizhou Plateau is spring-like in all seasons; and the northwestern inland regions could see great variations of temperature within the day. Annual precipitation also varies greatly from region to region, which is as high as 1,500 millimeters along the southeastern coast, and as low as 50 millimeters in the northwest.
POPULATION: 1.2591 billion (1999), about 22% of total population in the world.
| Year |
Total Population |
Urban Population |
Rural Population |
| 1995 |
1.2112 billion |
|
|
| 1996 |
1.2239 billion |
359.5 million
(29.4%) |
864.39 million (70.6%) |
| 1997 |
1.2363 billion |
369.89 million
(29.9%) |
866.37 million (70.1%) |
| 1998 |
1.2481 billion |
|
|
| 1999 |
1.2591 billion |
388.92 million
(30.9%) |
870.17 million (69.1%) |
| 2000 |
1.29533 billion |
36% |
64% |
| 2004 |
1.30000 billion |
|
|
| Year |
Birth Rate (Per Thousand) |
Death Rate (per thousand) |
Natural Growth Rate (per thousand) |
| 1970 |
33.43 |
|
| 1995 |
17.12 |
6.57 |
|
| 1996 |
16.98 |
6.56 |
10.42 |
| 1997 |
16.57 |
6.51 |
10.06 |
| 1998 |
16.30 |
6.50 |
9.53 |
| 1999 |
15.23 |
5.97 |
8.77 |
| 2000 |
14.03 |
6.45 |
7.58 |
| 2003 |
12.41 |
6.40 |
6.01 |
|
25.83