China

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Coordinates: 35°N 103°E

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"People's Republic of China" redirects here. For the Republic of China, see Taiwan.
"PRC" redirects here. For other uses, see PRC (disambiguation) and China (disambiguation).
This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Please consider
splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings. Please discuss
this issue on the article's talk page. (June 2023)
People's Republic of China
中华人民共和国 (Chinese)
Flag

National Emblem
Anthem: 
义勇军进行曲
Yìyǒngjūn Jìnxíngqǔ
"March of the Volunteers"
0:44

Territory controlled by the People's Republic of China is shown in dark green; territory claimed
but not controlled is shown in light green.
Beijing
Capital
39°55′N 116°23′E
Largest city
Shanghai
by population
Official languages Standard Chinese[a]
 Mongolian
 Uyghur
 Tibetan
Recognized regional languages
 Zhuang
 Others

Official script Simplified Chinese[b]

 91.1% Han Chinese
Ethnic groups
 8.9% others
(2020)[1]
Religion  74.5% No religion / folk
(2020)[2]  18.3% Buddhism
 5.2% Christianity
  1.6% Islam
 0.4% others

Demonym(s) Chinese
Government Unitary Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic
• CCP General Secretary[c]
President[d] Xi Jinping
CMC Chairman[e]
• Premier Li Qiang
• Congress Chairman Zhao Leji
• CPPCC Chairman[f] Wang Huning
Legislature National People's Congress
Formation
• First pre-imperial dynasty c. 2070 BCE
• First imperial dynasty 221 BCE
• Establishment of the Republic of China 1 January 1912
• Proclamation of the People's Republic 1 October 1949
• First constitution 20 September 1954
• Current constitution 4 December 1982
• Most recent polity admitted 20 December 1999
Area
• Total 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi)[g][citation needed] (3rd / 4th)
• Water (%) 2.8[h]
Population
• 2023 estimate 1,411,750,000[6] (1st)
• Density 145[7]/km2 (375.5/sq mi) (83rd)
GDP (PPP) 2023 estimate
• Total $33.015 trillion[8] (1st)
• Per capita $23,382[8] (73rd)
GDP (nominal) 2023 estimate
• Total $19.374 trillion[i][8] (2nd)
• Per capita $13,721[8] (64th)
 38.2[9]
Gini (2019)
medium
 0.768[10]
HDI (2021)
high · 79th
Currency Renminbi (元/¥)[j] (CNY)
Time zone UTC+8 (CST)
DST is not observed
 yyyy-mm-dd
 or yyyy 年 m 月 d 日
Date format
 (CE; Chinese calendar)
 right (mainland)
Driving side
left (Hong Kong and Macau)
+86 (mainland)
Calling code +852 (Hong Kong)
+853 (Macau)
ISO 3166 code CN
 .cn
 .中国
 .中國 (mainland)

 .hk
Internet TLD  .香港 (Hong Kong)

 .mo
 .澳门
 .澳門 (Macau)

China (Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC),[k]
is a country in East Asia. It is the world's second-most populous country with a population
exceeding 1.4 billion. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen
countries by land,[l] tied with Russia as having the most of any country in the world. With an area
of nearly 9.6 million square kilometres (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the world's third largest country
by total land area.[m] The country consists of 22 provinces,[n] five autonomous regions, four
municipalities, and two semi-autonomous special administrative regions. The national capital is
Beijing, and the most populous city and largest financial center is Shanghai.

The region that is now China has been inhabited since the Paleolithic era, with the Yellow River
basin being a cradle of civilization. The sixth to third centuries BCE saw both significant conflict
and the emergence of Classical Chinese literature and philosophy. In 221 BCE, China was
unified under an emperor, ushering in more than two millennia in which China was governed by
one or more imperial dynasties, such as the Han, Tang, and Ming. Some of China's most notable
achievements, such as the invention of gunpowder, the establishment of the Silk Road, and the
building of the Great Wall, occurred during this period.

In 1912, the Chinese monarchy was overthrown and the Republic of China established. The
Republic saw consistent conflict for most of the mid-20th century, including a civil war between
the Kuomintang government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which began in 1927, as
well as the Second Sino-Japanese War that began in 1937 and continued until 1945, therefore
becoming involved in World War II. The latter led to a temporary stop in the civil war and
numerous Japanese atrocities such as the Nanjing Massacre, which continue to influence China-
Japan relations. In 1949, the CCP established control over China as the Kuomintang fled to
Taiwan. Early communist rule saw two major projects: the Great Leap Forward, which resulted
in a sharp economic decline and massive famine; and the Cultural Revolution, a movement to
purge all non-communist elements of Chinese society that led to mass violence and persecution.
Beginning in 1978, the Chinese government began economic reforms that moved the country
away from planned economics and raised China's standard of living, but political reforms were
cut short by the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, which ended in a massacre.