Geography

China boasts one of the longest single unified civilizations in the world.It is the third largest country in the world.

China occupying an area of 9,600,000 sq km.With a continental land boundary of more than 20.000 kilometres,China adjoins Koreain the east,Mongolia in the north,Russia in the northeast,, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan and Tajikistan in the northwest.Afghanistan,Pakistan,India,Nepal,Sikkim and Bhutan in the west and southwest and Myanmar,Laos and Viet Nam in the south.The continental coastline is more than 18,000 kilometres long,and looks across the seas towards South Korea,Japan,the Philippines,Malaysia,Indonesia and Brunei.

The Primary administrative divisions in China today are the four municipalities directly under the central government,the twenty-three provinces,the five autonomous regions and two speical administrative regions.

The four municipalities directly under the central government

Beijing   Shanghai  Tianjin Chongqing

The twenty-three provinces

North  :HeBei Shanxi
Northeast:Liaoning  Jilin  Heilongjiang
Northwest:Shanxi  Gansu Qinghai
East: Shandong Jiangsu Zhejiang  Anhui  Jiangxi
Southeast: Fujian  Taiwan
Southwest: Sichuan  Guizhou  Yunnan
Central South: Henan Hubei  Hunan
South  Guangdong  Hainan

the five autonomous regions

North :The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
North: The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
Northwest:The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
South:The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
Southwest:The Tibet Autonomous Region

Two speical administrative regions
Hongkong Speical Administrative Region
Macao Speical Administrative Region

Underneath the provinces and autonomous regioins are citeis,autonomous prefectures,counties,autonomous counties and other divisions.

The longest Rivers in China

Name                                                    Length

Changjiang(Yangtze River )              6,300km

Huanghe (Yellow River)                     5,464km

Heilongjiang                                         2,965km

Tarimhe                                                 2,179km

Zhujiang(Pearl River)                          2,129km

Songhuajiang                                       1,840km

The Largest Lakes in China

Name                                              Type            Area
Qinghai Lake(Koko Nor)             Salt             4,635Km2

Poyang Lake                                 Fresh           3960KM2

Dongting Lake                              Fresh           3,940km2

Hongze Lake                                 Fresh            3,180KM2

Taihu                                               Fresh             2,425km2

Basic Details:

 Full Name: The People’s Republic of China
 Area: 9,600,000 sq km
 Population: 1.3 billion (2010)
 Capital City: Beijing
 National Flag: Five-Stars-Red-Flag

 Climate: mainly continental monsoon climate (Tibet: vertical climate zone)
 People: Han Chinese (93.3%), plus 55 ethnic groups like Miao, Li, Mongolian
 Language: Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua) based on Beijing dialect, plus local dialects
 Main Religions and Beliefs: officially atheist, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam (over 22 million), Catholicism (over 4 million) and Protestantism (over 10 million)
 Currency and Monetary Unit : Renminbi/Yuan

 Chinese President: Hu Jintao

56 Ethnic Groups and a Population of More than 1,000,000,000

The People’s Republic of China is a unitary multi-ethnic state,comprising the Han people and over 50 ethnic minorities.The Han people are the most numerous,with a population of about 1.042 billion,and live all over the country.They inhabit 50-60% of the country’s total area

China’s Ethnic Minorities(based on 1990 Statistics)
Name                   Region                                  Population
Northeast
Manchu               Liaoning,Jilin,Heilongjiang and Hebei      8,921,180

Korean                Jilin,Heilongjiang,Liaoning                 1,970,597

Daur
Ewenki
Oroqen               Heilongjiang
Hezhen

North
Mongolian             Inner Mongolia,Liaoning,JilinHeilongjiang
Qinghai,Gansu,Hebei,Henan,Xinjiang,Ningxia       4,806,849