CHINA - Country profile

LOCATION OF CHINA IN THE WORLD



MAP OF CHINA



FLAG OF CHINA

The flag of the People's Republic of China is a red field charged in the canton (upper left corner) with five golden stars. The design features one large star, with four smaller stars in a semicircle set off towards the fly (right side). The red represents revolution; the five stars and their relationship represent the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Sometimes, the flag is referred to as the "Five Star Red Flag" (simplified Chinese : 五星红旗 ; traditional Chinese : 五星紅旗; pinyin : wǔ xīng hóng qí).

The flag was designed by Zeng Liansong, a citizen from Rui'an, Zhejiang. He designed it in response to a circular distributed by the Preparatory Committee of the New Political Consultative Conference (新政治協商會議籌備會) in July 1949, shortly after they came to power following the Chinese Civil War. Numerous entries were received for the design competition, and Zeng's design was put into a pool of 38 finalists. After several meetings and slight modifications, Zeng's design was chosen as the national flag. The first flag was hoisted by Mao Zedong on a pole overlooking Beijing's Tiananmen Square on October 1, 1949, at a ceremony announcing the founding of the People's Republic.

NATIONAL ANTHEM OF CHINA

March of the Volunteers (simplified Chinese : 义勇军进行曲 ; traditional Chinese : 義勇軍進行曲) is the national anthem of the People's Republic of China (including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since July 1, 1997 and the Macau Special Administrative Region since December 20, 1999), written by the noted poet and playwright Tian Han with music composed by Nie Er. This composition is a musical march. The piece was first performed as part of a 1934 Shanghai play and its original lyrics are the official lyrics of the national anthem. In 2004, a provision that the March of the Volunteers be the national anthem was added to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China as Article 136.

PROFILE OF CHINA

Official Name:
Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo
local short form: Zhong Guo
int'l short form: China
(traditional Chinese : 中國 ; simplified Chinese : 中国 ; Pinyin : Zhōngguó
int'l long form : People's Republic of China
abbreviation : P.R.C. (People's Republic of China)

ISO Country Code : cn

Capital City : Beijing (pop 7,362,426)
Beijing Municipal Government.

Other major Cities :
Shanghai (pop 8,214,384)
Tianjin (pop 5,855,044), Shenyang (pop 4,669,737), Wuhan (pop 4,040,113), Guangzhou (Canton, pop 3,935,193), Chongqing (pop 3,127,178), Harbin (Ha'erbin, pop 2,990,921), Chengdu (pop 2,954,872).

Government:
Type: Communist party-led state
Constitution: 4 December 1982.
Head of state: President Hu Jintao
Independence: Unification under the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty 221 BC;
Qing (Ch'ing or Manchu) Dynasty replaced by a republic on 12 February 1912;
People's Republic established 1 October 1949.

Geography:
Location: Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam
Total area: 9.6 million sq. km. (about 3.7 million sq. mi.), third largest country in the world, slightly smaller than the US and almost as large as the combined nations of Europe.
Terrain: Plains, deltas, and hills in east; mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west.

Climate: From tropical in south to subarctic in north.

People:
Nationality: Chinese (singular and plural).
Population: 1 300 100 000.
GNI per capita PPP: $ 6193 (year)
Ethnic groups: Han Chinese 91.6%; beside the Han population China recognizes fifty-five minority nationalities which comprise 8.4 percent of China's total population among them are: Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uygur, Yi, Mongolian, Tibetan, Buyi, Korean and other nationalities.
Religions: Officially atheist; Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity.
Language: PuTongHua (Mandarin), Wu (spoken in Shanghai), Yue (Cantonese) plus other dialects like Min, Hakka (Kejia), Gan and Xiang.
Chinese is spoken by more people than any other language in the world.
Literacy: 81%

Natural resources: Coal, iron ore, crude oil, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, world's largest hydropower potential.

Agriculture products: Rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed, pork, fish.

Industries: Iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications.

Exports partners: USA 21.1%, Hong Kong 17.4%, Japan 13.6%, South Korea 4.6%, Germany 4% (2003)

Imports partners: Japan 18%, Taiwan 11.9%, South Korea 10.4%, USA 8.2%, Germany 5.9% (2003)

Currency: Yuan Renminbi (CNY )