INTRODUCTION TO CHINA

China Area: 3,695,500 sq. miles.
Population: 1,226,274,731
Capital: Beijing
Currency: 8.31 yuan equal U.S.$1; 1996

Introduction:
China, country in East Asia, south of Russia and Mongolia. It is the world's third-largest country by area and the largest by population. The capital of China is Beijing; the largest city is Shanghai. Including its more than 3400 offshore islands, China has a total land area of about 9,571,300 sq km (about 3,695,500 sq mi).

Land and Resources:
China's six major geographic regions encompass a great diversity of landscapes, natural resources, climates, and plant and animal life. The Asian monsoon (prevailing winds) exerts the primary control on China's climate. Summer temperatures are remarkably uniform throughout most of the country, but extreme temperature differences between north and south characterize the winters.
China has a wide variety of animal life, including some species that survive only in China. Among these are the paddlefish, the giant panda, and the Chinese water deer (found only in China and Korea). China also possesses an extremely wide array of mineral resources. Among the world's leaders in production of tin, antimony, and tungsten, the country claims to be second only to Saudi Arabia in oil reserves.

Population:
China has a population (1997 estimate) of 1,226,274,731. Approximately 92 percent of the people are ethnic, or Han, Chinese, but the minority population of non-Han peoples is significant in that its members have settled over nearly 60 percent of China's area. More than 70 million people belong to 56 national minorities, distinguished from the Han Chinese by language or religion rather than by physical characteristics. More than one-fifth of the world's total population lives within China's borders. Government efforts at population control include limiting each Chinese family to having only one child.

The Chinese have had a written language for more than 3000 years. Although there are more than a dozen major dialects, the official spoken language of the Chinese is Putongua (standard speech), sometimes known to Westerners as Mandarin. China's minority groups have their own spoken languages, which include Mongolian, Tibetan, Miao, Tai, Uygur, and Kazak.  The 1982 constitution allows residents freedom of religious belief and protects legitimate religious activities.

Economy:
Traditionally the economic mainstay of China, agriculture remains the most important sector of the national economy, supporting the vast majority of the population. The large majority of farmed land is devoted to food crops, primarily rice. In the mid-1990s China's annual production of rice was the largest in the world. Other important crops are wheat, tea, and oilseeds, particularly soybeans and peanuts.The Chinese textile industry is the largest in the world, and the country is the world's leading cotton producer. China maintains a valuable livestock population, and the fishing industry is important. The country has rich mineral resources, especially coal and petroleum. It is the world's largest producer of coal and natural graphite. The unit of currency is the yuan (8.31 yuan equal U.S.$1; 1996).

Government:
China is a socialist dictatorship of the proletariat, led by the world's largest Communist party, with more than 52 million members (only a small percentage of the total population). The office of president is largely ceremonial. Executive powers rest with the State Council, headed by the premier. Generally, the positions of greatest authority are those of premier and general secretary of the Communist Party, with power depending largely on individual personalities in such positions.