_#_Language: Standard Chinese (Putonghua) or Mandarin (based on the Beijing dialect); also Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, and minority languages (see ethnic divisions)
_#_Literacy: 73% (male 84%, female 62%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
_#_Labor force: 553,000,000; agriculture and forestry 60%, industry and commerce 25%, construction and mining 5%, social services 5%, other 5% (1989 est.)
_#_Organized labor: All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) follows the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party; membership over 80 million or about 65% of the urban work force (1985)
_*Government #_Long-form name: People's Republic of China; abbreviated PRC
_#_Type: Communist Party-led state
_#_Capital: Beijing
_#_Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 3 municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**, Xinjiang*, Xizang*, Yunnan, Zhejiang; note—China considers Taiwan its 23rd province
_#_Independence: unification under the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty 221 BC, Qing (Ch'ing or Manchu) Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912, People's Republic established 1 October 1949
_#_Constitution: 4 December 1982