Branches:
Army of the Nation, National Navy (including Naval Air, Coast Guard, and
Marines), Air Force of the Nation, Carabineros of Chile (National Police),
Investigative Police
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, 3,600,654; 2,685,924 fit for military service; 118,480 reach
military age (19) annually
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $1 billion, 3.4% of GDP (1991 est.)
:China Geography
Total area:
9,596,960 km2
Land area:
9,326,410 km2
Comparative area:
slightly larger than the US
Land boundaries:
22,143.34 km; Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30
km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan
858 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,673 km, Nepal 1,236 km,
Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km,
Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km
Coastline:
14,500 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf:
claim to shallow areas of East China Sea and Yellow Sea
Territorial sea:
12 nm
Disputes:
boundary with India; bilateral negotiations are under way to resolve
disputed sections of the boundary with Russia; boundary with Tajikistan
under dispute: a short section of the boundary with North Korea is
indefinite; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with
Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime
boundary dispute with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands
occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims
Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto, as does Taiwan, (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu
Tai)
Climate:
extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
Terrain:
mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills
in east
Natural resources:
coal, iron ore, crude oil, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese,
molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, world's
largest hydropower potential
Land use:
arable land 10%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 31%; forest and
woodland 14%; other 45%; includes irrigated 5%
Environment:
frequent typhoons (about five times per year along southern and eastern
coasts), damaging floods, tsunamis, earthquakes; deforestation; soil
erosion; industrial pollution; water pollution; air pollution;
desertification
Note:
world's third-largest country (after Russia and Canada)
:China People
Population:
1,169,619,601 (July 1992), growth rate 1.6% (1992)
Birth rate:
22 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
7 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
32 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
69 years male, 72 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
2.3 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Chinese (singular and plural); adjective - Chinese
Ethnic divisions:
Han Chinese 93.3%; Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol,
Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 6.7%
Religions:
officially atheist, but traditionally pragmatic and eclectic; most important
elements of religion are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism; Muslim 2-3%,
Christian 1% (est.)
Languages:
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:
567,400,000; agriculture and forestry 60%, industry and commerce 25%,
construction and mining 5%, social services 5%, other 5% (1990 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)
:China 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 Shi**, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan,
Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning,
Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai Shi**, Shanxi,
Sichuan, Tianjin Shi**, Xinjiang*, Xizang*, Yunnan, Zhejiang; note - China
considers Taiwan its 23rd province
Independence:
unification under the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty 221 BC, Qing (Ch'ing) Dynasty
replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912, People's Republic established
1 October 1949
Constitution:
most recent promulgated 4 December 1982
Legal system:
a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely criminal law; rudimentary
civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal codes in effect since 1
January 1980; continuing efforts are being made to improve civil,
administrative, criminal, and commercial law
National holiday:
National Day, 1 October (1949)
Executive branch:
president, vice president, premier, five vice premiers, State Council
Legislative branch:
unicameral National People's Congress (Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui)
Judicial branch:
Supreme People's Court
Leaders:
Chief of State:
President YANG Shangkun (since 8 April 1988); Vice President WANG Zhen
(since 8 April 1988)
Chief of State and Head of Government (de facto):
DENG Xiaoping (since mid-1977)
Head of Government:
Premier LI Peng (Acting Premier since 24 November 1987, Premier since 9
April 1988); Vice Premier YAO Yilin (since 2 July 1979); Vice Premier TIAN
Jiyun (since 20 June 1983); Vice Premier WU Xueqian (since 12 April 1988);
Vice Premier ZOU Jiahua (since 8 April 1991); Vice Premier ZHU Rongji (since
8 April 1991)
Political parties and leaders:
- Chinese Communist Party (CCP), JIANG Zemin, general secretary of the
Central Committee (since 24 June 1989); also, eight registered small parties
controlled by CCP
Suffrage:
universal at age 18
Elections:
National People's Congress:
last held March 1988 (next to be held March 1993); results - CCP is the only
party but there are also independents; seats - (2,976 total) CCP and
independents 2,976 (indirectly elected at county or xian level)
President:
last held 8 April 1988 (next to be held March 1993); results - YANG Shangkun
was nominally elected by the Seventh National People's Congress
:China Government
Communists:
49,000,000 party members (1990 est.)
Other political or pressure groups:
such meaningful opposition as exists consists of loose coalitions, usually
within the party and government organization, that vary by issue
Member of:
AfDB, APEC, AsDB, CCC, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO,
IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UN Security Council, UNTSO, UN Trusteeship
Council, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador ZHU Qizhen; Chancery at 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20008; telephone (202) 328-2500 through 2502; there are Chinese
Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San
Francisco
US:
Ambassador J. Stapleton ROY; Embassy at Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, Beijing (mailing
address is 100600, PSC 461, Box 50, Beijing or FPO AP 96521-0002); telephone
[86] (1) 532-3831; FAX [86] (1) 532-3178; there are US Consulates General in
Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang
Flag:
red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow
five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the
flag) in the upper hoist-side corner
:China Economy