● Official name: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo (People’s Republic of China).

● Form of government: single-party people’s republic with one legislative house (National People’s Congress 【2,980¹】).

● Chief of state: President Hu Jintao.

Head of government: Premier Wen Jiabao.

Capital: Beijing (Peking).

Official language: Mandarin Chinese.

Official religion: none.

Monetary unit: renminbi ( yuan) (Y).

Demography

Area and population²

area³ population

Provinces⁵ Capitals⁵ sq mi sq km 2007⁴

estimate

Anhui (Anhwei) Hefei 54,000 139,900 61,100,000

Fujian (Fukien) Fuzhou 47,500 123,100 35,580,000

Gansu (Kansu) Lanzhou 141,500 366,500 26,060,000

Guangdong

(Kwangtung) Guangzhou

(Canton) 76,100 197,100 93,040,000

Guizhou

(Kweichow) Guiyang 67,200 174,000 37,570,000

Hainan Haikou 13,200 34,300 8,360,000

Hebei (Hopeh) Shijiazhuang 78,200 202,700 68,980,000

Heilongjiang

(Heilungkiang) Harbin 179,000 463,600 38,230,000

Henan (Honan) Zhengzhou 64,500 167,000 93,920,000

Hubei (Hupeh) Wuhan 72,400 187,500 56,930,000

Hunan Changsha 81,300 210,500 63,420,000

Jiangsu

(Kiangsu) Nanjing

(Nanking) 39,600 102,600 75,500,000

Jiangxi

(Kiangsi) Nanchang 63,600 164,800 43,390,000

Jilin (Kirin) Changchun 72,200 187,000 27,230,000

Liaoning

(Liaoning) Shenyang 58,300 151,000 42,710,000

Qinghai

(Tsinghai) Xining 278,400 721,000 5,480,000

Shaanxi

(Shensi) Xi’an (Sian) 75,600 195,800 37,350,000

Shandong

(Shantung) Jinan 59,200 153,300 93,090,000

Shanxi (Shansi) Taiyuan 60,700 157,100 33,750,000

Sichuan

(Szechwan) Chengdu 188,000 487,000 81,690,000

Yunnan Kunming 168,400 436,200 44,830,000

Zhejiang

(Chekiang) Hangzhou 39,300 101,800 49,800,000

Autonomous regions⁵

Guangxi

Zhuang

(Kwangsi Chuang) Nanning 85,100 220,400 47,190,000

Inner Mongolia

(Nei Mongol) Hohhot 454,600 1,177,500 23,970,000

Ningxia Hui

(Ningsia Hui) Yinchuan 25,600 66,400 6,040,000

Tibet (Xizang) Lhasa 471,700 1,221,600 2,810,000

Xinjiang Uygur

(Sinkiang Uighur) Ürümqi (Urumchi) 635,900 1,646,900 20,500,000

Municipalities⁵

Beijing (Peking) — 6,500 16,800 15,810,000

Chongqing

(Chungking) — 31,700 82,000 28,080,000

Shanghai — 2,400 6,200 18,150,000

Tianjin

(Tientsin) — 4,400 11,300 10,750,000

TOTAL 3,696,100 9,572,900 1,314,480,000⁶

Population (2008): 1,324,681,000.

Density (2008): persons per sq mi 358.4, persons per sq km 138.4.

Urban-rural (2007⁴): urban 43.9%; rural 56.1%.

Sex distribution (2007⁴): male 51.52%; female 48.48%.

● Age breakdown (2004): under 15, 19.3%; 15–29, 22.1%; 30–44, 27.2%; 45–59, 19.0%; 60–74, 9.6%; 75–84, 2.4%; 85 and over, 0.4%.

Population projection: (2010) 1,338,442,000; (2020) 1,407,520,000.

● Ethnic composition (2000): Han (Chinese) 91.53%; Chuang 1.30%; Manchu 0.86%; Hui 0.79%; Miao 0.72%; Uighur 0.68%; Tuchia 0.65%; Yi 0.62%; Mongolian 0.47%; Tibetan 0.44%; Puyi 0.24%; Tung 0.24%; Yao 0.21%; Korean 0.15%; Pai 0.15%; Hani 0.12%; Kazakh 0.10%; Li 0.10%; Tai 0.09%; other 0.54%.

● Religious affiliation (2005): nonreligious 39.2%; Chinese folk-religionist 28.7%; Christian 10.0%, of which unregistered Protestant 7.7%⁷, registered Protestant 1.2%⁷, unregistered Roman Catholic 0.5%⁷, registered Roman Catholic 0.4%⁷; Buddhist 8.4%; atheist 7.8%; traditional beliefs 4.4%; Muslim 1.5%.

● Major urban agglomerations (2005): Shanghai 14,503,000; Beijing 10,717,000; Guangzhou 8,425,000; Shenzhen 7,233,000; Wuhan 7,093,000; Tianjin 7,040,000; Chongqing 6,363,000; Shenyang 4,720,000; Dongguan 4,320,000; Chengdu 4,065,000; Xi'an 3,926,000; Harbin 3,695,000; Nanjing 3,621,000; Guiyang 3,447,000; Dalian 3,073,000; Changchun 3,046,000; Zibo 2,982,000; Kunming 2,837,000; Hangzhou 2,831,000; Qingdao 2,817,000; Taiyuan 2,794,000; Jinan 2,743,000; Zhengzhou 2,590,000; Fuzhou 2,453,000; Changsha 2,451,000; Lanzhou 2,411,000.

● Households. Average household size⁸ (2004) 3.6, of which urban households 3.0⁸, rural households 4.1⁸; 1 person 7.8%, 2 persons 19.6%, 3 persons 31.4%, 4 persons 21.8%, 5 persons 12.4%, 6 or more persons 7.0%; non-family households 0.8%.

Vital statistics

Birth rate per 1,000 population (2006): 12.1 (world avg. 20.3).

Death rate per 1,000 population (2006): 6.8 (world avg. 8.6).

Natural increase rate per 1,000 population (2006): 5.3 (world avg. 11.7).

Total fertility rate (avg. births per childbearing woman; 2005): 1.72.

Life expectancy at birth (2005): male 70.9 years; female 74.3 years.

National economy

● Gross national product (2006): U.S.$2,641,846,000,000 (U.S.$2,035 per capita).

● Budget (2004). Revenue: Y 2,639,647,000,000 (tax revenue 91.5%, of which VAT 34.2%, corporate income taxes 15.0%, business tax 13.6%, consumption tax 5.7%; nontax revenue 8.5%).

● Expenditures: Y 2,848,689,000,000 (economic development 27.8%, of which agriculture 8.3%; social, cultural, and educational development 26.3%; administration 19.4%; defense 7.7%; other 18.8%).

Public debt (external, outstanding; 2005): U.S.$82,853,000,000.

Environment

● Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from consumption and flaring of fossil fuels (in ’000 metric tons of CO₂; 2005): 5,322,690 (of which from: petroleum 16.5%, natural gas 1.9%, coal 81.6%) (% of world total 18.9); CO₂ emissions per capita 4.1 metric tons.

Foreign trade⁹

● Imports (2006): U.S.$791,461,000,000 (machinery and apparatus 41.4%, of which electronic integrated circuits and micro-assemblies 13.4%, computers and office machines 5.1%, telecommunications equipment and parts 4.1%; mineral fuels 11.2%, of which crude petroleum 8.4%; chemicals and chemical products 11.0%; metal ore and metal scrap 5.6%; optical devices 【particularly lasers】 4.5%).

● Major import sources: Japan 14.6%; South Korea 11.3%; Taiwan 11.0%; China free trade zones 9.3%; United States 7.5%; Germany 4.8%; Malaysia 3.0%; Australia 2.4%; Thailand 2.3%; Philippines 2.2%.

● Exports (2006): U.S.$968,936,000,000 (machinery and apparatus 43.2%, of which computers and office machines 13.9%, electrical machinery 10.5%, telecommunications equipment and parts 8.8%; apparel and clothing accessories 9.8%; textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles 5.0%; chemicals and chemical products 4.6%; fabricated metal products 3.7%; iron and steel 3.4%).

● Major export destinations: United States 21.0%; Hong Kong 16.0%; Japan 9.5%; South Korea 4.6%; Germany 4.2%; The Netherlands 3.2%; United Kingdom 2.5%; Singapore 2.4%; Taiwan 2.1%; Italy 1.6%.

● Food: undernourished population (2002–04) 150,000,000 (12% of total population based on the consumption of a minimum daily requirement of 1,930 calories).

Military

● Total active duty personnel (Nov. 2007): 2,105,000 (army 76.0%, navy 12.1%, air force 11.9%).

● Military expenditure as percentage of GDP (2005): 2.0%; per capita expenditure U.S.$34.

¹Includes 36 seats allotted to Hong Kong and 12 to Macau. ²Data for Taiwan, Quemoy, and Matsu (parts of Fujian province occupied by Taiwan), Hong Kong, and Macau are excluded. ³Estimated figures. ⁴January 1. ⁵Preferred names in all instances are based on Pinyin transliteration (except for Inner Mongolia and Tibet, which are current English-language conventional names). ⁶Total includes military personnel not distributed by province, autonomous region, or municipality. ⁷Percentage is rough estimate. ⁸Family households only. ⁹Imports c.i.f., exports f.o.b.