The People's Republic of China is the largest country completely in Asia and, at 9,596,960 square kilometers, the fourth largest country in the world. China shares borders with Russia, India, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macau, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Vietnam. China is divided into 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, and 4 municipalities. The population exceeds 1.3 billion, or about one-fifth of the world's population making it the most populous nation in the world. China's capital is Beijing.
Most languages in China belong to the Sino-Tibetan language family. Mandarin is the official language and it is spoken by 70 percent of the population. Standard Mandarin is the language of instruction in education and is taught in all schools. China has the world's longest continuously used written language system. Other dialects of Chinese include: Wu (Shanghainese), Yue (Cantonese), Min, Xiang, Gan and Hakka. Non-Sinitic languages spoken by ethnic minorities include: Zhuang (Thai), Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Hmong and Korean.
The People's Republic of China is officially a secular country. Personal religions are not permitted. Dominant religions of China have been: Buddhism and Taoism with an underlying Confucian morality. Among the younger, urban Chinese the spiritual ideas of Feng Shui have become popular in recent years.
China, one of the world's oldest civilizations, has been the source of many of the world's great inventions including, printing, paper, the compass and gunpowder.
Web Sites
- CIA: The World Factbook
- Enchanted Learning (For children)
- U.S. Department of State
- Library of Congress Country Studies
- BBC News Country Profile
Catalog
Search the library's catalog for China.
Databases
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