 Programmes' Implementation Unit
Shengsha Commercial Mansion
16, Dong San Huan BeiLu
100026 Beijing, China
Tel: +86(0) 10-65950199
Fax: +86(0) 10-65950610
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China at a glance |
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- China: an overview
China is one of the oldest civilization in the world, the world¡¯s most populous country with about 1.3 billion people (22% of world¡¯s population) as well as the fourth largest country in area after Russia, Canada and the US ( 9,600,000.00 Km2).
China has 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities and 2 Special Administrative Regions - Hong Kong and Macao. The People¡¯s Republic of China, being a multi-national country, comprises 56 different minorities: Han (91.02%), Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan, Uygur, Miao, Yi, Zhuang, Bouyei, Korean, Manchu, Dong, Yao, Bai, Tujia, Hani, Kazak, Dai, Li, Lisu, Va, She, Gaoshan, Lahu, Shui, Dongxiang, Naxi, Jingpo, Kirgiz, Tu, Daur, Mulam, Qiang, Blang, Salar, Maonan, Gelo, Xibe, Achang, Pumi, Tajik, Nu, Ozbek, Russian, Ewenki, De¡¯Ang, Bonan, Yugur, Jing, Tatar, Drung, Oroqen, Hezhen, Moinba, Lhoba and Jino. The national language is the Putong hua or Mandarin. Nevertheless, most of the minorities have their own languages which represent an important part of their culture.
China has also the world¡¯s longest continuous civilization: for more than 50 centuries Chinese people created cultural masterpieces which are testified by the Chinese rich literature, Chinese cultural heritage and strong philosophies.
Due to geographical reasons, Chinese population is unevenly distributed in the country so that 94% of the people mainly live in the eastern third of the country which is the most economically developed part of China. This part acts as a magnet for an estimated of 90 million of migrants from the poor rural regions of the western areas.
Today Chinese economy has the world¡¯s highest rate of growth (2,765,142.00 GDP in 2006). The life expectancy has increased up to 72 years, birth rate is 12.09 ¡ë while mortality is 6.81¡ë rate. Unfortunately the rapid industrial development led China to have seven of the world¡¯s ten most polluted cities.
(Source: National Geographic)
- Provinces in detail
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