| China is bordered to the north by Russia and Mongolia; to the east by Korea (Dem Rep), the Yellow Sea and the South China Sea; to the south by Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, India, Bhutan and Nepal; and to the west by India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. China has a varied terrain ranging from high plateaux in the west to flatlands in the east; mountains take up almost one-third of the land. The most notable high mountain ranges are the Himalayas, the Altai Mountains, the Tian Shan Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains. On the border with Nepal is the 8,848m (29,198ft) Mount Qomolangma (Mount Everest). In the west is the Qinghai/Tibet Plateau, with an average elevation of 4,000m (13,200ft), known as ‘the Roof of the World’. At the base of the Tian Shan Mountains is the Turpan Depression or Basin, China’s lowest area, 154m (508ft) below sea level at the lowest point. China has many great river systems, notably the Yellow (Huang He) and Yangtze River (Chang Jiang, also Yangtze Kiang). Only 10% of all China is suitable for agriculture. |
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| 9,572,900 sq km (3,696,100 sq miles). |
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| People’s Republic. China comprises 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, two special administrative regions and four municipalities directly under central government. |
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| 1.3 billion (UN estimate 2006). Roughly a quarter of the world’s population lives in China. |
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| 135.8 per sq km. |
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| The official language is Mandarin Chinese. Among the enormous number of local dialects, large groups speak Cantonese, Shanghaiese (also known as Shanghainese), Fuzhou, Hokkien-Taiwanese, Xiang, Gan and Hakka dialects in the south. Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang, which are autonomous regions, have their own languages. Translation and interpreter services are good. English is spoken by many guides and in hotels. Many taxi drivers do not speak English, even in big cities. |
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| China is officially Atheistic, but the stated religions and philosophies are Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism. There are 100 million Buddhists and approximately 60 million Muslims, 5 million Protestants (including large numbers of Evangelicals) and 4 million Roman Catholics, largely independent of Vatican control. |
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| GMT + 8. Despite the vast size of the country, Beijing time is standard throughout China. |
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| Beijing (Peking). Population: 15.2 million (2005), expected to reach 16 million by 2008. Chongqing is the largest urban area, with a population of more than 31 million. Shanghai has a population of over 18 million and, as of 2004, 11 other cities had a population of over 2 million and 23 cities had a population of 1 to 2 million. |
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| 220 volts AC, 50Hz. Two-pin sockets and some three-pin sockets are in use. However, most 4 to 5 star hotels are wired for the use of 110 volt appliances. |
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