Capital city


National flag
National anthem
National Day
President
Vice president
Premier
Beijing


Five-star red flag, length and width proportion: 3:2.

March of the Volunteers (lines: Arise, those who do not want to be slaves! We will use our flesh and blood to build another Great Wall. China has reached the brink of national collapse. All the people have been making their last outcry. Arise! Arise! Arise! All our hearts become one. Let us face the enemy's gunfire. March on! Let us face the enemy's gunfire. March on! March on! March on! On!)
October 1, the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949



   Xi Jinping


   Li Yuanchao


   Li Keqiang

 
 
 
 
Top legislature
National People's Congress (NPC)
Location
In East Asia, by the west Pacific Ocean.
Territory area
9.6 million square km, second to Russia and Canada.
Largest city
Shanghai
Currency

Renminbi (RMB) yuan
Weights and measures
metric system
Gross domestic product
39.8 trillion yuan (US$6.15 trillion) at the end of 2010.
Topography


High in its west and low in its east: mountain areas 33.3%, plateaus 26%, basins 18.8%, plains 12% and hills 9.9%.
Islands
Among the 5,400 islands, Taiwan Island (about 36,000 square km) is the largest, Hainan Island (about 34,000 square km) the second.
Mountains

Himalayas
Among the 19 mountains over 7,000 meters high in the world, seven are in China. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as "the roof of the world", has many high mountains. The Himalayas, with an average elevation of 6,000 meters, have the world's highest peak Mount Qomolangma, 8,844 meters above sea level.
Rivers

Yangtze River
The Yangtze River, 6,300 km long, the third longest in the world after the Nile and the Amazon. The Yellow River, the second longest in China, stretching 5,464 km.
Canyon
The canyon on the Yalu Tsangpo River, the world's largest, 504.6 km in length and 6,009 meters in depth.
Man-made river

Grand Canal

The Grand Canal, 1,801 km long, the longest man-made river in the world. Its cutting began in the fifth century BC.
Lakes

Poyang Lake
The Poyang Lake on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is China's largest freshwater lake; the Qinghai Lake on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the country's largest salt lake.
Climate
Most of the country in the temperate zone, although geographically the country stretches from the tropical and subtropical zones in the south to the frigid zone in the north.
Wild animals

Giant Panda
China has a great variety of wildlife, over 4,400 vertebrates, more than 100 rare species of the world: the giant panda, the golden monkey, the white-lipped deer, the South China Tiger, Crossoplilon mantchuricum, the white-flag dolphin, the Chinese alligator, and the crowned crane.
Plants
China has a great variety of plants, 32,000 species of higher plants, including nearly all the major kinds of vegetation found in the frigid and temperate zones of the northern hemisphere.
Popular flowers
Peony, azalea, primrose and felwort.
Population
1.37 billion by the end of 2010 (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan)
Population
growth rate
5.84 % in 2010
Average life-span
73.5 years old by the end of 2009
Mainland Population composition
The males: 51.27%, the females: 48.73%; people aged 0-14: 16.60%, people aged 15-59: 70.14%; people aged above 60: 13.26%; urban population: 49.68%, rural population: 50.32%.
Ethnic groups
China has 56 ethnic groups, of which the Hans have the largest population, accounting for 91.51 percent of the total, according to the country's sixth census conducted in 2010. The other 55 ethnic minority groups account for 8.49 percent.
Languages
Of the 56 ethnic groups in China, the Hui and Manchu use the same languages as Han people, while the rest of groups have their own spoken and written languages.
Public holidays
China’s 11 public holidays include: New Year's Day (January 1); Spring Festival – a holiday of several days duration starting from the eve of the Lunar New Year through the second day of the Lunar New Year; Qingming Festival on April 5, known in English as Tomb Sweeping Day; International Labor Day on May 1; the Dragon Boat Festival, held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month; the Mid-Autumn Festival, held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month; and the National Day holidays – the first three days of October.
 
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