China fast facts

China fast facts

Name of Country: People’s Republic of China

Capital city: Beijing

Size: About 3.7 million square miles

Population: 1.3 billion

24: Number of people added to China’s population every minute

223: Number of cities with more than
1 million people

Life expectancy: 72.88 years

Ethnic groups: Han Chinese 91.9%; Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uygur, Yi, Mongolian, Tibetan, Buyi, Korean and other 8.1%

Language: 70% speak Mandarin; others speak dialects or sub-dialects

Literacy: 90.9%

Religions: Officially atheist; Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, ancestor worship, shamanism

7.4 million: Number of people who will die this year without hearing about Jesus

Terrain: Plains, deltas and hills in east; mountains, high plateaus and deserts in west

Climate: Tropical in south to subarctic in north

Government: Communist party-led state

President: Hu Jintao

Branches of government: Executive — president, vice president, State Council, premier.
Legislative — unicameral National People’s Congress. Judicial — Supreme People’s Court

Political parties: Chinese Communist Party, 70.8 million members; eight minor parties under communist supervision

Suffrage: Universal at 18

GDP (2006): $2.68 trillion

Work force (2006, 798 million): Agriculture and forestry 45%; industry 24%; services 31%

Currency: Yuan

Exchange rates: Yuan per U.S. dollar – 6.99 (May 2008)

Telephone country code: 86

Internet country code: .cu