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People's Republic of
China
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Did You Know?
  • China is only slightly larger than the United States, but it has more than four times as many inhabitants.
  • Of some 50,000 Chinese characters, only about 8,000 are in use; knowledge of 1,500 is necessary for basic literacy.
  • China's legislature, the National People's Congress, has nearly 3,000 members.
  • Standard Chinese (Putonghua), or Mandarin, is based on the Beijing dialect and is the national language.

  • Flag
    The flag of China, most recently adopted on 1 October 1949, has a red background, symbolizing revolution. The larger star represents the Chinese Communist Party; the smaller stars represent the Chinese people.

    Flag of China
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    Official Name Anthem
    Hear the name of the country Hear the name of the country. The common name of the country is China. The official name is the People's Republic of China (Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo).
    Hear the national anthem Hear the national anthem.  The national anthem of China is “March of the Volunteers.” Adopted in 1949. Lyrics by Tian Han; music by Nie Er.
    Country and Development Data
    Capital: Beijing
       Current Time: 11:21 PM
       Latitude: 39.56
       Longitude: 116.24
    Population: 1,330,044,544 (rank=1)
    Area, sq. mi.: 3,705,820 (rank=3)
    Area, sq. km.: 9,598,032
    Human Dev. Index rank: 81 of 177 countries
    Adjusted for women: 72 of 156 countries
    Real GDP per capita: $6,757
    Adult literacy rate: 95% (male); 87% (female)
    Infant mortality rate: 23 per 1,000 births
    Life expectancy: 71 (male); 74 (female)
    Currency: Renminbi/yuan




    Additional Content for China
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