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People: Han Chinese (93%), plus Mongolian, Zhuang, Manchu
and Uighur minorities, total 56.
Language:Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based
on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei
(Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects,
minority languages
Religion: Officially atheist; Confucianism (China native),
Buddhism, Taoism ( Chinese native); Muslim (14 million), Christian
(7 million)
Age structure: 0-14: 26% (male 166,319,939; female 150,125,798)
15-64: 68% (male 427,340,489; female 393,914,502)
65 years+: 6% (male 36,201,623; female 41,689,427)
Industries: iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments,
textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers,
consumer durables, food processing, autos, consumer electronics,
telecommunications
Agriculture - products: rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum,
peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, other fibers, oilseed; pork
and other livestock products; fish
Climate: Extremely diverse; tropical in the south to subarctic
in the north.
Geography: Mountains, high plateaus, and deserts in the
west; plains, deltas, and hills in the east. The highest mountain
in China is the highest mountain in the world: Mount Qomolangma.
The mountain towers above all others at 29,035 feet or 8,848 m.
Border countries: Korea, Mongolia, Russia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadzhikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India,
Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.
National anthem: March of the Volunteers, written in 1935,
with lyrics by the poet Tian Han and music by the composer Nie
Er, honoring those who went to the front to fight the Japanese
invaders in northeast China in the 1930s. Decided upon as the
provisional national anthem of the new China on September 27,
1949, at the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People’s
Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the song was officially
adopted as the national anthem of the PRC on December 4, 1982,
by the National People’s Congress (NPC).
National Day: Chinese celebrate October 1 as National
Day in honor of the founding of the People’s Republic of
China on October 1, 1949.
Other national holidays: Spring Festival (the celebration
of Chinese New Year, generally between the last 10-day period
of January and mid-February) and International Labor Day (May
1). Major holidays in China are occasions for family reunions
and traveling. Starting in October 1999, China’s three official
holidays became “Golden Weeks” each with seven days
vacation made possible by working four extra days before the commencement
of the holiday and afterwards.
National flag: Red flag with five stars.
National emblem: Tiananmen Gatetower under five stars,
encircled by ears of grain and with a gear wheel below.
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