China , officially the People's
Republic of China (Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo), country
in East Asia, the world's largest country by population
and one of the largest by area, measuring about the same
size as the United States. The Chinese call their country
Zhongguo, which means �Central Country� or �Middle Kingdom.�
The name China was given to it by foreigners and is probably
based on a corruption of Qin (pronounced �chin�), a Chinese
dynasty that ruled during the 3rd century BC.
China proper
centers on the agricultural regions drained by three major
rivers�the Huang He (Yellow River) in the north, the Yangtze
(Chang Jiang) in central China, and the Zhu Jiang (Pearl
River) in the south. The country's varied terrain includes
vast deserts, towering mountains, high plateaus, and broad
plains. Beijing, located in the north, is China's capital
and its cultural, economic, and communications center.
Shanghai, located near the Yangtze, is the most populous
urban center, the largest industrial and commercial city,
and mainland China's leading port.
More than one-fifth
of the world's population�1.3 billion people�live in China.
More than 90 percent of these are ethnic Han Chinese,
but China also recognizes 55 national minorities, including
Tibetans, Mongols, Uighurs, Zhuang, Miao, Yi, and many
smaller groups. Even among the ethnic Han, there are regional
linguistic differences. Although a common language called
Putonghua is taught in schools and used by the mass media,
local spoken languages are often mutually incomprehensible.
However, the logographic writing system, which uses characters
that represent words rather than pronunciation, makes
it possible for all Chinese dialects to be written in
the same way; this greatly aids communication across China.
-- quoted from encata.msn.com
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