China

People's Republic of China 中华人民共和国 (Chinese) Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó (pinyin)
Flag Emblem
Anthem: "March of the Volunteers"
Location of the People's Republic of China   Territory claimed but not controlled
Capital	Beijing 39°55′N 116°23′E / 39.917°N 116.383°E / 39.917; 116.383
Largest city by city proper	Chongqing
Largest city by urban population	Shanghai
Official languages	Standard Chinese (de facto)[1]
Official script	Simplified characters
Ethnic groups (2020)[2]	91.1% Han Chinese 8.9% others
Religion (2023)[3]	33.4% Buddhism 25.2% no religion 19.6% Taoism 17.7% other folk beliefs 2.5% Christianity 1.6% Islam
Demonym(s)	Chinese
Government	Unitary Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic
• CCP General Secretary[a]	Xi Jinping
• Premier	Li Qiang
• Congress Chairman	Zhao Leji
• CPPCC Chairman[b]	Wang Huning
• Vice President	Han Zheng
Legislature	National People's Congress[c]
Formation
• First pre-imperial dynasty	c. 2070 BCE
• First imperial dynasty	221 BCE
• Establishment of the Republic of China	1 January 1912
• Admitted to the United Nations	24 October 1945[d]
• Proclamation of the People's Republic	1 October 1949
• First constitution	20 September 1954
• Current constitution	4 December 1982
• Most recent polity admitted	20 December 1999
Area
• Total	9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi)[e][6] (3rd / 4th)
• Water (%)	2.8[7]
Population
• 2023 estimate	1,409,670,000[8] (2nd)
• Density	145[9]/km2 (375.5/sq mi) (83rd)
GDP (PPP)	2024 estimate
• Total	$35.291 trillion[f][10] (1st)
• Per capita	$25,015[10] (73rd)
GDP (nominal)	2024 estimate
• Total	$18.533 trillion[10] (2nd)
• Per capita	$13,136[10] (68th)
Gini (2020)	37.1[11] medium
HDI (2022)	0.788[12] high (75th)
Currency	Renminbi (元/¥)[g] (CNY)
Time zone	UTC+8 (CST)
Date format	YMD
Driving side	right (mainland) left (Hong Kong, Macau)
Calling code	+86 (mainland) +852 (Hong Kong) +853 (Macau)
ISO 3166 code	CN
Internet TLD	.cn .中国 .中國 (mainland) .hk .香港 (Hong Kong) .mo .澳门 .澳門 (Macau)

China,^[h] officially the People's Republic of China (PRC),^[i] is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the world's second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land.^[j] With an area of nearly 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third-largest country by total land area.^[k] The country is divided into 33 province-level divisions: 22 provinces,^[l] five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two semi-autonomous special administrative regions. Beijing is the country's capital, while Shanghai is its most populous city by urban area and largest financial center.

China is considered one of the cradles of civilization: the first human inhabitants in the region arrived during the Paleolithic; by the late second millennium BCE, the earliest dynastic states had emerged in the Yellow River basin. The eighth to third centuries BCE saw a breakdown in the authority of the Zhou dynasty, accompanied by the emergence of administrative and military techniques, literature, philosophy, and historiography. In 221 BCE, China was unified under an emperor for the first time. Appointed non-hereditary officials began ruling counties instead of the aristocracy, ushering in more than two millennia of imperial dynasties including the Qin, Han, Tang, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. With the invention of gunpowder and paper, the establishment of the Silk Road, and the building of the Great Wall, Chinese culture—including languages, traditions, architecture, philosophy and technology—flourished and has heavily influenced both its neighbors and lands further afield. However, China began to cede parts of the country in the late 19th century to various European powers by a series of unequal treaties.

After decades of struggle, the 1911 Revolution resulted in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC) the following year. The country under the nascent Beiyang government was unstable and ultimately fragmented during the Warlord Era, which was ended upon the Northern Expedition conducted by the Kuomintang (KMT) to reunify the country. The Chinese Civil War began in 1927, when KMT forces purged members of the rival Chinese Communist Party (CCP), who proceeded to engage in sporadic fighting against the KMT-led Nationalist government. Following the country's invasion by the Empire of Japan in 1937, the KMT and CCP temporarily agreed to a truce in favor of a united front against the Japanese. The Second Sino-Japanese War eventually ended in a Chinese victory; however, atrocities such as the Nanjing Massacre had a lasting impact on the country. The end of war with Japan in 1945 was quickly followed by a resumption of hostilities between the KMT and CCP. In 1949, the resurgent Communists established control over most of the country, proclaiming the People's Republic of China and forcing the Nationalist government to retreat to the island of Taiwan. The country was split, with both sides claiming to be the sole legitimate government of China. Following the implementation of land reforms, further attempts by the PRC to realize communism failed: the Great Leap Forward was largely responsible for the Great Chinese Famine that ended with millions of Chinese people having died, and the subsequent Cultural Revolution was a period of social turmoil and persecution characterized by Maoist populism. Following the Sino-Soviet split, the Shanghai Communiqué in 1972 would precipitate the normalization of relations with the United States. Economic reforms that began in 1978 led by reformists within the CCP moved the country away from a socialist planned economy towards an increasingly capitalist market economy, spurring significant economic growth. The corresponding movement for increased democracy and liberalization stalled after the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in 1989.

China is a unitary one-party socialist republic led by the CCP. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council; the UN representative for China was changed from the ROC to the PRC in 1971. It is a founding member of several multilateral and regional organizations such as the AIIB, the Silk Road Fund, the New Development Bank, and the RCEP. It is a member of the BRICS, the G20, APEC, the SCO, and the East Asia Summit. Making up around one-fifth of the world economy, the Chinese economy is the world's largest economy by GDP at purchasing power parity, the second-largest economy by nominal GDP, and the second-wealthiest country, albeit ranking poorly in measures of democracy, human rights and religious freedom. The country has been one of the fastest-growing major economies and is the world's largest manufacturer and exporter, as well as the second-largest importer. China is a nuclear-weapon state with the world's largest standing army by military personnel and the second-largest defense budget. It is a great power and a regional power, and has been described as an emerging superpower. China is known for its cuisine and culture, and has 57 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).