# China

By [marniemate01](https://paragraph.com/@marniemate01) · 2021-10-29

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**China** ([Chinese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Chinese_characters): [中国](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD); [pinyin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin): _Zhōngguó_; [lit.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literal_translation) 'Central State; Middle Kingdom'), officially the **People's Republic of China** ([Chinese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Chinese_characters): [中华人民共和国](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%8E%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E5%85%B1%E5%92%8C%E5%9B%BD); [pinyin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin): _Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó_; [abbr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbreviation): **PRC**), is a country in [East Asia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asia). It is the world's [most populous country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population), with a population of more than 1.4 billion. China follows a [single standard time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_China) offset of [UTC+08:00](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC%2B08:00) even though it spans five geographical [time zones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_zones) and [borders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borders_of_China) 14 different countries, the [second most of any country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_territories_by_land_borders) in the world after [Russia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia). Covering an area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometres (3.7 million mi2), it is the world's [third or fourth largest country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_area).[\[i\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-27) The country is officially divided into 23 [provinces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_China),[\[j\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-28) five [autonomous regions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_regions_of_China), four [direct-controlled municipalities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-administered_municipalities_of_China); [Beijing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing) ([capital city](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_city)), [Chongqing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongqing), [Shanghai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai) ([largest city](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities)) and [Tianjin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tianjin), and two [special administrative regions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_administrative_regions_of_China); [Hong Kong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong) and [Macau](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau).

China emerged as one of the world's [first civilizations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_of_civilization) in the fertile basin of the [Yellow River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_River) in the [North China Plain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_China_Plain). China was one of the world's [foremost economic powers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_by_past_GDP_\(PPP\)) for most of the [two millennia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Sinica) from the 1st until the 19th century. For millennia, China's political system was based on absolute hereditary monarchies, or [dynasties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynasties_in_Chinese_history), beginning with the semi-legendary [Xia dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xia_dynasty) in 21st century [BCE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Era). Since then, China has expanded, fractured, and re-unified numerous times. In the 3rd century BCE, [the Qin reunited core China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin%27s_wars_of_unification) and established [the first Chinese empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty). The succeeding [Han dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty) (206 BCE–220 CE) saw some of the [most advanced technology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_technology_of_the_Han_dynasty) at that time, including [papermaking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papermaking) and the [compass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass), along with agricultural and medical improvements. The invention of [gunpowder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder) and [movable type](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movable_type) in the [Tang dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_dynasty) (618–907) and [Northern Song Dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Song_Dynasty) (960–1127) completed the [Four Great Inventions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Great_Inventions). Tang culture spread widely in Asia, as the new [Silk Route](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road) brought traders to as far as [Mesopotamia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia) and the [Horn of Africa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_of_Africa). The [Qing Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qing_dynasty), China's last dynasty, which formed the territorial basis for modern China, [suffered](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_of_humiliation) heavy [losses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unequal_treaty) to foreign imperialism. The [Chinese monarchy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_China) collapsed in 1912 with the [1911 Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1911_Revolution), when the [Republic of China (ROC)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China_\(1912%E2%80%931949\)) replaced the [Qing dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qing_dynasty). China was [invaded](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Sino-Japanese_War) by the [Empire of Japan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Japan) during [World War II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II). The [Chinese Civil War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Civil_War) [resulted](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Communist_Revolution) in a division of territory in 1949 when the [Chinese Communist Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Communist_Party) (CCP) led by [Mao Zedong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong) [established](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proclamation_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China) the People's Republic of China on [mainland China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainland_China) while the [Kuomintang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuomintang)\-led ROC government [retreated](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retreat_of_the_Republic_of_China_to_Taiwan) to the island of [Taiwan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Taiwan).[\[k\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-29) Both the PRC and the ROC currently claim to be the sole legitimate government of China, resulting [in an ongoing dispute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-Strait_relations) even after the [United Nations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations) recognized the PRC as the government to represent China at all UN conferences in 1971. China is currently governed as a [unitary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_State) [one-party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-party_state) [socialist republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic) by the CCP.

China is a [permanent member](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_members_of_the_United_Nations_Security_Council) of the [United Nations Security Council](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council) and a founding member of several multilateral and regional cooperation organizations such as the [Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Infrastructure_Investment_Bank), the [Silk Road Fund](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_Fund), the [New Development Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Development_Bank), the [Shanghai Cooperation Organization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Cooperation_Organization), and the [Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Comprehensive_Economic_Partnership), and is a member of the [BRICS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRICS), the [G8+5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G8%2B5), the [G20](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G20), the [APEC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia-Pacific_Economic_Cooperation), and the [East Asia Summit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asia_Summit). It [ranks among the lowest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rankings_of_China) in international measurements of [civil liberties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_liberties), [government transparency](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_China), [freedom of the press](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_freedom_in_China), [freedom of religion and ethnic minorities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_China). Chinese authorities have been criticized by [political dissidents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_dissidents) and [human rights activists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_activist) for widespread [human rights abuses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_China), including [political repression](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_repression), [mass censorship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_China), [mass surveillance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_China) of their citizens and violent suppression of protests.

After [economic reforms in 1978](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_economic_reform), and [its entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_and_the_World_Trade_Organization) into the [World Trade Organization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organization) in 2001, [China's economy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_China) became the [second-largest country by nominal GDP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_\(nominal\)) in 2010 and grew to the [largest in the world by PPP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_\(PPP\)) in 2014. China is the world's [fastest-growing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_real_GDP_growth_rate) major economy, the [second-wealthiest nation in the world](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_wealth), and the world's largest [manufacturer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing#List_of_countries_by_manufacturing_output) and [exporter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_exports). The nation has the world's [largest standing army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_military_and_paramilitary_personnel)—the [People's Liberation Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Liberation_Army)—the [second-largest defense budget](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_China), and is a recognized [nuclear weapons state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_nuclear_weapons). Because of its powerful military and large economy, China has been characterized as a [potential superpower](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potential_superpowers), and sometimes as an emerging superpower, a characterization subject to wide debate.

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*Originally published on [marniemate01](https://paragraph.com/@marniemate01/china)*