Clarification of Answer by
easterangel-ga
on
11 Nov 2003 15:22 PST
Hi beth1983-ga!
Country Profile:
"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."
Encarta: China
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573055/China.html
Economic and Income Overview:
"In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a
sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more
market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a political
framework of strict Communist control, the economic influence of
non-state organizations and individual citizens has been steadily
increasing."
"The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978. In 2001, with
its 1.27 billion people but a GDP of just $4,300 per capita, China
stood as the second largest economy in the world after the US
(measured on a purchasing power parity basis). Agriculture and
industry have posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near
Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment has helped
spur output of both domestic and export goods. On the darker side, the
leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the worst
results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and of capitalism
(windfall gains and growing income disparities)."
GDP purchasing power parity - $5.56 trillion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 7.3% (official estimate) (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $4,300 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 17.7%
industry: 49.3%
services: 33% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line 10% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 30.4% (1998)
Distribution of family income - Gini index 40 (2001)
China: Economic Overview
http://www.greekorthodoxchurch.org/wfb2002/china/china_economy.html
Population:
"China has a population of about 1.27 billion, and is the world's most
populated country. The government has a strict one-child-per-family
policy, with exceptions in rural areas and for ethnic minorities."
"The rural population is about 800 million, which accounts for 64% of
the total population. The urban population is 456 million, which
accounts for 36% of the total population. About 95% of China's people
are crowded into the eastern and southeastern sections of the country
and 32% are urban residents."
China: Population Profile
http://www.anderson.ucla.edu:7777/research/globalwindow/china/over/people.htm
Cultural Overview:
"China's language is officially Mandarin, as spoken in Beijing. The
Chinese call it Putonghua. About 70% of the population speak Mandarin,
but that's just the tip of the lingusitic iceberg. The country is
awash with dialects, and dialects within dialects - and few of them
are mutually intelligible."
"China's literary heritage is huge, but unfortunately its
untranslatability makes much of it inaccessible to Western readers.
Traditionally there are two forms, the classical (largely Confucian)
and the vernacular (such as the prose epics of the Ming dynasty).
Chinese theatre is also known as opera because of the important role
played by music, and has spawned such diverse arts as acrobatics,
martial arts and stylised dance."
"Chinese cuisine is justifiably famous, memorably diverse - and
generally not for the squeamish. The Chinese themselves like to say
they'll eat anything with four legs except a table. For the most part,
however, it's a case of doing ingenious things with a limited number
of basic ingredients. The cuisine can be divided into four regional
categories: Beijing/Mandarin and Shandong (with steamed bread and
noodles as staples), Cantonese and Chaozhou (lightly cooked meats and
vegetables), Shanghainese (the home of 'red cooking' and wuxi spare
ribs) and Sichuan (spicy, with lots of chilli). Tea is the most common
nonalcoholic beverage on sale..."
Chinese Culture
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/north_east_asia/china/culture.htm
Religion:
"China is officially atheist, and the overwhelmingly majority of the
Chinese people are non-religious. However, freedom of religious
beliefs is its official policy. Although the government agencies,
including the Religious Affairs Bureau, the Public Security Bureau,
and the Communist Party's United Front Work Department, have control
over virtually every aspect of religion, religious practice of one
sort or another has gradually increased since the 90s."
Major Religions:
Buddhism - 70 million followers
Protestantism - 10 million
Islam - 18 million
Daoist practices - 10 million
Catholicism - 4 million
China: Religion
http://www.anderson.ucla.edu:7777/research/globalwindow/china/over/religion.htm
Thanks!
Best Regards,
Easterangel-ga
,
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