China

CHINA

China is situated on the Northern Hemisphere, approximately between parallels 53° - 20°. On the east there are Japan, Yellow, East China Sea and South China Sea. China bounds with Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan on the north, North and South Korea on the east, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Barma, Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan on the south, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on the west.

China is the second largest country in Asia after Russia, and is considered the third or fourth largest in the world. The territory of China contains a large variety of landscapes. Southern China is dominated by hill country and low mountain ranges. In the north we can see grasslands and in the east along the Yellow and East China Sea there is densely populates alluvial plains. The weather is influenced by Asia monsoon. It has got cold winters and warm summers with a moderate rainfall.

A major issue is the continued expansion of deserts, particularly the Gobi Desert. The highest point: Mount Everest 8,848m. The lowest point: -154 Turpan Pendi. The longest river: Chang Jinang 5, 520 km.

The main product of agriculture is rice. Other plants: sugar beet, tea, peanuts, different species of fruit, tobacco, soy, potatoes, and vegetables. They keep sheep, poultry, sow, horses. Very important part of Chinese food is fish.

China has got big mineral riches as black coal, iron ore, crude oil, wolfram, tin, copper, zinc, silver... The capital city of China is Beijing. However, is not the most populated city in China. The most populated and largest city is Shanghai. China has ratified the Kyoto Protocol but it is not required to reduce carbon emissions because it´s developing country. However, with rapid industrialisation, China is fast becoming one of the world's major contributors to global warming.

China´s economy which is one of the world´s largest has expanded rapidly since 1970s. China will soon become a superpower. The two most important sectors of the economy have traditionally been agriculture and industry, which together employ more than 70 percent of the labor force.

Differences between Chinese people are very big. China with a population of over 1.3 billion is the most populated country in the world. The government's goal is one child per family, with exceptions for ethnic minorities and flexibility in rural areas, where a family can have a second child if the first is a girl or physically disabled. The government's goal is to stabilize population growth early in the twenty-first century. However, people often have more than one child, but their second or third child “does not exist”. There are no evidences about it.

Most Chinese — 59% of the population or about 767 million people are non-religious. However, rituals and religion — especially the traditional beliefs of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism — play important part in the lives of them. About 8% of the Chinese population are Buddhists. Buddhism is the country's largest organized religion. There are 16 million Christians, and about 20 million Muslims.

China is one of the oldest civilization going back 3, 500 years. Chinese belongs to the oldest languages in the world. It´s developing on the north and south was different. The most known discoveries are: compass, gun-powder, silk, pottery, porcelain, paper money, fireworks, lottery, toothbrush, toilet paper, noodle...

Well known is Chinese opera. It belongs between the oldest arts. It is a musical- dramatic formation. It connects singing and pantomime. Every character has its own voice, motions, make- up and costume. The Great Wall of China is an old system of fortification. It is the most important architectural monument and characteristic symbol of China.