FACTS

Location: Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam

Area (only Total) total: 9,596,960 sq km

Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north

Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east

Population: 1,330,044,605 (July 2008 est.)

Main Language (only first): Standard Chinese

Government type: Communist state

Capital (Name): Beijing

Capital (Time Difference): UTC+8

Independence: 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty); 1 January 1912 (Manchu Dynasty replaced by a Republic); 1 October 1949 (People's Republic established)

National holiday: Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949)