Size: China and the United States are almost equal in size, and both claim to be the world's third largest nation.

Population: Over 1.3 billion, though current population growth is relatively low (0.59%) partly due to the government's enforcement of a "one-child policy".

Languages Spoken: Spoken Mandarin Chinese is the official language, but local languages like Cantonese, Mongolian and Tibetan dominate large portions of the country. One fifth of the population is currently learning English, and it is estimated that within 20 years the Chinese English speaking population will outnumber native speakers in the rest of the world.

Type of Government: The People's Republic of China is most often referred to as a "communist state." Though the economy has become increasingly capitalist in recent years, the Communist Party of China (CPC) still exercises authoritarian control over the country. There is little meaningful opposition to the CPC in most elections, though it is increasing at local levels. The government is harsh in its treatment of political dissidents and organized resistance, but also has maintained public support by delivering economic improvement for some portions of the population. China ranks in the middle of the corruption index, sharing its score of 3.3 (10 being the least corrupt) with India, Egypt, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.

Religion: China is the only officially atheist country in the world and 59% of the population identify themselves as non-religious. Still, traditional beliefs of Confucianism and Taoism play a sizeable role in Chinese culture. Small percentages of Buddhists, Muslims, Protestants and Catholics, number in the tens of millions. As many as 100 million followers of the Falun Gong, self described as a "spiritual practice" rather than a religion, experience regular persecution by the government.

Gender and Health Issues:Because of the "one-child policy" and the cultural value placed on male children, by 2020 China is expected to have 30 million more men than women due to sex selective abortion, adoption or abandonment of female children, and even infanticide. Abortion is legal on request (there have been allegations of forced abortion and sterilization campagins) and contraceptive use amongst reproductive age women is extremely high at 83.3%. There is a large gap in literacy between men (95.1%) and women (86.5%). Health care in China is not universal, though life expectancy has more than doubled since 1950.

Environment and Resources:China faces a number of serious environmental issues caused by overpopulation and rapid industrial growth. Water pollution and a resulting shortage of drinking water is one such issue, as is air pollution caused by an over-reliance on coal as fuel. It has been estimated that 410,000 Chinese die as a result of pollution each year. Deforestation and desertification are also issues. The country's rivers constitute the largest potential source of hydropower in the world.

Economy:China is the world's fourth largest economy. Per capita GDP is $6,800/year, though the poorest 10% of families earn only 2.4% of total income, while the richest 10% earn 30.4%.

International Aid Received:$1.4 billion, or about $1 per person in 2001

Receives US Counterterrorism Assistance: China has worked with the US on a number of international counter-terrorism measures.

Death Penalty: In use for violent as well as non-violent crimes like tax evasion and corruption.

Top Five Industries: Mining and ore processing, machine building, weapons, textiles and apparel, petroleum

Poverty Rate: 10% reported to live below the official poverty line, though 46.7% of the country lives on less than $2/day

McDonald's Restaurants: Since 1990

Human Trafficking Situation: Though China is a source, transit and destination country for international trafficking, the most significant trafficking problem is domestic, with as many as 25,000 vicitims each year. The problem is exacerbated by government imposed restrictions on movement within the country, which allows for exploitation of illegal migrants in cities, as well as by the imbalance of male-female population, which motivates trafficking of women as brides.

Currency: Yuan (CNY) - about 8 to the dollar

Media: China ranks 159th out of 167 on the Reporters without Borders press freedom index. Almost 10% of the population are internet users, though the government censorship of websites recently prompted Google to develop a special pre-censored version of its search engine for the country.

Posted: 2007