Background Information
P.R.China Background Information
National name: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo
National flag
National flag: Red flag with five stars.
On September 27, 1949, the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) approved the proposal for using the red five-star flag as the national flag of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The red color of the flag symbolizes revolution and the yellow color of the stars the golden brilliant rays radiating from the vast red land. The design of four smaller stars surrounding a bigger one signifies the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
National emblem
National emblem: Tiananmen Gatetower under five stars, encircled by ears of grain and with a gear wheel below.On June 18, 1950, the Second Session of the First CPPCC National Committee adopted the design and illustration of the national emblem of the PRC. On September 27 that year, Chairman Mao Zedong ordered the promulgation of the national emblem. Composed of patterns of the national flag, the Tian'anmen Rostrum, a wheel gear and ears of wheat, it symbolizes the New-Democratic Revolution of the Chinese people since the May 4th Movement (1919) and the birth of New China under the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class on the basis of the worker-peasant alliance.
President: Hu Jintao (2003)
Prime Minister: Wen Jiabao (2003)
Current government officials
Land area: 3,600,927 sq mi (9,326,411 sq km); total area: 3,705,407 sq mi (9,596,960 sq km)1
Population (2008 est.): 1,330,044,605 (growth rate: 0.6%); birth rate: 13.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 21.1.1/1000; life expectancy: 73.1; density per sq mi: 142
Capital (2003 est.): Beijing, 10,849,000 (metro. area), 8,689,000 (city proper)
Largest cities: Shanghai, 12,665,000 (metro. area), 10,996,500 (city proper); Tianjin (Tientsin), 9,346,000 (metro. area), 4,333,900 (city proper); Wuhan, 3,959,700; Shenyang (Mukden), 3,574,100; Guangzhou, 3,473,800; Haerbin, 2,904,900; Xian, 2,642,100; Chungking (Chongquing) 2,370,100; Chengdu, 2,011,000; Hong Kong (Xianggang), 1,361,200
Monetary unit: Yuan/Renminbi
Languages: Standard Chinese (Mandarin/Putonghua), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages
Ethnicity/race: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%
National Holiday: Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, October 1
Religions: Officially atheist; Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%–4%, Muslim 1%–2% (2002 est.)
Literacy rate: 90.9% (2006 est.)
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 350.43 million (2005); mobile cellular: 437.48 million (2006). Radio broadcast stations: AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997). Internet hosts: 232,780 (2006). Internet users: 123 million (2006).
Transportation: Railways: total: 71,898 (2002). Highways: total: 1,870,661 km; paved: 1,515,797 km (with at least 34,288 km of expressways) ; unpaved: 354,864 km (2004). Waterways: 123,964 km (2003). Ports and harbors: Dalian, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai. Airports: 486 (2006 est.).