China | Facts & Information

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

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Facts & Figures

  • Official name: People's Republic of China (Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó)

    Land area: 3,600,927 sq mi (9,326,411 sq km) [Source]

    Total area: 3,705,407 sq mi (9,596,960 sq km)1 [Source]

    President: Xi Jinping (2013) [Source]

    Vice President: Wang Qishan (2018) [Source]

    Premier: Li Keqiang (2013) [Source]

    Executive Vice Premiers: Han Zheng (2018), Sun Chunlan (2018), Liu He (2018), Hu Chunhua (2018) [Source]

    Current government officials

    Capital: Beijing, 21,333,332 [Source]

    Other large cities: Shanghai 26.32 million; Guangzhou 15.31 million; Shenzhen 12.59 million; Chongqing 31.02 million; Wuhan 11.08 million (2022)

    Currency: Yuan/Renminbi

    National Holiday: Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, October 1.

     

    Population: 1,410,539,758 (July 2022 est.) [Source]

    Population Change: Growth rate: 0.19% ; 9.93 births/1,000 population, 7.9 deaths/1,000 population, -0.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population; infant mortality rate: 6.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2022 est.) Source]

    Life Expectancy: 77.72 years

    Nationality/Demonym: Chinese (Zhōngguórén)

    Languages: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (official; Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry)

    Note: Zhuang is official in Guangxi Zhuang, Yue is official in Guangdong, Mongolian is official in Nei Mongol, Uighur is official in Xinjiang Uygur, Kyrgyz is official in Xinjiang Uyghur, and Tibetan is official in Xizang (Tibet)

    Ethnicity/race: Han Chinese 91.6%, Zhuang 1.3%, other (includes Hui, Manchu, Uighur, Miao, Yi, Tujia, Tibetan, Mongol, Dong, Buyei, Yao, Bai, Korean, Hani, Li, Kazakh, Dai and other nationalities) 7.1% note: the Chinese government officially recognizes 56 ethnic groups (2010 est.)

    Religions: Buddhist 18.2%, Christian 5.1%, Muslim 1.8%, folk religion 21.9%, Hindu < 0.1%, Jewish < 0.1%, other 0.7% (includes Daoist (Taoist)), unaffiliated 52.2% (2010 est.)

    Note: A majority of Chinese people are non-practicing or are not members of any religion, largely as a result of suppression of religion in the mid-twentieth century. The country is officially atheist. China recognizes the legal practice of five religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam, and Protestantism. All of these religions have long histories in China. Not included are the various folk religions and local beliefs around the country, which are usually tolerated.

    Literacy rate: 96.84 (2018 est.)

    Major sources and definitions

    Provinces and Regions of China

    Hong Kong

    Macao