China
By Sydney Billington
Capital of China~Beijing
Government Form~Peoples democratic dictatorship
Official Language~ Chinese
Population~1,367,485,388
Relative Location
China is bordered by the Yellow Sea, South China Sea, Pacific Ocean and northeast of India.
Flag
Red is the color of the communist revolution. The large yellow star represents the Chinese Communist Party. The smaller stars stand for the Chinese people: workers, business people, and farmers.
Brief History
For thousands of years, powerful families took over China. Each family dynasty left its mark on Chinese history. Many dynasties signaled in times of peace, where arts and sciences flourished. In between, China was struggling through times of war. The first of these dynasties was the Shang, known for the earliest Chinese writings and as the beginning of China’s Bronze Age. Confucius lived during the Zhou Dynasty and taught others how to live together in peace and harmony. His ideas later spread through Asia. The Qin Dynasty united all of China for the first time under one emperor.
Physical features
Hills, Man-made streams, mountains,and Plateaus
Wildlife
- "The giant panda is native to China, where it is an endangered and protected species. "
- "The red panda is a mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China."
- "The tiger is the largest cat species, most recognizable for their pattern of dark vertical stripes on a orange coat of fur"
- "The orangutans are the two exclusively Asian species of extant great apes."
- "Snub-nosed monkeys are a group of Old World monkeys."
- "The snow leopard is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia."
What is Unique About China
China along with India, Egypt and Mesopotamia is an ancient civilization aged more than 5,000 years. The Chinese culture features an abundance of the material and spiritual values, unchanged over millennia. In spite of the influence from outside and numerous invasions, the Chinese culture preserved its individuality and unique identity. Many of the achievements of the man-kind date back to the Chinese civilization. China became a birth-place of gun powder and paper. It is here where the Great Silk Road sprang from, becoming a sui generis linking bridge between the East and the West. Starting from Sian, the former capital of ancient China, the Great Silk Road ended at the Mediterranean seashore.
China's Issues
The rise of the middles classes in China is phenomenal, and it has grown hand in hand with China’s economic development. Current estimates range from 100 million to 250 million, with forecasts predicting 700 million middle class people by the year 2020.The uneven distribution of social wealth has created major social and economic issues for the government and will influence the path of China’s development in the future. In addition, the growth of the number of people on low salaries is frustrating the government’s efforts to stimulate domestic demand and reduce the economy’s dependence on investment and trade.
3 Fun Facts
- "China is the world's most populous country, with over 1.38 billion people, and the second-largest country by land area."
- "China uses 45 billion chopsticks per year."
- "The World's First Paper Money was created in China 1,400 years ago."