| Geography | China |  = Fields  = World Records  = Dictionary  = Bar graph  = Distribution map  = Fields History  = Definitions |
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Location:
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Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam |
Geographic coordinates:
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35 00 N, 105 00 E |
Map references:
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Asia |
Area:
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total: 9,596,961 sq km
land: 9,569,901 sq km
water: 27,060 sq km |
Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than the US |
Land boundaries:
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total: 22,117 km
border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Mongolia 4,677 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km
regional borders: Hong Kong 30 km, Macau 0.34 km |
Coastline:
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14,500 km |
Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
Climate:
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extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north |
Terrain:
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mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east |
Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m |
Natural resources:
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coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, rare earth elements, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest) |
Land use:
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arable land: 14.86%
permanent crops: 1.27%
other: 83.87% (2005) |
Irrigated land:
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641,410 sq km (2008) |
Total renewable water resources:
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2,829.6 cu km (1999) |
Total renewable water resources - per capita:
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2,117 cubic meters per capita |
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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total: 549.76 cu km/yr (7%/26%/68%)
per capita: 415 cu m/yr (2000) |
Natural hazards:
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frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence
volcanism: China contains some historically active volcanoes including Changbaishan (also known as Baitoushan, Baegdu, or P'aektu-san), Hainan Dao, and Kunlun although most have been relatively inactive in recent centuries |
Environment - current issues:
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air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species |
Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Geography - note:
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world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak |
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This page was last updated on 3 February, 2012 |
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