Formal name: People’s Republic of China, (Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo)Capital: Beijing
Chief of the state: President XI Jinping (since 14 March 2013); Vice President HAN Zheng (since 10 March 2023)
Head of government: Premier LI Qiang (since 11 March 2023)
Population: 1,413,142,846 (2023 est.)
Ethnic groups: Han Chinese 91.1%, ethnic minorities 8.9% (includes Zhang, Hui, Manchu, Uighur, Miao, Yi, Tujia, Tibetan, Mongol, Dong, Buyei, Yao, Bai, Korean, Hani, Li, Kazakh, Dai, and other nationalities) (2021 est.)
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, Uyghur is official in Xinjiang Uygur, Kyrgyz is official in Xinjiang Uyghur, and Tibetan is official in Xizang (Tibet)
Religions: folk religion 21.9%, Buddhist 18.2%, Christian 5.1%, Muslim 1.8%, Hindu
note: officially atheist
Area: 9,596,960 sq km, fourth largest country after Russia, Canada, and US.
Border countries: Afghanistan 91 km, Bhutan 477 km, Burma 2129 km, India 2659 km, Kazakhstan 1765 km, North Korea 1352 km, Kyrgyzstan 1063 km, Laos 475 km, Mongolia 4630 km, Nepal 1389 km, Pakistan 438 km, Russia (northeast) 4133 km, Russia (northwest) 46 km, Tajikistan 477 km, Vietnam 1297 km
Regional borders: Hong Kong 30 km, Macau 0.34 km
Sea borders: East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam
Climate: From tropical in south to subarctic in north
Terrain: Mostly mountains, high plateaus and deserts in west; plains, deltas and hills in east
Lowest elevation: Turpan Pendi -154 m in Xinjiang Province, NW China
Highest elevation: Mount Everest 8,850 m at the border to Qinghai Province
Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (sheng) incl. Taiwan, 5 autonomous regions (zizhiqu) and 4 municipalities (shi)
Provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang . OBS. China considers Taiwan its 23rd province
Autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Xizang (Tibet)
Municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin
Information retrieved from CIA World Factbook.