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| National
People's Congress (NPC) |
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| In
East Asia, by the west Pacific Ocean. |
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| 9.6
million square km, second to Russia and Canada. |
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| 8,940.4
billion yuan (at the end of 2000) |
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High in its west and low in its east: mountain areas 33.3%, plateaus 26%,
basins 18.8%, plains 12% and hills 9.9%. |
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the 5,400 islands, Taiwan Island (about 36,000 square km) is the largest, Hainan Island
(about 34,000 square km) the second. |
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Himalayas |
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Among the 19 mountains over 7,000 meters high in the world, seven are in
China. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as "the roof of the world", has many
high mountains. The Himalayas, with an average elevation of 6,000 meters, have the world's
highest peak Mount Qomolangma, 8,848 meters above sea level. |
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Yangtze River |
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The Yangtze River, 6,300 km long, the third longest in the world after the
Nile and the Amazon. The Yellow River, the second longest in China, stretching 5,464 km. |
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canyon on the Yalu Tsangpo River, the world's largest, 504.6 km in length and 6,009 meters
in depth. |
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Grand Canal |
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The Grand Canal, 1,801 km long, the longest man-made river in the world. Its cutting began
in the fifth century BC. |
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Poyang Lake |
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The Poyang Lake on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is China's
largest freshwater lake; the Qinghai Lake on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the country's
largest salt lake. |
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| Most
of the country in the temperate zone, although geographically the country stretches from
the tropical and subtropical zones in the south to the frigid zone in the north. |
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Giant Panda |
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China has a great variety of wildlife, over 4,400 vertebrates, more than 100
rare species of the world: the giant panda, the golden monkey, the white-lipped deer, the
South China Tiger, Crossoplilon mantchuricum, the white-flag dolphin, the Chinese
alligator, and the crowned crane. |
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| China has a great variety of plants, 32,000 species of higher plants,
including nearly all the major kinds of vegetation found in the frigid and temperate zones
of the northern hemisphere. |
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| Peony,
azalea, primrose and felwort. |
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| China
carried out its fifth national population census on November 1, 2000. It has a population
of 1,295.33 million. Of which: the total population of the 31 provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities (excluding Jinmen and Mazu islands of Fujian Province
hereafter) and of servicemen on the mainland of China was 1,265.83 million; the population
of Hong Kong SAR was 6.78 million; the population of Macao SAR was 440 thousand; the
population of Taiwan Province and of Jinmen, Mazu and a few other islands of Fujian
Province was 22.28 million. |
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| Compared
with the population of 1,133.68 million from the 1990 population census (with zero hour of
July 1, 1990 as the reference time), the total population of the 31 provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities and the servicemen of the mainland of China increased by 132.15
million persons, or 11.66 percent over the past 10 years and 4 months. The average annual
growth was 12.79 million persons, or a growth rate of 1.07 percent. |
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| 71
years old by the end of 2000. |
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males: 51.63%, the females: 48.37%; people aged below 14: 22.89%; people aged 15-64:
70.15%; people aged above 65: 6.96%; urban population: 36.09%; rural population: 63.91%. |
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| China
has 56 ethnic groups. Of the people enumerated in the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and
municipalities and servicemen of the mainland of China, 1,159.40 million persons or 91.59
percent were of Han nationality, and 106.43 million persons or 8.41 percent were of
various national minorities. |
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| Of
the 56 ethnic groups in China, the Hui and Manchu use the same languages as Han people,
while the rest of groups have their own spoken and written languages. |
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| New
Year's Day (January 1), the Spring Festival (the New Year's Day by Chinese lunar
calendar), International Labor Day (May 1), and the National Day (October 1). |
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