le

total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 28.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 71.62 years

male: 69.81 years

female: 73.59 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.82 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.07% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 500,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 17,000 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Chinese (singular and plural)

adjective: Chinese

Ethnic groups: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan,
Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%

Religions: Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 2%-3%, Christian 1%
(est.)

note: officially atheist

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

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 81.5%

male: 89.9%

female: 72.7% (1995 est.)

China Government

Country name: conventional long form: People's Republic of China

conventional short form: China

local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo

local short form: Zhong Guo

abbreviation: PRC

Government type: Communist state

Capital: Beijing

Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural),
5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4
municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**,
Chongqing**, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan,
Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin,
Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong,
Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**, Xinjiang*, Xizang* (Tibet),
Yunnan, Zhejiang; note - China considers Taiwan its 23rd province;
see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong
Kong and Macau

Independence: 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty 221
BC; Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February
1912; People's Republic established 1 October 1949)

National holiday: Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1
October (1949)

Constitution: most recent promulgation 4 December 1982

Legal system: a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely
criminal law; rudimentary civil code