nguages:

Standard Chinese or Mandarin (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)

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90.9%
male: 95.1%
female: 86.5% (2000 census)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 11 years
male: 11 years
female: 11 years (2006)

Education expenditures:

1.9% of GDP (1999)

Government
China

Country name:

conventional long form: People's Republic of China
conventional short form: China
local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo
local short form: Zhongguo
abbreviation: PRC

Government type:

Communist state

Capital:

name: Beijing
geographic coordinates: 39 55 N, 116 23 E
time difference: UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
note: despite its size, all of China falls within one time zone

Administrative divisions:

23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions
(zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities (shi, singular
and plural)
provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei,
Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin,
Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan,
Zhejiang; (see note on Taiwan)
autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang Uygur,
Xizang (Tibet)
municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin
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); 1 January 1912
(Manchu Dynasty replaced by a Republic); 1 October 1949 (People's
Republic established)

National holiday:

Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1
October (1949)

Constitution:

most recent promulgation 4 December 1982

Legal system:

based on civil law system; derived from Soviet and continental civil
code legal principles; legislature retains power to interpret
statutes; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislation;
has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003); Vice
President XI Jinping (since 15 March 2008