ies: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km,
Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416
km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,673 km,
Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia
(northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km

Coastline: 14,500 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone : 24 nm
continental shelf: claim to shallow areas of East China Sea and Yellow
Sea
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north

Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains,
deltas, and hills in east

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,848 m

Natural resources: coal, iron ore, petroleum, mercury, tin, tungsten,
antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead,
zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)

Land use:
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 43%
forests and woodland: 14%
other : 33% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 498,720 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern
and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts

Environment - current issues: air pollution from the overwhelming use
of high-sulfur coal as a fuel, produces acid rain which is damaging
forests; water shortages experienced throughout the country,
particularly in urban areas; future growth in water usage threatens to
outpace supplies; water pollution from industrial effluents; much of
the population does not have access to potable water; less than 10% of
sewage receives treatment; 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:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes,
Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94,
Wetlands
signed, but not ratified : Desertification

Geography - note: world's fourth-largest country (after Russia,
Canada, and US)

@China:People

Population: 1,221,591,778 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years : 26% (male 166,319,939; female 150,125,798)
15-64 years: 68% (male 427,340