has drawn in military forces from neighboring states,
with Uganda and Rwanda supporting the rebel movements that occupy much
of the eastern portion of the state; Tutsi, Hutu, and other conflicting
ethnic groups, political rebels, and various government forces continue
fighting in Great Lakes region, transcending the boundaries of Burundi,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda; most of the Congo
River boundary with the Republic of the Congo is indefinite (no agreement
has been reached on the division of the river or its islands, except in
the Pool Malebo/Stanley Pool area)

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis, mostly for domestic
consumption

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

========================================================================

China

Introduction

China

Background: For centuries China stood as a leading civilization,
outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the
19th and early 20th centuries, China was beset by civil unrest, major
famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II,
the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship that, while
ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday
life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his
successor DENG Xiaoping gradually introduced market-oriented reforms
and decentralized economic decision making, and output quadrupled by
2000. Political controls remain tight even while economic controls
continue to be relaxed.

Geography China

Location: Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow
Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam

Geographic coordinates: 35 00 N, 105 00 E

Map references: Asia

Area: total: 9,596,960 sq km land: 9,326,410 sq km water: 270,550 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than the US

Land boundaries: total: 22,147.34 km border countries: Afghanistan
76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km,
Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423
km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,677 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: 200 NM continental shelf: Climate: extremely diverse;
tropical in south to subarctic in north

Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, d