people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.25 million (January 2001)

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 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%
note: officially atheist (2002 est.)

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.)

Government China

Country name: conventional long form: People's Republic of China
conventional short
PRC local long form:
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: Anniversary of the 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 in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal
codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being made
to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President JIANG Zemin (since 27 March
1993) and Vice President HU Jintao (since 16 March 1998) elections:
president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress
for five-y