China, officially known as the People's Republic of China, is situated in East Asia and is a sovereign state. With a population of over 1.35 billion, it is currently the world's most populous country. Governed by the Communist Party, China is a single-party state with its seat of power located in the capital city of Beijing. The country exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). However, its claim over Taiwan, which is governed by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity, is a controversial topic due to the complex political status of Taiwan.
China is the world's second-largest country by land area, covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometers. Its landscape is vast and diverse, including forest steppes and deserts such as the Gobi and Taklamakan in the arid north, and subtropical forests in the wetter south. The Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir, and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from South and Central Asia. The country's eastern seaboard is densely populated and is home to the third- and sixth-longest rivers in the world, the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, respectively. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers (9,000 miles) long and is bordered by the Bohai, Yellow, East, and South China Seas.
The ancient Chinese civilization, one of the world's earliest, thrived in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For thousands of years, China's political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, starting with the semi-mythical Xia of the Yellow River basin (c. 2000 BCE). Since the Qin Dynasty first conquered several states to form a Chinese empire in 221 BCE, the country has undergone numerous expansions, fractures, and reforms. The Republic of China (ROC) overthrew the last dynasty in 1911 and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949. After World War II, the Communist Party defeated the nationalist Kuomintang in mainland China and established the People's Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, while the Kuomintang relocated the ROC government to its current capital of Taipei.
Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978, China has emerged as one of the world's fastest-growing major economies. As of 2013, it is the world's second-largest economy by both nominal total GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP), and is also the world's largest exporter and importer of goods. China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing army, with the second-largest defense budget. The PRC has been a United Nations member since 1971, replacing the ROC as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
