The People's Republic of China (PRC), commonly known as China, is the most populous state in the world with over 1.3 billion people. Located in East Asia, China is governed by the Communist Party of China (CPC) under a single-party system. The PRC exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly administered municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two highly autonomous special administrative regions (SARs) - Hong Kong and Macau. Its capital city is Beijing.

At about 9.6 million square kilometres (3.7 million square miles), the PRC is the world's third- or fourth-largest country by total area (depending on the definition of what is included in that total) and the second largest by land area. Its landscape is diverse, with forest steppes and deserts (the Gobi and Taklamakan) in the dry north near Mongolia and Russia's Siberia, and subtropical forests in the wet south close to Vietnam, Laos, and Burma. The terrain in the west is rugged and at high altitude, with the Himalayas and the Tian Shan mountain ranges forming China's natural borders with India and Central Asia. In contrast, mainland China's eastern seaboard is low-lying and has a 14,500-kilometre long coastline bounded on the southeast by the South China Sea and on the east by the East China Sea beyond which lies Taiwan, Korea, and Japan.

The ancient Chinese civilization—one of the world's earliest—flourished in the fertile basin of the Yellow River which flows through the North China Plain. For more than 6,000 years, China's political system was based on hereditary monarchies (also known as dynasties). The first of these dynasties was the Xia (approx 2000BC) but it was the later Qin Dynasty that first unified China in 221 BC. The last dynasty, the Qing, ended in 1911 with the founding of the Republic of China (ROC) by the Kuomintang (KMT), the Chinese Nationalist Party. The first half of the 20th century saw China plunged into a period of disunity and civil wars that divided the country into two main political camps – the Kuomintang and the communists. Major hostilities ended in 1949, when the communists won the civil war and established the People's Republic of China in mainland China. The KMT-led Republic of China relocated their capital to Taipei on Taiwan, its jurisdiction is now limited to Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu and several outlying islands. Since then, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has been involved in political disputes with the Republic of China over issues of sovereignty and the political status of Taiwan.

Since the introduction of market-based economic reforms in 1978, China has become the world's fastest growing major economy, the world's largest exporter and second largest importer of goods. China is the world's second largest economy by both nominal GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP) and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It is also a member of multilateral organizations including the WTO, APEC, BRIC, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and G-20. China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing army with the second-largest defense budget. China has been characterized as a potential superpower by a number of academics, military analysts, and public policy and economics analysts.

People's Republic of China Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó
Flag Emblem
Anthem: “March of the Volunteers” 《义勇军进行曲》
PRC-administered areas in dark green; PRC territorial claims in light green
Capital		Beijing 39°55′N 116°23′E / 39.917°N 116.383°E / 39.917; 116.383
Largest city		Shanghai
Official language(s)		Standard Mandarin
Recognised regional languages		See Languages of China
Official scripts		Simplified Chinese
Ethnic groups		92% Han; 55 recognised minorities List of ethnic groups 91.6% Han 1.30% Zhuang 0.86% Manchu 0.79% Uyghur 0.79% Hui 0.72% Miao 0.65% Yi 0.62% Tujia 0.47% Mongol 0.44% Tibetan 0.26% Buyei 0.15% Korean 1.05% other
Demonym		Chinese
Government		People's republic, Communist state,
-	CPC Gen-secy & President	Hu Jintao
-	Premier	Wen Jiabao
-	NPCSC Chairman	Wu Bangguo
-	CPPCC Chairman	Jia Qinglin
Legislature		National People's Congress
Establishment
-	People's Republic of China proclaimed.	1 October 1949
Area
-	Total	9,640,821 km2 [c] or 9,671,018 km2[c](3rd/4th) 3,704,427 sq mi
-	Water (%)	2.8[d]
Population
-	2010 estimate	1,338,612,968 (1st)
-	2000 census	1,242,612,226
-	Density	139.6/km2 (53rd) 363.3/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2010 estimate
-	Total	$9.712 trillion (2nd)
-	Per capita	$7,240 (99th)
GDP (nominal)		2010 estimate
-	Total	$5.365 trillion (2nd)
-	Per capita	$3,999 (98th)
Gini (2007)		47.0
HDI (2007)		▲ 0.772 (medium) (92nd)
Currency		Chinese yuan (renminbi) (¥) (CNY)
Time zone		China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Date formats		yyyy-mm-dd or yyyy年m月d日 (CE; CE-1949)
Drives on the		right, except for Hong Kong & Macau
Internet TLD		.cn[d] .中國[10] .中国
Calling code		+86[d]

Tourism in China has greatly expanded over the last few decades since the beginning of reform and opening. The emergence of a newly rich middle class and an easing of restrictions on movement by the Chinese authorities are both fueling this travel boom. China has become one of the world's most-watched and hottest outbound tourist markets. The world is on the cusp of a sustained Chinese outbound tourism boom.

China is the world's fourth largest country for inbound tourism. The number of overseas tourists was 55 million in 2007. Foreign exchange income was 41.9 billion U.S. dollars, the world's fifth largest in 2007. The number of domestic tourist visits totaled 1.61 billion, with a total income of 777.1 billion yuan.

According to the WTO, in 2020, China will become the largest tourist country and the fourth largest for overseas travel. In terms of total outbound travel spending, China is currently ranked fifth and is expected to be the fastest growing in the world from 2006 to 2015, jumping into the number two slot for total travel spending by 2015.

Between 1949 and 1974, the People's Republic was closed to all but selected foreign visitors. Beginning in the late 1970s, when Deng Xiaoping decided to promote tourism vigorously as a means of earning foreign exchange, China started to develop its tourist industry. Major hotel construction programs greatly increased the number of hotels and guest houses, more historic and scenic spots were renovated and opened to tourists, and professional guides and other service personnel were trained.

The expansion of domestic and international airline traffic and other tourist transportation facilities made travel more convenient. Over 250 cities and counties were opened to foreign visitors by the mid-1980s. Travelers needed only valid visas or residence permits to visit 100 locations; the remaining locales required travel permits from public security departments. In 1985 approximately 1.4 million foreigners visited China, and nearly US$1.3 billion was earned from tourism.

China tourism