Country (long form)
People's Republic of China 	

Capital
Beijing 	

Total Area
3,705,406.97 sq mi
9,596,960.00 sq km
(slightly smaller than the US) 	

Population
1,261,832,482 (July 2000 est.) 	

Estimated Population in 2050
1,470,468,924 	

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 	

Literacy
81.5% total, 89.9% male, 72.7% female (1995 est.) 	

Religions
Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 2%-3%, Christian 1% (est.) note: officially atheist 	

Life Expectancy
69.6 male, 73.33 female (2000 est.) 	

Government Type
Communist state 	

Currency
1 yuan = 10 jiao 	

GDP (per capita)
$3,800 (1999 est.) 	

Labor Force (by occupation)
agriculture 50%, industry 24%, services 26% (1998) 	

Industry
iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications 	

Agriculture
rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish 	

Arable Land
10% 	

Exports
machinery and equipment; textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods; mineral fuels, chemicals 	

Imports
machinery and equipment, plastics, chemicals, iron and steel, mineral fuels 	

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

Current Environmental Issues
air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal, produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species 	

Telephones (main lines in use)
110 million (1999 est.) 	

Telephones (mobile cellular)
23.4 million (1998) 	

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
3 (1999) 	

(U.S. Government sources)