China is the oldest continuous major world civilization, with records dating back over 3,500 years. It is huge in size, 3.7 million square miles in area (USA=3.6) and occupies about the same latitudes as the USA. One significant difference is that 80% of their land mass is uninhabitable mountains and desert. This with only 7% of the earth's cultivated land they must feed 22% of the earth's population.
The largest racial and ethnic group in China is generally referred to as the Han Chinese, the indigenous group that made its home in the valley of the Yellow River and is credited with being the founders of the Chinese civilization. China has some 55 recognized minorities, almost half of them being located in the southwest in Yunnan province.
There are several major Chinese dialects and many sub-dialects. The Beijing dialect, often called Mandarin (of Putonghua), is taught in all schools and is the medium of government. Almost two-thirds of Han Chinese are native speakers of Mandarin; the rest, concentrated in southwest and southeast China, speak one of the other major Chinese dialects.
For many years China was the largest, and in many ways, the most advanced civilization on earth. Some of the things the world owes to the genius of China are: paper, silk, the printing press, mariner's compass, paper money, porcelain, umbrellas, fans, fingerprinting, watertight compartments in ships, gunpowder, rockets, automatic lock drive on astronomical telescopes, the mechanical clock (invented by two scholars in 725 AD), sugar, cooking stoves, the washboard, and the magnetic needle. The first printed map was produced in China in 1115 AD, showing the western regions of the country. Mathematics was in pratice early with the abacus around the 2nd century. Which by the way, is still much in use and can nearly keep up with the calculator in the hands of competent users.
"Introduction to China" compiled by Nelda Harle
