People's Republic of China

China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a sovereign state in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of over 1.35 billion. China covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometersis and is world's second-largest country by land area (after Russia). It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau); while claiming sovereignty over Taiwan. The PRC is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party, with its seat of government in the capital city of Beijing.

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Geopolitical profile

Geopolitical position:

Position on the geopolitical map:

Сhina is Rimland country, but historically focused on Continental geopolitics. Now main dilemma of China is balance between rich coastal zone and poor Interland territories.

Geopolitical balance:

70% - Eurasianist, 30% Atlanticist.

Main geopolitical allies:

Russia, Brazil, Iran, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Sudan, Venezuela, North Korea.

Opponents:

USA, Japan

Neutrality:

Turkey, Continental Europe (changing balance), Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand

Sphere of national interest.:

East and Central Asia, Africa, Middle East, Pacific region

International disputes:

Cyber issues (China claimed by USA for hacker attacks).

Territorial disputes:

Spartly Islands in South-China Sea with Malaysia, Philippiones, Brunei and Vietnam
Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands in East China Sea with Japan
Taiwan Island
Disputed border with India
Undefined border with Bhutan.

Ethnosociology:

Ethnical structure:

There are as many as 292 living languages in China. The languages most commonly spoken belong to the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which contains Mandarin (spoken natively by 70% of the population), and other Chinese varieties: Wu (including Shanghainese), Yue (including Cantonese and Taishanese), Min (including Hokkien and Teochew), Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Languages of the Tibeto-Burman branch, including Tibetan, Qiang, Naxi and Yi, are spoken are spoken across the Tibetan and Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau. Other ethnic minority languages in southwest China include Zhuang, Thai, Dong and Sui of the Tai-Kadai family, Miao and Yao of the Hmong–Mien family, and Wa of the Austroasiatic family. Across northeastern and northwestern China, minority ethnic groups speak Altaic languages including Manchu, Mongolian and several Turkic languages: Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Salar and Western Yugur. Korean is spoken natively along the border with North Korea. Sarikoli, the language of Tajiks in western Xinjiang, is an Indo-European language. Taiwanese aborigines, including a small population on the mainland, speak Austronesian languages.

Ethnical identity:

China officially recognizes 56 distinct ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Han Chinese, who constitute about 91.51% of the total population. The Han Chinese – the world's largest single ethnic group. Ethnic minorities account for about 8.49% of the population of China, according to the 2010 census.

Ethnic map:

Political Ideology:

Political schema :

The country is ruled by the Communist Party of China (CPC), whose power is enshrined in China's constitution. The Chinese electoral system is hierarchical, whereby local People's Congresses are directly elected, and all higher levels of People's Congresses up to the National People's Congress (NPC) are indirectly elected by the People's Congress of the level immediately below.

CPC has more than 80 million members.

There are small institutional parties:

- Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang;

- China Democratic League;

- China Democratic National Construction Association;

- China Association for Promoting Democracy;

- Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party;

- Zhigongdang of China;

- Jiusan Society;

- Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League.

Geostrategy:

Geostrategy description:

China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing army, with the second-largest defence budget (after USA).

Transnational organizations:

Transnational description:

China is member of UN, WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the BCIM and the G-20.

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People's Republic of China

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