Official Name: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo (People's Republic of China)

Area: Asia

Size: 9,596,960 km²

Coastline: 14,500 km

Independence: People's Republic declared October 1, 1949

Form of Govt.: Single-party people's republic

Head of Govt.: Premier

Capital: Bejing

Largest City: Shanghai

Demographics (2005): 1,317,000,000.  140 /km²

Han, 91.9%

GDP per Capita (2005): $7,600

Languages: Mandarin Chinese

Geography: According to a Chinese geographic classification scheme, the country may be divided into seven large natural regions: Northeast China, North China, Subtropical East Central China, Tropical South China, Inner Mongolian Grassland, Northwest China, and the Tibetan Plateau. The lovely Panda can be found in Southwest China (Gansu, Shaanxi, and Sichuan Provinces) to the east of the Tibetan plateau.

Climate: China has a varied climate that can be divided into seven climatic zones. Rainfall is vast while strong winds in winter and spring make the temperatures even colder. Average temperature ranges in Shanghai are from 1 to 8 degrees in January to 23 to 32 degrees in July or August.