China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia
and the world's most populous country, with a population of around 1.404 billion. Covering
approximately 9,600,000 square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third- or fourth-largest
country by total area, depending on the source consulted. China also has the most neighbor
countries in the world. Governed by the Communist Party of China, it exercises jurisdiction over
22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin,
Shanghai and Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
China emerged as one of the world's earliest civilizations, in the fertile basin of the Yellow
River in the North China Plain. For millennia, China's political system was based on hereditary
monarchies, or dynasties, beginning with the semi-legendary Xia dynasty in 21st century BCE.
Since then, China has expanded, fractured, and re-unified numerous times. In the 3rd century BCE,
the Qin unified core China and established the first Chinese dynasty.
The succeeding Han dynasty saw some of the most advanced technology at that time, including
papermaking and the compass, along with agricultural and medical improvements. The invention
of gunpowder and printing in the Tang dynasty completed the Four Great Inventions. Tang culture
spread widely in Asia, as the new maritime Silk Route brought traders to as far as Mesopotamia
and Somalia. Dynastic rule ended in 1912 with the Xinhai Revolution, as a republic replaced the
Qing dynasty. The Chinese Civil War led to the break up of the country in 1949, with the victorious
Communist Party of China founding the People's Republic of China on the mainland while the losing
Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, a dispute which is still unresolved.
Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978, China's economy has been one of the world's
fastest-growing. As of 2016, it is the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP and largest
by purchasing power parity (PPP).China is also the world's largest exporter and second-largest
importer of goods. China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing
army and second-largest defense budget. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced
the ROC as a permanent member of the UN Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of
numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS,
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO), the BCIM and the G20. China is a great power
and a major regional power within Asia, and has been characterized as a potential superpower.