Physical Geography Of China Essay, Research Paper

Geography:

China is the third largest country in the world, which is slightly larger in area than the Uni Chain is located in Central and East Asia. China is bounded by Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan to the north, North Korea, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea to the east, the South China Sea, the Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, India, Bhutan and Nepal to the south as well as India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to the west. Over 66% of China is upland hill, mountains and plateaux while

the highest mountains and plateaux are found to the west. To the north and east of the Tibetan Plateau the land decreases to the desert or semidesert areas of Sinkiang and Inner Mongolia. To the northeast the broad fertile Manchurian Plains are separated from North Korea by the densely forested uplands of Changpai Shan. East of the Tibetan Plateau and south of Inner Mongolia is the Sichuan Basin which is drained by the Yangtze River that flows east across the southern plains to the East China Sea.

Area: 3,691,521 sq. mi. (9,596,960 sq. km)1

Population: over 12 billion

CLIMATE: China has a varied climate that can be divided into seven climatic zones. (1.) North East China which has cold winters that are influenced by strong northerly continental winds while summers are warm and humid with unreliable rainfall. (2.) Central China which has warm humid summers with the coastal regions occasionally subject to cyclones and typhoons. (3.) South China where summers are hot and humid with heavy rainfalls between April to September. (4.) South West China which is mountainous with the summer temperatures moderated by altitude, while the wet winters are mild with little rain. (5.) The Tibetan region which is a high plateau where winters are severe with frequent light snow and frost, while summers are warm during the day but drop to extremes at night. Rainfall is also heaviest in summer. (6.) The western interior zone which has an arid desert climate with cold winters and rainfall is distributed evenly throughout the year. (7.) Inner Mongolia which comprises the mountain ranges and semi-desert lowlands has an extreme continental climate with cold winters and warm summers. Rainfall is vast while strong winds in winter and spring make the temperatures even colder

Government system

Communist party. included 46-million-member, which is the largest government party of the world. Political processes guided by party Constitution and state Constitution constitutions stress principle of democratic centralism under which representative organs of both party and state are elected by lower bodies and they in turn to elect their administrative arms at corresponding levels. Within representative and executive bodies minority must abide by decisions of majority; lower bodies obey orders of higher level organs. In theory, National Party Congress highest organ of power of party, but real power lies in Political Bureau of CCP Central Committee and, still more, in select Standing Committee of Political Bureau. National People’s Congress is highest government organ of state power; approves CCP policies and programs. Reforms implemented in early 1980s allowed more serious review and deliberations concerning government programs in National People’s Congress. State Council serves as equivalent of cabinet; key members also hold positions in important party organs

PEOPLE: The principal ethnic majority are the Han Chinese who account for 92% of the population. The remaining 8% include Chuang, Hui, Uigur, Yi, Miao, Mangchu, Tibetans, Mongols, Ruyi and Koreans. Also other numerous lesser nationalities account for 67 Million, of which there are 55 ethnic groups.

Languages: Chinese, Mandarin, and many other local dialects.

RELIGIONS: the most important religious beliefs include Confucianism which accounts for 20% of the population while Taoism accounts for 2%, Buddhism for 6% with around 2% of the population Muslim and 1% Christian.

HOlidays

Literacy rate: 84% (1995)

Currency: yuan

Economic summary

: GDP/PPP (1998 est.): $4.42 trillion; $3,600 per capita. Real growth rate: 8.2%.this year Inflation: 0.8%. Unemployment: officially 3% in urban areas; probably 8% 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas. Arable land: 10%. Agriculture: rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed, pork, fish. Labor force: 696 million: agriculture, 50%; industry, 24%; services, 26% (1997). Industries: iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, autos, consumer electronics, telecommunications. Exports: $183.8 billion (f.o.b., 1998): electrical machinery and equipment, machinery and mechanical appliances, woven apparel, knit apparel, footwear, toys and sporting goods. Imports: $140.17 billion (c.i.f., 1998): electrical machinery and equipment, machinery and mechanical appliances, plastics, iron and steel, scientific and photograph equipment, paper and paperboard. Major trading partners: Hong Kong, U.S., Japan, Germany, South Korea, Netherlands, U.K., Singapore, Taiwan, Russia.

History

The earliest recorded human settlements in what is today called China were discovered in the Huang Ho basin and date from more than 5000 B.C. ago During the Shang Dynasty (1500 1000 B.C.), the precursor of modern China’s ideographic writing system developed, allowing the emerging feudal states of the era to achieve an advanced stage of civilization, rivaling in sophistication anything found at the time in Europe, the Middle East, or the Americas. It was following this initial flourishing of civilization, in a period known as the Chou Dynasty (1122 249 B.C.), that Lao-tse, Confucius, Mo Ti, and Mencius laid the foundation of Chinese philosophical thought. Later the Chiang (246 210 B.C.) work was begun on the Great Wall of China. Great Wall symbolized China’s desire to protect itself from the outside world, In the T’ang Dynasty (618 907), often called the golden age of Chinese history, painting, sculpture, and poetry flourished, and woodblock printing, which enabled the mass production of books, made its earliest known appearance. The Mings, last of the native rulers (1368 1644), overthrew the Mongol, or Yuan, Dynasty (1271 1368) established by Kublai Khan. After the yuans,The Mings dynasty were the rulers of china for the next 2 and a half century. The Mings were overthrown in 1644 by invaders from the north, the Manchus, which is the lastest and the last emperor of China

Natural Resources:

The giant panda was once widespread in southern and eastern China and in neighbouring Myanmar and north Vietnam. Today, however, there are only around 1,000 left, and all of these are found in one geographic region – the bamboo forests of southwestern China. Unlike some other bears, the panda does not hibernate. Its cubs are fairly small at birth, weighing only 90 to 130 gm, but, fully grown, it can weigh 100kg and over. Newborn cubs have little fur and are very delicate. Infant mortality is also high. The average life span is 18 to 20 years in the wild, and up to 30 years in captivity Destruction of the panda’s natural habitat is now a major threat to the survival of panda. On top of that, there’s the problem of bamboo flowering. At regular intervals (ranging from 10 to 100 years depending on the species), bamboo plants flower over large areas and die. Although they regenerate from seed within a year, it can take up to 20 years before the bamboo can support a panda population again. Some pandas are still hunted for their skins. When a single pelt can fetch up to US$200,000 in Japan, a few poachers are still prepared to risk the consequences – the death penalty.

Problem of China

China and Taiwan problem

Political freedom

Human rights Human Rights violations are widespread and well-documented, and they stem from the authorities’ intolerance of dissent, fear of unrest, and the absence or inadequacy of laws protecting basic freedoms. Abuses include torture and mistreatment of prisoners, forced confessions, and arbitrary and lengthy incommunicado detention. Prison conditions are harsh. The Government has placed severe restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, religion, privacy, and worker rights. In many cases, the judicial system denies criminal defendants basic legal safeguards and due process.

Thousands of people are believed to be detained or serving sentences for “counterrevolutionary crimes” or “crimes against the state,” including activists arrested for issuing petitions or open letters calling for reforms and greater democracy.

Tinan meng square incident

with the 1989 protests in view of the summary nature of the trials and the absence Tiananmen 10 years on

Many of the thousands killed, injured or arrested by the security forces in the clamp-down on the 1989 pro-democracy movement and protests in Tiananmen Square had still not been accounted for. Most of those imprisoned had been convicted, after unfair trials, of “counter revolutionary” offences which by 1997 were no longer crimes under Chinese law. The authorities however refused to review their cases. Those who had been released had their freedom restricted and were closely monitored by the authorities. As in previous years, restrictions on fundamental freedoms intensified in June as the authorities sought to prevent commemoration of the June 1989 massacre; police detained pro-democracy campaigners and tried to force them to sign statements promising that they would not attempt to commemorate the victims of the massacre. AI continued to call for an amnesty to be granted to all those still imprisoned in connection of adequate safeguards for defence. It also continued to call on the authorities to account for all those killed in the 1989 massacre.