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China is the third largest
country in the World, just behind Russia and Canada. The
population of China is over 1.2 billion people. This is
about one-fifth of the world's population. |
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 China is a very diverse land
including deserts, mountains and fertile river basins.
Much
of western China is mountains with the Himalaya, Tian and
Pamir ranges. Western China also has a large desert.
Central China consists of mountainous regions. |
 Rivers also play a major
role in China, both for transportation and for
irrigation. Much of the northern wheat fields and
southern rice fields are irrigated from rivers.
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 The Great Wall of China was
built over 2,500 years ago to protect against invaders
from the north. Troops would patrol the wall to defend
China against attack. Once over 6,000 miles long, the
wall is now about 3,750 miles long. |
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For many years, China has
been on a program of economic development. But, much of
China still lives in poverty.
Most people in china
still work as farmers or herders. Major crops include
wheat and rice. Fishing is also a major industry along
the coasts.
China has considerable natural resources including
coal, lead, zinc, copper, tungsten and gold. China also
has considerable oil reserves. |
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| China has a long
history, going back thousands of years. For over 3
thousand years, China was ruled by Emperors and their
dynasties.
In the early 1200's, the Mongols from
Mongolia occupied China, led by Genghis Khan. Kublai
Khan, his grandson, established the Yuan dynasty,
becoming the first foreign people to rule China.
By the mid-1300s, the Yuan dynasty gave way to the
Ming dynasty. Then in the mid-1600s, Manchurian troops
overthrew the Ming dynasty to establish the Qing dynasty.
In the early 1900s, the country came out from under
dynasty rule to create the Peoples Republic of China. In
the 1930s, China came under control of a communist
government. |
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Most Chinese people are farmers and herders. They have a major challenge to keep the countries large population fed.
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About one-fifth of China's population live in urban areas.
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China still maintains strong
ties to its past.
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And its traditions.. |
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| Because China is so large,
it has many regional climates. Northern China can have
severe winters with temperatures reaching below 0 degrees
Fahrenheit. Central China is milder with temperatures
ranging from 30 degrees in the winter to 80 degrees in
the summer. Eastern China can have hot wet summers, while
the western desert can have temperatures in the 100
degree range. Most of China's rainfall comes during the
monsoon season between May and October. |
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