General+Info+on+china

**General Info on China** //note:// officially atheist (2002 est.) || //note:// no substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the organizations listed above as subversive groups || //total population:// 90.9% //male:// 95.1% //female:// 86.5% (2000 census) || All Info found on CIA World Factbook
 * Location: || Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam ||
 * Area - comparative: || slightly smaller than the US ||
 * Population: || 1,338,612,968 (July 2009 est.) ||
 * Ethnic groups: || Han Chinese 91.5%, Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uyghur, Tujia, Yi, Mongol, Tibetan, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Korean, and other nationalities 8.5% (2000 census) ||
 * Religions: || Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%, Muslim 1%-2%
 * Languages: || Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry) ||
 * Government type: || Communist state ||
 * Political pressure groups and leaders: || the China Democracy Party; the Falungong spiritual movement
 * Literacy: || //definition:// age 15 and over can read and write
 * Environment - current issues: || air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species ||