China Geography

What is the terrain and geography like in China?

Overview

Occupying an area of about 3.7 million square miles, the People's Republic of China (PRC) is the fourth-largest country in the world, after Canada and Russia. It shares borders with North Korea, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Laos, and Vietnam. Hong Kong and Macau (Aomen), situated on China's southern coast, are now Special Administrative Regions of the PRC.

Two-thirds of China's area is mountainous or semidesert; only about one-tenth is cultivated. Ninety percent of its people live on one-sixth of the land, primarily in the fertile plains and deltas of the east.

Geography - note

The world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and the United States); Mount Everest, on the border with Nepal, is the world's tallest peak

China Use of Natural Resources

Geographic Location	Asia
Total Area	3,705,387 Square Miles 9,596,961 Square Kilometers
Land Area	3,694,939 Square Miles 9,569,901 Square Kilometers
Water Area	10,448 Square Miles 27,060 Square Kilometers
Land Boundaries	13,743 Miles 22,117 Kilometers
Irrigated Land	243,004 Square Miles 629,380 Square Kilometers
Border Countries	Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Mongolia 4,677 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km
Coastline	9,010 Miles 14,500 Kilometers
Geographic Coordinates	35 00 N, 105 00 E
Terrain	Mostly mountains, high plateaus, and deserts in the west; plains, deltas, and hills in east
Highest Point	8,850 Meters
Highest Point Location	Mount Everest 8,850 m (highest point in Asia)
Lowest Point	-154 Meters
Lowest Point Location	Turpan Pendi -154 m
Natural Resources	Coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, rare earth elements, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)
Time Zone	UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) time zone note: China is the largest country (in terms of area) with just one time zone; before 1949 it was divided into five

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