
China Geography
China Geography: A summary of information about China Geography, from government research data as well as independent research and other sources.
China: Geography
Location
Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam
Geographic coordinates
35 00 N, 105 00 E
Map references
Asia
Area
total: 9,596,960 sq km land: 9,326,410 sq km water: 270,550 sq km
Area - comparative
slightly smaller than the US
Land boundaries
total: 22,143.34 km border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,673 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
14,500 km
Maritime claims
contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate
extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
Terrain
mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east
Elevation extremes
lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.)
Natural resources
coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)
Land use
arable land: 10% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 43% forests and woodland: 14% other: 33% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land
498,720 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards
frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts
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
Environment - international agreements
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban
Geography - note
world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US)