Located in the east on the Asian continent on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean, the People's Republic of China has a land area of about 9.6 million sq km, and is the third-largest country in the world, next only to Russia and Canada. From north to south, the territory of China stretches from the center of the Heilong River north of the town of Mohe to the Zengmu Reef at the southernmost tip of the Nansha Islands, covering a distance of 5,500 km. From east to west, the nation extends from the confluence of the Heilong and Wusuli rivers to the Pamirs, covering a distance of 5,200 km.
Chinese History :
Prehistoric and Ancient History (1.7 million years ago-476 B.C.)
China's earliest primitive human discovered so far is known as "Yuanmou Man," a fossil anthropoid unearthed in Yuanmou in Yunnan Province who lived approximately 1.7 million years ago. The better-known "Peking Man," discovered in the Zhoukoudian area in the suburbs of Beijing, lived about 600,000 years ago. Peking Man was able to walk upright, make and use simple tools, and make fire. By the start of the Neolithic Age in China about 10,000 years ago, people were cultivating rice and millet with farming tools, something revealed by relics found in the ruins of Hemudu in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, and Banpo, near Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province. The Hemudu site, about 7,000 years old, was one of the earliest New Stone Age locations along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Archaeologists have unearthed in the area of Hemudu piles of rice grains, husks, stalks and leaves — and other indications of abundant rice cultivation. The rice grown at Hemudu was long-grained non-glutinous rice, and is the earliest example of artificially cultivated rice that has been found in China to date. The relics are also the oldest rice found so far in Asia.
The Xia Dynasty started in 2070 B.C. The center of Xia was the western section of modern Henan Province and the southern section of modern Shanxi Province with a sphere of influence that reached the northern and southern areas of the Yellow River. It was in this period that the slave society began to appear. The Xia Dynasty was overthrown by Shang. The Western Zhou (1046-771 B.C.) Dynasty saw further development of slave society. This era was followed by the Spring and Autumn (770-476 B.C.) and Warring States (475-221 B.C.) periods when silk production advanced and steel production started. This era also produced the philosophers Lao Zi, Confucius, Mencius and Mo Zi, as well as the military scientist Sun Wu, author of the Art of War.
Qin Dynasty:In 221 B.C., Ying Zheng, ruler of the State of Qin and a man of great talent and bold vision, ended the 250-odd years of rivalry among the independent principalities during more>>
Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220)and "Silk Road " :Liu Bang established the powerful Han Dynasty in 206 B.C. During the Han Dynasty, agriculture, handicrafts and commerce flourished, and the population reached 50 million. During the most prosperous period of the Han Dynasty, more>>
Fifty-six Ethnic Groups
China is a united multi-ethnic nation of 56 ethnic groups. As the majority of the population is of the Han ethnic group (accounting for 91.6 percent of the national total population), China's other 55 ethnic groups are customarily referred to as the national minorities. According to the fifth national census in 2000, the national minorities which have a population of over one million include the Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uygur, Yi, Tujia, Mongolian, Tibetan, Bouyei, Dong, Yao, Korean, Bai, Hani, Li, Kazak and Dai, totaling 18 ethnic groups. Among them the Zhuang ethnic group has the biggest population of 16.179 million. There are 17 ethnic groups with a population of between 100,000 and one million, including She, Lisu, Gelo, Lahu, Dongxiang, Va, Shui, Naxi, Qiang, Tu, Xibe, Mulam, Kirgiz, Daur, Jingpo, Salar and Maonan. And 20 ethnic groups have a population of between 10,000 and 100,000: Blang, Tajik, Pumi, Achang, Nu, Ewenki, Jing, Jino, Deang, Ozbek, Russian, Yugur, Bonan, Moinba, Oroqen, Drung, Tatar, Hezhen, Gaoshan (excluding the population of the Gaoshan ethnic group in Taiwan) and Lhoba. The Lhoba ethnic group has the smallest population of 2,965.
The Han people can be found throughout the country, mainly on the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the Yangtze River and the Pearl River valleys, and the Northeast Plain. The national minorities, though fewer in number, are also scattered over vast areas and can be found in approximately 64.3 percent of China, mainly distributed in the border areas of northeast, north, northwest and southwest China. Yunnan Province, home to more than 20 ethnic groups, has the greatest diversity of ethnic groups in China. Taking shape over China's long history, this circumstance of different ethnic groups "living together in one area while still living in individual compact communities in special areas" continues to provide the practical basis for political, economic and cultural intercourse between the Han and the various minority peoples, and for the functioning of the regional ethnic autonomy system.
| 中国少数民族 Ethnic Minorities |
| 阿昌族 |
白 族 |
保安族 |
布朗族 |
| Achang ethnic minority |
Bai ethnic minority |
Bonan ethnic minority |
Blang ethnic minority |
| 布依族 |
朝鲜族 |
达斡尔族 |
傣 族 |
| Bouyei ethnic minority |
Korean ethnic minority |
Daur ethnic minority |
Dai ethnic minority |
| 德昂族 |
侗 族 |
东乡族 |
独龙族 |
| De'ang ethnic minority |
Dong ethnic minority |
Dongxiang ethnic minority |
Drung ethnic minority |
| 鄂伦春族 |
俄罗斯族 |
鄂温克族 |
高山族 |
| Oroqen ethnic minority |
Russian ethnic minority |
Ewenki ethnic minority |
Gaoshan ethnic minority |
| 仡佬族 |
哈尼族 |
哈萨克族 |
赫哲族 |
| Gelo ethnic minority |
Hani ethnic minority |
Kazak ethnic minority |
Hezhe ethnic minority |
| 回 族 |
基诺族 |
京 族 |
景颇族 |
| Hui ethnic minority |
Jino ethnic minority |
Jing ethnic minority |
Jingpo ethnic minority |
| 柯尔克孜族 |
拉祜族 |
黎 族 |
傈僳族 |
| Kirgiz ethnic minority |
Lahu ethnic minority |
Li ethnic minority |
Lisu ethnic minority |
| 珞巴族 |
满 族 |
毛南族 |
门巴族 |
| Lhoba ethnic minority |
Manchu ethnic minority |
Maonan ethnic minority |
Moinba ethnic minority |
| 蒙古族 |
苗 族 |
仫佬族 |
纳西族 |
| Mengol ethnic minority |
Miao ethnic minority |
Mulam ethnic minority |
Naxi ethnic minority |
| 怒 族 |
普米族 |
羌 族 |
撒拉族 |
| Nu ethnic minority |
Pumi ethnic minority |
Qiang ethnic minority |
Salar ethnic minority |
| 畲 族 |
水 族 |
|
| She ethnic minority |
Shui ethnic minority | |
