Geography of The People’s Republic

of China By: Aidan and Theo

GENERAL FACTS The People’s Republic of China (PRC/China for short) stretches

approximately 5,026 km (3123 miles) across the East Asian landmass.

China’s latitude lies between 18° and 54° and longitude 73° and 135°.

China has an area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometers and has a coastline that stretches for 18,000 km.

Mountains (33%), plateaus (26%), and hills (10%) compose nearly 70% of the country’s land surface.

There are fourteen other countries that share a border with China. Some Major Cities are Shanghai, Tianjin, Hong Kong, Wuhan,

Guangzhou, Chongqing, Harbin, and Chengdu.

MORE GENERAL FACTS! China’s population is around 1.34 billion making it the

country with the largest population in the world! China’s geography comes with many diverse features

such as snow-capped mountains, deep river valleys, high plateaus, endless plains, to sandy dunes, volcanic calderas, glaciers, and basins with deserts.

THE YANGTZE RIVER: LONGEST RIVER IN CHINA, THIRD LONGEST RIVER IN THE WORLD

BODIES OF WATER China is bordered by the sea and bodies of water which

are East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, Taiwan Strait, and South China Sea.

The Yangtze River is the longest river in China followed by the Yellow River, “the Mother River of the Chinese People”, both flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.

Most of the lakes in Northwest China are salty or brackish whereas many of the lakes in Southeast China are usually freshwater lakes.

This is Erhai Lake, one of the seven largest freshwater lakes in China.

CLIMATE The climate in China is very diverse ranging from tropic in

the south to sub arctic in the north. China’s south and eastern coasts are often stricken with

typhoons. (around 5 per year)

From Tropical Hainan to icy cold Harbin where the annual snow festival.

VEGETATION Because the regions in China can vary from sub-arctic to

tropical, the plant life that can grow in China is very diverse. China ranks third in the world in species of plants.

This is a Metasequoia. They were once thought to be extinct but a grove was found in a secluded region of China. Only around 5,000 trees are left in the wild.

This is a dove tree. It is named after its unique flowers that blossom in the spring.

ANIMALS The Giant Panda, the Golden Monkey, the Chinese

Alligator, and the White-Flag Dolphin are all native species of animals from China. Unfortunately, many of these animals are critically endangered due to loss of habitat, pollution, or even over hunting the animals.

ENVIRONMENT China is divided into 5 different regions. (Eastern China

[subdivided into the northeast plain, north plain, and southern hills], Xin qiang-Mongolia, and the Tibetan-highlands.)

Because of over population and mass production in factories going on, there has been a lot of environmental damage due to fossil fuels and pollution and habitat loss to native species of animals and plants.

CONCLUSION China has a very diverse regions therefore is able to

sustain many different life forms and have a wide range of climates.

There are a LOT of people living in China and because of that, the country has used many harmful ways to sustain the population causing harm to the environment.

Even so, it is a country full of history and is one of the world’s major super powers in present day.

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