Country · Asia
China
People's Republic of China
China is a country in Eastern Asia. About 1.4 billion people live there, in an area of 9 706 961 square kilometres. Its capital city is Beijing.
Picture credit: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas (CC BY-SA 3.0) · CEphoto, Uwe Aranas (CC BY-SA 3.0) · CEphoto, Uwe Aranas (CC BY-SA 3.0) · N509FZ (CC BY-SA 4.0) · RykJ (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is China?
China lies in Eastern Asia, on the continent of Asia.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 3 896 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 14 500 km long.
It shares a border with 16 countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macau, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Vietnam.
How big is China?
China covers 9 706 961 square kilometres.
That is about 9.7 times the size of Egypt.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 3rd largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 143.5 people on every square kilometre.
That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in China?
About 1.4 billion people live in China.
That is the biggest population of any country in the world.
People here speak Chinese.
They pay with the Chinese yuan (¥).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 71 years.
The land of China
The land of China sits on average 1 840 metres above sea level — high enough that much of it counts as mountain country.
Its coast runs for about 14 500 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 725 days.
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes China different?
A dish the country is known for: Peking Duck.
Websites from here often end in .cn.
China and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 184 live in China.
It takes up about 7.3 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Asia it is the largest of 46 countries, and the first by population.
China and its neighbours
Russia, its largest neighbour, is about 1.8 times bigger.
More people live in China than in Russia — 1.4 billion against 144.5 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 31 live wild in China: Giant panda, Snow leopard, Grey wolf, Red fox, Yak, Bactrian camel and more. The highest mountain in the country is Mount Everest, at 8 849 metres. The longest river in the country is the Yangtze. The largest lake in the country is Qinghai Lake. And one of the wonders of the world stands here: the Great Wall of China.
Giant panda
Snow leopard
Grey wolf
Red fox
Yak
Bactrian camel
Common kingfisher
King cobra
Western honey bee
Dog
Wild boar
Beech marten
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is China compared with the United States?
- China and the United States are almost the same size: 9 706 961 km² against 9 372 610 km². See both on one map
- China is about 40 times as big as the United Kingdom: 9 706 961 km² against 242 900 km². See both on one map
Questions children ask
What is the capital of China?
The capital of China is Beijing. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in China?
About 1.4 billion people live in China, which makes it the 1st most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border China?
China borders Afghanistan, Bhutan, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macau, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Vietnam — 16 neighbours in total.
How big is China?
China covers 9 706 961 square kilometres, making it the 3rd largest country in the world. That is about 9.7 times the size of Egypt.
What is the highest mountain in China?
The highest mountain in China is Mount Everest, 8 849 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in China?
The longest river in China is the Yangtze, about 6 300 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in China?
The largest lake in China is Qinghai Lake. It covers about 4 543 km².
Which continent is China in?
China is in Asia, in the part called Eastern Asia.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
Last checked: · How these pages are made