The People’s Republic of China
2 min readThe vast land covers an area about 9.6 million square kilometers，and is the third largest country in the world，next only to Russia and Canada.From north to south，the territory of China measures some 5，500 kilometers.When north China is still covered with snow，people in south China get busy with spring plowing.From west to east，the nation extends about 5，200 kilometers with a time difference of over five hours.When the Pamirs in the west are still cloaked in the darkness，the morning sun is already shining brightly over east China.China borders on 14 countries:Afghanistan，Bhutan，Myanmar，India，Kazakhstan，Kyrgyzstan，Laos，Mongolia，Nepal，North Korea，Pakistan，Russia，Tajikistan and Vietnam .Across the seas to the east and southeast are South Korea，Japan，the Philippines，Brunei，Malaysia and Indonesia.
The Chinese mainland is flanked to the east and south by the Bohai Sea，Yellow Sea，East China Sea and South China Sea，with a total maritime area of 4.73 million square kilometers.1The Bohai Sea is China’s continental sea，while the Yellow，East China and South China seas are marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean.A total of 5，400 islands scatter around its vast territorial waters.The largest of these，with an area of about 36，000 square kilometers，is Taiwan，followed by Hainan with an area of 34，000 square kilometers.The many islands，islets，reefs and shoals on the South China Sea，known collectively as the South China Sea Islands，are subdivided into the Dongsha，Xisha，Zhongsha and Nansha island groups.
China’s coastline totals 32，000 kilometers，with the mainland coastline measuring approximately18，000 kilometers and the island coastline 14，000 kilometers.The mainland coastline has a flat topography and many fine docks and harbors，most of which are ice free all year round.2 It should be noted that the name of Zhongguo has experienced some changes.Originally，itreferred to the living place around Luoyi，the later Luoyang city，which was then the territory of the Xia Dynasty.Later on，with the idea of Zhongguo becoming broader，it came to be regarded as the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and modern China as a whole.
The name of Zhongguo has some other versions in the long history-Jiuzhou，Huaxia，Zhonghua and so on.Whatever the name is，it is right on this land that Chinese people have lived for over 5，000 years and created their colorful culture.
