Illustrated Maps of China Series (Hardcover Edition)

Author: Compiled by the Press
Publisher:
Publishing Time: 2006-06-01
Features: China is located in the eastern part of Asia and the western coast of the Pacific Ocean, with land on both sides and access to the sea. China has a vast territory, stretching from the Heilong River in Heilongjiang Province (around 55°N latitude) in the north to the Zengmu Ansha in the Spratly Islands (around 4°N latitude) in the south, covering approximately 5,500 kilometers north-south; from the confluence of the Heilong River and the Ussuri River in the east (around 135°E longitude) to the Pamir Plateau in Xinjiang in the west (around 73°E longitude), covering approximately 5,000 kilometers east-west. China's land area is about 9.6 million square kilometers, accounting for about 1/4 of Asia's land area and about 1/15 of the world's land area. It ranks third in the world in terms of land area, after Russia and Canada. China has diverse and complete topography, featuring typical and spectacular mountains, plateaus, hills, basins, plains, deserts, gobi, and caves. The topography follows a pattern of higher elevations in the west and lower elevations in the east, forming three steps that gradually descend from west to east. China has fewer plains and more mountains, with significant variations in land elevation. China's land boundary is approximately 22,800 kilometers long, and its land borders extend for over 22,000 kilometers. To the east is North Korea, to the northeast is Russia, to the north is Mongolia, to the northwest are Russia and Kazakhstan, to the west are Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, to the southwest are India, Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan, and to the south are Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. China has a coastline of over 18,000 kilometers, with the seas surrounding its mainland in the following order: Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea. The countries bordering China across the sea are Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia. China is an ancient civilization. As early as 1.7 million to 200,000 years ago, ancient humans such as the Yuanmou Man, Lantian Man, and Peking Man lived on this land. After a long period of primitive society, around the 21st century BC, China saw the rise of the Xia Dynasty. After 4,000 years of slavery and feudal society, the Xinhai Revolution led by Sun Yat-sen ended the monarchy in 1911. In 1949, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the Communist Party of China led the people of all ethnic groups in China to establish the People's Republic of China. On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was proclaimed. China has 56 ethnic groups, with highly uneven population distribution, intermingling settlements, and extremely uneven spatial distribution of ethnic minorities, among other characteristics. Chinese literature has a long and rich history.