A composite satellite image showing the topography of China
Political geography
The People's Republic of China is the
second-largest country in the world by land area
[130] after
Russia, and is either the
third- or fourth-largest by total area, after Russia, Canada and, depending on the definition of total area, the United States.
[p] China's total area is generally stated as being approximately 9,600,000 km
2 (3,700,000 sq mi).
[131] Specific area figures range from 9,572,900 km
2 (3,696,100 sq mi) according to the
Encyclopædia Britannica,
[132] 9,596,961 km
2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the UN Demographic Yearbook,
[6] to 9,596,961 km
2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the
CIA World Factbook.
[8]
China has the
longest combined land border in the world, measuring 22,117 km (13,743 mi) from the mouth of the
Yalu River to the
Gulf of Tonkin.
[8] China
borders 14 nations,
more than any other country except Russia, which also borders 14.
[133] China extends across much of East Asia, bordering
Vietnam,
Laos, and
Myanmar (Burma) in Southeast Asia;
India,
Bhutan,
Nepal,
Afghanistan, and
Pakistan[q] in South Asia;
Tajikistan,
Kyrgyzstan and
Kazakhstan in Central Asia; and
Russia,
Mongolia, and
North Korea in
Inner Asia and
Northeast Asia. Additionally, China shares maritime boundaries with
South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and the
Philippines.
Landscape and climate
The territory of China lies between
latitudes 18° and
54° N, and
longitudes 73° and
135° E. China's landscapes vary significantly across its vast width. In the east, along the shores of the
Yellow Sea and the
East China Sea, there are extensive and densely populated
alluvial plains, while on the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, broad
grasslands predominate. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges, while the central-east hosts the
deltas of China's two major rivers, the
Yellow River and the
Yangtze River. Other major rivers include the
Xi,
Mekong,
Brahmaputra and
Amur. To the west sit major mountain ranges, most notably the Himalayas. High
plateaus feature among the more arid landscapes of the north, such as the
Taklamakan and the
Gobi Desert. The world's highest point,
Mount Everest (8,848m), lies on the Sino-Nepalese border.
[134] The country's lowest point, and the world's third-lowest, is the dried lake bed of
Ayding Lake (−154m) in the
Turpan Depression.
[135]
China's climate is mainly dominated by
dry seasons and wet
monsoons,
which lead to pronounced temperature differences between winter and
summer. In the winter, northern winds coming from high-latitude areas
are cold and dry; in summer, southern winds from coastal areas at lower
latitudes are warm and moist.
[136] The climate in China differs from region to region because of the country's highly complex
topography.
A major environmental issue in China is the continued
expansion of its deserts, particularly the Gobi Desert.
[137][138] Although barrier tree lines planted since the 1970s have reduced the frequency of
sandstorms, prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices have resulted in
dust storms
plaguing northern China each spring, which then spread to other parts
of east Asia, including Korea and Japan. China's environmental watchdog,
SEPA, stated in 2007 that China is losing a million acres (4,000 km²) per year to desertification.
[139] Water quality,
erosion, and
pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries. Melting
glaciers in the Himalayas could potentially lead to
water shortages for hundreds of millions of people.
[140]
Biodiversity
China is one of 17
megadiverse countries,
[141] lying in two of the world's major
ecozones: the
Palearctic and the
Indomalaya.
By one measure, China has over 34,687 species of animals and vascular
plants, making it the third-most biodiverse country in the world, after
Brazil and
Colombia.
[142] The country signed the
Rio de Janeiro Convention on Biological Diversity on 11 June 1992, and became a party to the convention on 5 January 1993.
[143] It later produced a
National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, with one revision that was received by the convention on 21 September 2010.
[144]
China is home to at least 551 species of
mammals (the third-highest such number in the world),
[145] 1,221 species of birds (eighth),
[146] 424 species of reptiles (seventh)
[147] and 333 species of amphibians (seventh).
[148]
China is the most biodiverse country in each category outside the
tropics. Wildlife in China share habitat with and bear acute pressure
from the world's largest population of
homo sapiens. At least 840
animal species are threatened, vulnerable or in danger of local extinction in China, due mainly to human activity such as habitat destruction, pollution and poaching for food, fur and ingredients for
traditional Chinese medicine.
[149] Endangered wildlife is protected by law, and as of 2005, the country has over 2,349
nature reserves, covering a total area of 149.95 million hectares, 15 percent of China's total land area.
[150]
China has over 32,000 species of vascular plants,
[151] and is home to a variety of forest types. Cold
coniferous forests predominate in the north of the country, supporting animal species such as
moose and
Asian black bear, along with over 120 bird species.
[152] The understorey of moist
conifer forests may contain thickets of
bamboo. In higher montane stands of
juniper and
yew, the bamboo is replaced by
rhododendrons.
Subtropical forests, which are predominate in central and southern China, support as many as 146,000 species of flora.
[152] Tropical and seasonal
rainforests, though confined to
Yunnan and
Hainan Island, contain a quarter of all the animal and plant species found in China.
[152] China has over 10,000 recorded species of
fungi,
[153] and of them, nearly 6,000 are
higher fungi.
[154]
