The People’s Republic of China is the largest country in East Asia and the most populated country in the world. The current population is about 1.3 billion people. Executive power is held by the Communist Party of China whose State Council rules over its 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, 4 municipalities and 2 Special Administrative Regions: Hong Kong and Macau. The capital of China is Beijing.
With about 3.7 million square miles of land, China is the third largest country by area, after Russia and Canada. Today China is viewed as an emerging superpower. It has the world’s largest standing army, holds a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, and has nuclear capability. It has also become only the third nation, after Russia and the United States, to send astronauts into space.
