China in the World

China holds many of the World records as a nation, notably as the most populous nation. Some other statistics as shown in the following table may also surprise you.

China has the highest population of any country and the second largest land area. It has the two highest mountains in the World (Everest and K2) and the second deepest depression (Tarim). It has the third longest river (the Yangzi or Yangtse or Chiangjiang) and the fourth (the Huang He or Yellow River). It shares the top position with Russia for the largest number of neighbouring countries on land, running around from NE to SW these are : Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam.

Country	Population	Area	Life Expectancy	GNP	Energy Usage	Literacy
China	1,215,414,000	9,326	70	906,079	707	82%
Australia	18,312,000	7,682	78	367,131	5,215	100%
Brazil	161,365,000	8,456	67	709,591	772	83%
Canada	29,964,000	9,221	79	569,899	7,879	97%
France	58,375,000	550	78	1,533,619	4,150
Germany	81,912,000	349	76	2,364,632	4,156
India	945,121,000	2,973	63	357,759	260	52%
Indonesia	197,055,000	1,812	65	213,384	442	84%
Italy	57,380,000	294	78	1,140,484	2,821	98%
Japan	125,761,000	376	80	5,149,185	3,964
Russia	147,739,000	16,888	66	356,030	4,079	99%
South Africa	37,643,000	1,221	65	132,455	2,405	82%
Spain	39,260,000	499	77	563,249	2,639	97%
Turkey	62,697,000	770	69	177,530	1,009	82%
United Kingdom	58,782,000	242	77	1,152,136	3,786	99%
United States	265,284,000	9,159	77	7,433,517	7,905	99%

Notes

Population as counted in 1996; Area is Land Area in 1,000 km² 1999; Life expectancy at birth 1996; Gross National Product in US$ millions 1996; Energy usage per person kg in 1995; Adult literacy in 1995. Some books and web sites give the USA a larger area than China, this depends if you count the area taken up by Lakes (particularly half of the Great Lakes) the figures used are the more generally useful 'Land Area'.