Natural Conditions
China is located in the northern part of the East Hemisphere of the earth, the southeastern part of Eurasia, and the eastern and central part of Asia. It is at the west coast of the Pacific Ocean. The country’s territory totals 9.6 million square kilometers.
China’s land border line totals more than 20,000 kilometers, which are shared with 15 countries.
North: Russia and Mongolia
Northeast: the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Southwest: Kazakhstan, Tadzhikistan, Kirghizstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Myanmar
South: Viet Nam and Laos
China has 4.73 million square kilometers of sea areas on the middle part of the West Pacific coast, a long coastal line in its east and southeast, and 5,400 islands and isles. Taiwan is the largest island of the country, and Hainan ranks second. The coastal line, from the estuary of the Yalu River in Liaoning in the north to the mouth of the Beilun River in Guangxi in the south, has a total length of more than 18,000 kilometers. Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia in the east face China across sea.
China’s topography is high in west and low in east. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the western part of the country is known as the “roof of the world.” The eastern part is mainly vast plains and hills. China is criss-cross with mountains and rivers. The Himalayas Mountain Range on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the highest and magnificent mountain range in the world. The Mount Qomolangma in an area bordering on China and Nepal is 8,848 meters high, the highest in the world. Major rivers include the Yangtze, the Yellow, the Pearl, the Xiangjiang, the Lancang, of which the lower reaches are called the Mekong River, and the Heilongjiang rivers.
Because of the vast territory, China’s climate varies greatly from cold and temperate zone in the north to tropical zone in the south. Apart from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, most areas belong to temperate, warm temperate and sub-tropical zones, featuring obvious monsoon and continental climates. The difference of temperature varies greatly between south and north in winter season. The precipitation is also different from place to place with aridity in the north-western part and humidity in the southeastern part.
By the end of 1998, China’s forests cover 133.70 million hectares, accounting for 13.93% of the country’s total territory.
