General Information » China Overview » Geography

The People’s Republic of China is in eastern Asia. It ranks behind Russia and Canada in area and is almost identical in size to the United States. China considers Taiwan as its 23rd province (sheng), making it the world’s third-largest nation. Mainland China covers about 9.6 million sqkm. It measures 5,250km from east to west, and 5,500km from north to south. It shares borders with 14 countries; the longest is with Mongolia, at nearly 4,700km, and the shortest is with Afghanistan, at less than 80km. It has a coastline measuring 14,500km, lapped by the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea and part of the Pacific Ocean. There are five autonomous regions, four municipalities (including Shanghai and Beijing) and two special administrative regions; Hong Kong and Macau (see Government & Politics, p.12)