China
China is situated in eastern Asia. It's the third largest country in the world, next to Canada and Russia, it has an area of 9.6 million square kilometers.
There are 6,536 islands larger than 500 square meters, the largest is Taiwan, with a total area of about 36,000 square kilometers, and the second, Hainan. The South China Sea Islands are the southernmost island group of China.
The People's Republic of China
After World War II, the Chinese Civil War between the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang ended in 1949 with the Communists in control of mainland China the Kuomintang in control of Taiwan and some outlying islands of Fujian. On October 10, 1949, Mao Zedong declared the People's Republic of China and established a communist state. While ensuring China's sovereignty, Mao's administration imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people through disastrous policies such as the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution.
After the death of Mao, Deng Xiaoping succeeded to power and mainland China remained under Communist rule. Since then, the government has gradually loosened governmental control over people's personal lives and engaged in reforms to transform its planned economy into a market-based one. Nevertheless the government remains intent on maintaining the political control of the Communist Party of China and has maintained repressive policies against groups which it feels are a threat to its political control.
China is in Phase 3 of the Demographic Transition Model
