Liechtenstein (2004) | China (2002) | |
Administrative divisions | 11 communes (Gemeinden, singular - Gemeinde); Balzers, Eschen, Gamprin, Mauren, Planken, Ruggell, Schaan, Schellenberg, Triesen, Triesenberg, Vaduz | 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**, Chongqing**, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**, Xinjiang*, Xizang* (Tibet), Yunnan, Zhejiang; note - China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 17.8% (male 2,950; female 3,014)
15-64 years: 70.5% (male 11,745; female 11,837) 65 years and over: 11.6% (male 1,598; female 2,292) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: 24.3% (male 163,821,081; female 148,855,387)
15-64 years: 68.4% (male 452,354,428; female 426,055,713) 65 years and over: 7.3% (male 43,834,528; female 49,382,568) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | wheat, barley, corn, potatoes; livestock, dairy products | rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish |
Airports | none (2003 est.) | 489 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | - | total: 324
over 3,047 m: 27 2,438 to 3,047 m: 88 1,524 to 2,437 m: 147 914 to 1,523 m: 30 under 914 m: 32 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 165
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 29 914 to 1,523 m: 56 under 914 m: 78 (2002) |
Area | total: 160 sq km
land: 160 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 9,596,960 sq km
land: 9,326,410 sq km water: 270,550 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than the US |
Background | The Principality of Liechtenstein was established within the Holy Roman Empire in 1719; it became a sovereign state in 1806. Until the end of World War I, it was closely tied to Austria, but the economic devastation caused by that conflict forced Liechtenstein to enter into a customs and monetary union with Switzerland. Since World War II (in which Liechtenstein remained neutral), the country's low taxes have spurred outstanding economic growth. Shortcomings in banking regulatory oversight have resulted in concerns about the use of the financial institutions for money laundering. Liechtenstein has, however, implemented new anti-money-laundering legislation and recently concluded a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the US. | For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the 19th and early 20th centuries, China was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping gradually introduced market-oriented reforms and decentralized economic decision making, and output quadrupled by 2000. Political controls remain tight even while economic controls continue to be relaxed. |
Birth rate | 10.65 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 15.85 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $424.2 million
expenditures: $414.1 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1998 est.) |
revenues: $161.8 billion
expenditures: $191.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000) |
Capital | Vaduz | Beijing |
Climate | continental; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow or rain; cool to moderately warm, cloudy, humid summers | extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north |
Coastline | 0 km (doubly landlocked) | 14,500 km |
Constitution | 5 October 1921 | most recent promulgation 4 December 1982 |
Country name | conventional long form: Principality of Liechtenstein
conventional short form: Liechtenstein local long form: Fuerstentum Liechtenstein local short form: Liechtenstein |
conventional long form: People's Republic of China
conventional short form: China local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo local short form: Zhong Guo abbreviation: PRC |
Currency | Swiss franc (CHF) | yuan (CNY) |
Death rate | 6.94 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 6.77 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $0 (2001) | $149.4 billion (2002 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US does not have an embassy in Liechtenstein, but the US Ambassador to Switzerland is also accredited to Liechtenstein | chief of mission: Ambassador Clark T. RANDT, Jr.
embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3431 FAX: [86] (10) 6532-6929 consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenyang |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Claudia FRITSCHE
chancery: 1300 Eye Street NW, Suite 550W, Washington, DC 20005 telephone: [1] (202) 216-0460 FAX: [1] (202) 216-0459 |
chief of mission: Ambassador YANG Jiechi
chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2582 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco |
Disputes - international | Liechtenstein's royal family claims restitution for 1,600 sq km of land in the Czech Republic confiscated in 1918 | in 2000, China joined ASEAN discussions towards creating a South China Sea "code of conduct" - a non-legally binding, confidence-building measure; much of the rugged, militarized boundary with India is in dispute, but talks to resolve the least contested middle sector resumed in 2001; ongoing talks with Tajikistan have failed to resolve the longstanding dispute over the indefinite boundary; Kazakhstan is working rapidly with China to delimit its large open borders to control population migration, illegal activities, and trade; 2001 Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation commits Russia and China to seek peaceable unanimity over disputed alluvial islands at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers and a small island on the Argun; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary agreement with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin awaits ratification; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan; demarcation of the land boundary with Vietnam has commenced, but details of the alignment have not been made public; 33-km section of boundary with North Korea in the Paektu-san (mountain) area is indefinite |
Economic aid - recipient | none | $NA |
Economy - overview | Despite its small size and limited natural resources, Liechtenstein has developed into a prosperous, highly industrialized, free-enterprise economy with a vital financial service sector and living standards on a par with its large European neighbors. The Liechtenstein economy is widely diversified with a large number of small businesses. Low business taxes - the maximum tax rate is 20% - and easy incorporation rules have induced many holding or so-called letter box companies to establish nominal offices in Liechtenstein, providing 30% of state revenues. The country participates in a customs union with Switzerland and uses the Swiss franc as its national currency. It imports more than 90% of its energy requirements. Liechtenstein has been a member of the European Economic Area (an organization serving as a bridge between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the EU) since May 1995. The government is working to harmonize its economic policies with those of an integrated Europe. | In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic influence of non-state organizations and individual citizens has been steadily increasing. The authorities have switched to a system of household and village responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and investment. The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978. In 2002, with its 1.28 billion people but a GDP of just $4,600 per capita, China stood as the second largest economy in the world after the US (measured on a purchasing power parity basis). Agriculture and industry have posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment has helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. On the darker side, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and of capitalism (windfall gains and growing income disparities). Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals. The government has struggled to (a) collect revenues due from provinces, businesses, and individuals; (b) reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large state-owned enterprises many of which had been shielded from competition by subsidies and had been losing the ability to pay full wages and pensions. From 80 to 120 million surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the cities, many subsisting through part-time low-paying jobs. Popular resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which is essential to maintaining long-term growth in living standards. Another long-term threat to growth is the deterioration in the environment, notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table especially in the north. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. Beijing will intensify efforts to stimulate growth through spending on infrastructure - such as water control and power grids - and poverty relief and through rural tax reform aimed at eliminating arbitrary local levies on farmers. Access to the World Trade Organization strengthens China's ability to maintain sturdy growth rates, and at the same time puts additional pressure on the hybrid system of strong political controls and growing market influences. Although Beijing has claimed 7%-8% annual growth in recent years, many observers believe the rate, while strong, is more like 5%. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 1.206 trillion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | - | 10.25 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | - | 400 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | - | 1.308 trillion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 82%
hydro: 17% nuclear: 1% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Ruggeller Riet 430 m
highest point: Grauspitz 2,599 m |
lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
Environment - current issues | NA | air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal, produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea |
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | Alemannic 86%, Italian, Turkish, and other 14% | Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1% |
Exchange rates | Swiss francs per US dollar - 1.3467 (2003), 1.5586 (2002), 1.6876 (2001), 1.6888 (2000), 1.5022 (1999) | yuan per US dollar - 8.2767 (January 2002), 8.2771 (2001), 8.2785 (2000), 8.2783 (1999), 8.2790 (1998), 8.2898 (1997) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Prince HANS ADAM II (since 13 November 1989, assumed executive powers 26 August 1984); Heir Apparent Prince ALOIS, son of the monarch (born 11 June 1968) note - on 15 August 2004, HANS ADAM transferred the official duties of the ruling prince to ALOIS, but HANS ADAM retains status of chief of state
head of government: Head of Government Otmar HASLER (since 5 April 2001) and Deputy Head of Government Rita KIEBER-BECK (since 5 April 2001) cabinet: Cabinet elected by the Parliament, confirmed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party in the Diet is usually appointed the head of government by the monarch and the leader of the largest minority party in the Diet is usually appointed the deputy head of government by the monarch |
chief of state: President Hu Jintao (since 15 March 2003) and Vice President ZENG Qinghong (since 15 March 2003)
head of government: Premier WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003); Vice Premiers QIAN Qichen (since 29 March 1993), LI Lanqing (29 March 1993), WU Bangguo (since 17 March 1995), and WEN Jiabao (since 18 March 1998) cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC) elections: president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress for five-year terms; elections last held 16-18 March 1998 (next to be held NA March 2003); premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress election results: JIANG Zemin reelected president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,882 votes (36 delegates voted against him, 29 abstained, and 32 did not vote); HU Jintao elected vice president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,841 votes (67 delegates voted against him, 39 abstained, and 32 did not vote) |
Exports | $2.47 billion (1996) | $312.8 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
Exports - commodities | small specialty machinery, connectors for audio and video, parts for motor vehicles, dental products, hardware, prepared foodstuffs, electronic equipment, optical products | machinery and equipment; textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods; mineral fuels |
Exports - partners | EU 62.6% (Germany 24.3%, Austria 9.5%, France 8.9%, Italy 6.6%, UK 4.6%), US 18.9%, Switzerland 15.7% | US 20.4%, Hong Kong 17.5%, Japan 16.9%, South Korea 4.7%, Germany 3.7%, Netherlands 2.7%, UK 2.6%, Singapore 2.2%, Taiwan (2001) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red with a gold crown on the hoist side of the blue band | red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $825 million (1999 est.) | purchasing power parity - $6 trillion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: 40% services: NA (1999) |
agriculture: 18%
industry: 49% services: 33% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $25,000 (1999 est.) | purchasing power parity - $4,600 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 11% (1999 est.) | 8% (official estimate) (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 47 16 N, 9 32 E | 35 00 N, 105 00 E |
Geography - note | along with Uzbekistan, one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world; variety of microclimatic variations based on elevation | world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal, is the world's tallest peak; soybean, one of the oldest of cultivated crops, is believed to have originated in China |
Highways | total: 250 km
paved: 250 km unpaved: 0 km |
total: 1.4 million km
paved: 271,300 km (with at least 16,000 km of expressways) unpaved: 1,128,700 km (1999) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 30% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | has strengthened money-laundering controls, but money laundering remains a concern due to Liechtenstein sophisticated offshore financial services sector | major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem; source country for chemical precursors and methamphetamine |
Imports | $917.3 million (1996) | $268.6 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
Imports - commodities | agricultural products, raw materials, machinery, metal goods, textiles, foodstuffs, motor vehicles | machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel, chemicals |
Imports - partners | EU, Switzerland | Japan 17.6%, Taiwan 11.2%, US 10.8%, South Korea 9.6%, Germany 5.7%, Hong Kong 3.9%, Russia 3.3%, Malaysia 2.5% (2001) |
Independence | 23 January 1719 (Principality of Liechtenstein established); 12 July 1806 (independence from the Holy Roman Empire) | 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty 221 BC; Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912; People's Republic established 1 October 1949) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | 13.5% (2002 est.) |
Industries | electronics, metal manufacturing, dental products, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, food products, precision instruments, tourism, optical instruments | iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications |
Infant mortality rate | total: 4.77 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 6.47 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
27.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1% (2001) | -0.8% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | CE, EBRD, EFTA, IAEA, ICCt, ICRM, IFRCS, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UPU, WCL, WIPO, WTO | AfDB, APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CCC, CDB, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (observer), OPCW, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMOVIC, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 3 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 525,800 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Oberster Gerichtshof; Court of Appeal or Obergericht | Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local Peoples Courts (comprise higher, intermediate and local courts); Special Peoples Courts (primarily military, maritime, and railway transport courts) |
Labor force | 29,000 of whom 19,000 are foreigners; 13,000 commute from Austria, Switzerland, and Germany to work each day (31 December 2001) | 706 million (2000 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 1.3%, industry 47.4%, services 51.3% (31 December 2001 est.) | agriculture 50%, industry 23%, services 27% (2001 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 76 km
border countries: Austria 34.9 km, Switzerland 41.1 km |
total: 22,147.34 km
border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,677 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km |
Land use | arable land: 25%
permanent crops: 0% other: 75% (2001) |
arable land: 13.31%
permanent crops: 1.2% other: 85.49% (1998 est.) |
Languages | German (official), Alemannic dialect | Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry) |
Legal system | local civil and penal codes; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law |
Legislative branch | unicameral Parliament or Landtag (25 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote under proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 11 February 2001 (next to be held by NA 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - FBP 49.90%, VU 41.35%, FL 8.71%; seats by party - FBP 13, VU 11, FL 1 |
unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,979 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held NA December 1997-NA February 1998 (next to be held late 2002-NA March 2003) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - NA |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 79.4 years
male: 75.8 years female: 83.02 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 71.86 years
male: 70.02 years female: 73.86 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 10 and over can read and write
total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.5% male: 89.9% female: 72.7% (1995 est.) |
Location | Central Europe, between Austria and Switzerland | Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam |
Map references | Europe | Asia |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin territorial sea: 12 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total: 1,764 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,915,047 GRT/25,366,296 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 328, cargo 822, chemical tanker 25, combination bulk 10, combination ore/oil 1, container 134, liquefied gas 26, multi-functional large-load carrier 6, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 45, petroleum tanker 263, refrigerated cargo 26, roll on/roll off 23, short-sea passenger 42, specialized tanker 3, vehicle carrier 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Croatia 1, Germany 1, Hong Kong 16, Japan 2, Panama 2, South Korea 1, Spain 1, Taiwan 9, Tanzania 1, Turkey 1 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of Switzerland | - |
Military branches | - | People's Liberation Army (PLA): comprises ground forces, Navy (including naval infantry and naval aviation), Air Force, and II Artillery Corps (strategic missile force), People's Armed Police Force (internal security troops, nominally a state security body but included by the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA), militia |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $20.048 billion (2002); note - this is the officially announced figure, but actual defense spending more likely ranges from $45 billion to $65 billion for 2002 |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.6% (2002); note - this is the officially announced figure, but actual defense spending is more likely between 3.5% to 5.0% of GDP for 2002 |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 370,087,489 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 203,003,036 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 10,089,458 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Assumption Day, 15 August | Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949) |
Nationality | noun: Liechtensteiner(s)
adjective: Liechtenstein |
noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
adjective: Chinese |
Natural hazards | NA | frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence |
Natural resources | hydroelectric potential, arable land | coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest) |
Net migration rate | 4.85 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | -0.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 20 km (2004) | crude oil 9,070 km; petroleum products 560 km; natural gas 9,383 km (1998) |
Political parties and leaders | Patriotic Union (was Fatherland Union) or VU [Heinz FROMMELT]; Progressive Citizens' Party or FBP [Johannes MATT]; The Free List or FL [Dr. Pepo FRICK, Elisabeth TELLENBACH-FRICK, Adolf RITTER] | Chinese Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | no substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the Falungong sect and the China Democracy Party as potential rivals |
Population | 33,436 (July 2004 est.) | 1,284,303,705 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | 10% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.86% (2004 est.) | 0.87% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang (2001) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998) |
Radios | - | 417 million (1997) |
Railways | - | total: 67,524 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails)
standard gauge: 63,924 km 1.435-m gauge (13,362 km electrified; 20,250 km double-track) narrow gauge: 3,600 km 0.750-m and 1.000-m gauge local industrial lines (1999 est.) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 76.2%, Protestant 7%, unknown 10.6%, other 6.2% (June 2002) | Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%
note: officially atheist (2002 est.) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
at birth: 1.09 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: automatic telephone system
domestic: NA international: country code - 423; linked to Swiss networks by cable and microwave radio relay |
general assessment: domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns
domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place international: satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); several international fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany (2000) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 19,900 (2002) | 135 million (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 11,400 (2002) | 65 million (January 2001) |
Television broadcast stations | NA (linked to Swiss networks) (1997) | 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountainous (Alps) with Rhine Valley in western third | mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east |
Total fertility rate | 1.51 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 1.82 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 1.3% (September 2002) | urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2002 est.) |
Waterways | 28 km (2004) | 110,000 km (1999) |