People's Republic of China: Map & History

History

Evidence of early humans such as Homo erectus in China dates to the Paleolithic, around 1.7 million years ago, with unconfirmed sites as old as 2 million years ago. Modern Homo sapiens are attested from around 50,000 years ago. Following the end of the Last Glacial Period, in about 8,000 BCE, pottery-making Neolithic cultures emerged. By the 6000s BCE, sedentary agricultural societies had spread across the lower Yellow River basin. These societies became increasingly complex, urbanized, and stratified, but many experienced a population collapse in the late 2000s BCE for unclear reasons.

After 2000 BCE, a Bronze Age culture emerged in the Central Plain, dubbed the Erlitou culture after its main site.

Economy

The modern PRC is often described by analysts as an example of state capitalism or party-state capitalism, with both market forces and the state playing a major role in the economy. Various state organs manage the economy according to the State Council's five-year plans. China describes its economic system as a socialist market economy, in which the market plays a decisive role in resource allocation under the control of a socialist state. The Chinese economy has expanded more than 20 times since 2000. It is now the second largest economy by GDP (135 trillion yuan) and the largest when adjusted for purchasing power parity. China has brought roughly 800 million people out of extreme poverty, more than any other country in history.

Culture

Beginning in the Qin and Han dynasties and continuing over the following millennia, an area of Chinese cultural influence grew to encompass much of East Asia. Japan, Korea, and Vietnam adopted various political, philosophical, religious, and aesthetic concepts from China, facilitated by their adoption of Chinese characters and participation in the tributary system. China has 60 World Heritage Sites, including the Great Wall and Grand Canal, the second most of any country (behind Italy).

Chinese culture has historically emphasized family connections, with filial piety and the veneration of ancestors seen as vital duties under Confucian ethics. Prior to the 20th century, family relations were highly patriarchal, and arranged marriages were commonplace.

Geography

China's geography is highly varied, featuring a dry and mountainous west, alongside both mountains and wide river valleys in the east. Chinese civilization was traditionally centered in the lowlands around China's two longest rivers: the Yangtze and the Yellow River, both originating on the Tibetan Plateau. This temperate region is bordered by forest and steppe to the north, as well as the mountainous and subtropical south. China's shoreline spans the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea, all part of the Pacific Ocean.