People’s Republic of China
People’s Republic of China, commonly known as China or abbreviated to PRC is a country in East Asia. With over 1.31 billion people, it is the world’s most populous country. At over 9.5 million km� (3.7 million square miles), it is the world’s third or fourth largest country in terms of total area. Its capital is Beijing.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has led the PRC under a single-party system (excluding Hong Kong and Macau) since the state’s establishment in 1949. The PRC is involved in a long-running dispute over the political status of Taiwan. The CPC’s rival during the Chinese Civil War, the Kuomintang (KMT), retreated to Taiwan and surrounding islands after its civil war defeat in 1949, and traditionally has claimed legitimacy over China and Mongolia while it is the ruling power of the Republic of China (ROC). The PRC regards the ROC claims as illegitimate. The term “Mainland China” is sometimes used to denote the areas under PRC rule, but usually excludes its two Special Administrative Regions: Hong Kong and Macau.
Due to its vast population, its rapidly growing economy, its large research and development investments and military spending, its status as a declared nuclear weapons state, and other capabilities, the PRC is often considered by commentators as an emerging superpower. It is the world’s fourth largest economy and second largest at purchasing power parity, and represents China as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Market-based economic reforms since 1978 have helped lift millions of people out of poverty, bringing the poverty rate down from 53% of population in 1981 to 8% by 2001. However, the PRC is now faced with a number of other economic problems, including a rapidly aging population and an increasing rural-urban income gap.
This information originated from Wikipedia