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China
 


facts & data

 



 


China


United States





Geography
China has 23 provinces 1 and shares borders with 14 countries. It is slightly smaller than the U.S. in total land mass.
The U.S. has 50 states and shares borders with two countries. Total land mass is about half the size of Russia.



Capital   Beijing   Washington, D.C.



Population   1.3 billion
     Male: 52%
     Female: 48%
  298 million
     Male: 49%
     Female: 51%



Literacy2
  Total: 90.9%
      Male: 95.1%
      Female: 86.5%
 

  Total: 99%
      Male: 99%
      Female: 99%
 



 
Economy
Overview: China continues to move further from a centrally planned system typical of communist nations to a market-oriented economy. It has undergone rapid growth and is now a major economic force.

Key industries: Mining and metal processing, machine building, weapons, textiles, petroleum, cement, chemicals, consumer products, ships, telecom gear.

Overview: The U.S. has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world, and remains the world's largest manufacturing economy.

Key industries:
The U.S. has a highly diversified economy and includes petroleum, steel, auto production, aerospace, telecom, chemicals, electronics, food, lumber, consumer goods, mining, as well as health, financial and retail services.




Work force
   
Jobless
   rate
  791.4 million
  9% for urban areas 3
  Work force sectors:
     -- Agriculture: 49%
     -- Services: 29%;
     -- Industry: 22%
  149.3 million
  5.1% in 2005
  Work force sectors:
     -- Professional: 34.7%
     -- Sales: 25.4%
     -- Manufacturing: 22.9%
     -- Services: 16.3%
     -- Farming: 0.7%



GDP4
  Per capita
  income

  $8.883 trillion
  $6,800

  $12.31 trillion
  $42,000



Trade
   Imports
 
$631.8 billion
Top import partners:

    -- Japan: 15.2%
    -- South Korea: 11.6%
    -- Taiwan: 11.2%
    -- U.S.: 7.4%
    -- Germany: 4.6%
 
$1.727 trillion
Top import partners:
    -- Canada: 16.9%
    -- China: 15%
    -- Mexico: 10%
    -- Japan: 8.2%
    -- Germany: 5%

   Exports
$752.2 billion
Top export partners:
    -- U.S.: 21.4%
    -- Hong Kong: 16.3%
    -- Japan: 11%
    -- South Korea: 4.6%
    -- Germany: 4.3%
$927.5 billion
Top export partners:
    -- Canada: 23.4%
    -- Mexico: 13.3%
    -- Japan: 6.1%
    -- China: 4.6%
    -- UK: 4.3%



1 China considers Taiwan as its 23rd province, and the subject of Taiwan's status continues to be a divisive issue between Beijing and the island's government, as well as with the U.S., which supplies Taiwan with military equipment. China also has five autonomous regions.
2 The Central Intelligence Agency defines literacy as the portion of the population (age 15 and older) that can read and write.
3 China's official rate applies only to urban regions. In rural regions, unemployment is very high, and the country's total jobless rate is believed to be about 20% -- or 153.3 million people, which is larger than the U.S. work force.
4
GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product and is a measure of a country's total output in goods and services.

Source:
CIA World Factbook

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