China
/ˈtʃaɪnə/- a country in east Asia, the third largest and most populous in the world; pop. 1,338, 613,000 (est. 2009); language, Chinese (of which Mandarin is the official form); capital, Beijing. Official name PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.中国（位于东亚, 面积为世界第三大国, 是人口最多的国家, 2009年估计人口1,338, 613,000, 语言汉语, 官方语言为普通话。首都北京, 正式名称中华人民共和国）。
Chinese civilization stretches back until at least the 3rd millennium BC, the country being ruled by a series of dynasties until the Qing (or Manchu) dynasty was overthrown by Sun Yat-sen in 1911; China was proclaimed a republic the following year. After the Second World War the Kuomintang government of Chiang Kai-shek was overthrown by the communists under Mao Zedong, the People's Republic of China being declared in 1949. Market-oriented reforms were introduced in the last quarter of the twentieth century.