China

:This article is about Chinese civilization. For the modern-day state commonly referred to as "China", see People's Republic of China. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation).

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China () refers to a number of states and cultures that have existed and are viewed as having succeeded one another in continental East Asia, dating back at least 3,500 years, with 5,000 years being commonly used by Chinese. Depending on one's point of view, modern China can be described as a single civilization or multiple civilizations, as a single state or multiple states, and as a single nation or multiple nations.

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With one of the world's longest periods of uninterrupted civilization and the world's longest continuous written language, China's history has been largely characterized by repeated divisions and reunifications amid alternating periods of peace and war, and violent imperial dynastic change. The country's territorial extent expanded outwards from a core area in the North China Plain, and varied according to its moving fortunes. For centuries, China was also one of the world's most technologically advanced civilizations, and East Asia's dominant cultural influence, with a cultural impact last to the present. However, by the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, China's political, economic, and military influence declined relative to growing regional power Japan and the influence of Western powers. Semi-colonialism developed by the late nineteenth century, and China was invaded by the Empire of Japan during World War II.

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The imperial system in China ended with the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC) under Sun Yatsen in 1912; however, the next four decades of ROC rule were marred by warlord control, the Second Sino-Japanese War (WWII), and the Chinese Civil War.

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After its victory in the Chinese Civil War, the Communist Party of China under Mao Zedong established the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, forcing the Republic of China (ROC) to retreat to Taiwan, which it had governed since the end of World War II. Since then, the ROC has maintained control over Taiwan, the Pescadores, several islands off the coast of Fujian province, and some islands in the South China Sea. In the meantime, the United Kingdom and Portugal transferred their colonies of Hong Kong and Macau on the southern Chinese coast to the PRC in 1997 and 1999, respectively. "China" used in a modern context often refers to just the territory of the PRC, or to "Mainland China", which refers to the territory of the PRC excluding Hong Kong and Macau.

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The PRC does not recognize the ROC, as it claims to have succeeded the ROC in its legitimacy to govern all of China including Taiwan. On the other hand, the ROC, while never formally surrendering its claims to all of China, has moved away from its former identity as the ruler of China, and increasingly characterizes itself as Taiwan. Ironically, the PRC does not want the ROC to call itself Taiwan, even though it denies the existence of the ROC. The debate surrounding the nature and extent of China continue to fuel ongoing political disputes on Chinese reunification/Taiwan independence issues, described in greater detail in Political status of Taiwan.

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People's Republic of China: The People's Republic of China (PRC; Pinyin: Zh?nghu? R?nm?n G?ngh?gu? ; Traditional: ??????? Simplified: ???????), commonly referred to as China, is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion people, most of whom are said to be of Han Chin...

China (disambiguation): China may refer to:...

Continent: A continent (Latin continere, "to hold together") is a large continuous land mass. There are several conceptions of what a continent is, geographic, geologic, and tectonic....

China related Images and Photos (experimental)

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