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).

Demographics

Main articles: ethnic groups in Chinese history, nationalities of China

Related Topics:
Ethnic groups in Chinese history - Nationalities of China

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Over a hundred ethnic groups have existed in China. In terms of numbers, however, the pre-eminent ethnic group in China is the Han, which is a group so diverse in its culture and language that some conceive of it as a larger overarching group bringing together many smaller, distinct ethnic groups sharing common traits in language and culture. Throughout history, many ethnic groups have been assimilated into neighbouring ethnicities or disappeared without a trace. Several previously distinct ethnic groups have been Sinicized into the Han, causing its population to increase dramatically; at the same time, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and cultural traditions, though still identifying as Han. The term Zhonghua Minzu is sometimes used to describe a notion of a "Chinese nationality" transcending ethnic divisions.

Related Topics:
Ethnic groups - Han - Sinicize - Zhonghua Minzu

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The government of the People's Republic of China now officially recognizes a total of 56 ethnic groups, of which the largest is the Han Chinese. China's overall population, the largest in the world, is 1.3 billion. With the global human population currently estimated at about 6.4 billion, China is home to approximately 20%, or one-fifth of the human species, homo sapiens.

Related Topics:
People's Republic of China - 56 ethnic groups - Han Chinese - Species - Homo sapiens

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The lack of birth control and promotion of population growth during the rule of Mao Zedong resulted in a demographic explosion, culminating in over 1.3 billion people today. As a response to the problems this is causing, the government of the PRC has enacted a birth control policy, commonly known as the One-child policy.

Related Topics:
Mao Zedong - Birth control - One-child policy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Han speak several mutually unintelligible tongues, classified by modern linguists as being separate languages, but regarded within the Chinese languages as "dialects" or "area languages" within a single Chinese language. The various spoken varieties of Chinese share a common written standard, "Vernacular Chinese" or "baihua", which has been used since the early 20th Century and is based on Standard Mandarin, the standard spoken language, in grammar and vocabulary. In addition, another, more ancient written standard, Classical Chinese, was used for writing Chinese by the literati for thousands of years before the 20th Century. Classical Chinese is no longer the predominant form of written Chinese, though it continues to be a part of high school curricula and is hence intelligible to some degree to many Chinese people. Other than Standard Mandarin, spoken variants are usually not written; the exception is Standard Cantonese, which is sometimes written as Written Cantonese in informal contexts.

Related Topics:
Chinese language - Vernacular Chinese - Standard Mandarin - Classical Chinese - Standard Cantonese - Written Cantonese

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~