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China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), has the third largest land area of any country on earth. Only Russia and Canada are larger. Topographically, China has a land area of 9,600,000 square kilometers (3,700,000 square miles).

Of this land area, 35 percent is mountainous, 27 percent plateau, 8 percent hilly areas, 17 percent basin and desert, and 13 percent plains. Only about 11 percent of the land area is suitable for agricultural production. Beijing, located in the north near the east coast, is China's capital city and its cultural, economic, and communications center.

China's population of 1.265 billion is the largest on earth, about 22 percent of the earth's total population. Population distribution is very uneven. Large areas of mountain and desert have few people, fewer than 10 persons per square kilometer. The highest population concentration is along the east and south coast , where population density averages more than 400 persons per square kilometer (1,040 persons per square mile).