Introduction
The People’s Republic of China, simply referred to as China, is a country found in East Asia. It is the most populous country, making up almost a quarter of the world’s population with more than 1.3 billion persons. The country is divided into 22 provinces, five sovereign regions, and four municipalities.
The nation’s capital city is Beijing. The PRC is the world’s third largest country by total area, and the second largest by total area covered by land. Some books say the country comes fourth in total area, however, the size depends on what is included in computing the total area. China’s economy is one of the world’s fastest developing and it is assumed that in a few decades’ time, it will surpass the US as the world’s largest economy.
I am interested in China’s rich history that can be traced from as far as 17th century BC. The country’s rich history revolves around the dynasties that have ruled the country from as early as the 17th century BC and ended in 1912 with the Qing Dynasty.
Data
China, located in Asia (East Asia); China is bordered by more than ten countries including Russia, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan; Pakistan; India (CIA, 2011).
As at July 2011, China’s population stood at 1,336,718,015, this makes it the most populous country in the world. The country’s average life expectancy at birth is 74.68. Males have a life expectancy of 72.68 while that for females is 76.94. The average infant mortality rates (children under five years) stand at 16.06 for every 1,000 live births. Males have a mortality rate of 15.61 while that for females is 16.57. The population growth rate currently stands at 0.493%. this figure ranks China at position 151 in the world (The World Bank, 2011).
China’s gross national income (GNI) is currently ranked at 121 with a figure of 4.260 by the World Bank. This ranking system uses the Atlas methodology which approximates the size of economies in terms of GNI in US dollars. Further ranking by the World Bank on the basis of the economy classifies the People’s Republic of China’s economy as an Upper-middle income economy with a per-capita income of between $3,976 and $12,275 (The World Bank, 2011).
The GNI is a measure of a nation’s entire economic activity or simply the wealth of the nation. It is defined as the complete value of all goods and services produced in a nation by companies owned by the nation (CIA, 2011). It is a more accurate measure of a country’s economic performance than the GDP, in fact, it combines GDP measures with incomes earned by local residents and from foreign investments in the country. The measure is very important in determining the economic strength of any nation.
The GDP measure can be computed in three different ways, all of which should give similar results. They are: product method, the income method, and the expenditure method. As of 2010, PRC’s GDP based on the purchasing power parity was $10.09 trillion, a slight improvement from the previous two years (CIA, 2011). The country recorded a GDP of $9.144 trillion and $8.374 trillion in 2009 and 2008 respectively.
These measures are based on the value of the US dollar 2010. However, China’s GDP based on the official exchange rate was $5.878 trillion. The country’s exchange rate is determined by a constant measure, instead of market forces as in most countries, therefore, the official exchange rate measure is not an precise determinant of China’s output. The measure significantly understates the country’s output.
China’s GDP as a measure of the growth rate was 10.3% in 2010, 9.2% in 2009 and 9.6% in 2008 (CIA, 2011). Gross income per capita was estimated at $7,600 in 2010 and like all other economic indicators, it registered growth from $6,900 in 2009 and $6,400 in 2008. According to the 2010 estimates, industries contributes is the highest contributor to the country’s economy at 46.9% followed by services at 43% and agriculture come third at 10.2% (CIA, 2011).
The People’s Republic of China’s net migration rate is currently estimated at -0.33 migrant(s) for every 1,000 persons. Net migration is the difference between the number of persons seeking permanent residence into a country (Immigrants) and the number leaving the country to settle in another country permanently (emigrants). The figure includes both citizens and non-citizens (CIA, 2011). The negative value indicates that the number of people moving out of China permanently are more than those coming in.
Conclusion
Being the world’s most populous nation and the second largest by total land area, the People’s Republic of China scores highly in various economic indicators that were investigated. In addition, the country shows a marked growth in these indicators, a testament to the stability of the country’s economy now and in the future. If the PRC continues registering the current economic growth rates, then it may not be long before it becomes the world’s economic power.
Works Cited
CIA. The World Factbook. 2011. Web.
The World Bank. Country and Lending Groups. 2011. Web.