Population: 1,151,486,981 (July 1991), growth rate 1.6% (1991)

Birth rate: 22 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Infant mortality rate: 33 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 72 years female (1991)

Total fertility rate: 2.3 children born/woman (1991)

Nationality: noun--Chinese (sing., pl.); adjective--Chinese

Ethnic divisions: Han Chinese 93.3%; Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 6.7%

Religion: officially atheist, but traditionally pragmatic and eclectic; most important elements of religion are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism; Muslim 2-3%, Christian 1% (est.)

Language: Standard Chinese (Putonghua) or Mandarin (based on the Beijing dialect); also Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, and minority languages (see ethnic divisions)

Literacy: 73% (male 84%, female 62%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Labor force: 553,000,000; agriculture and forestry 60%, industry and commerce 25%, construction and mining 5%, social services 5%, other 5% (1989 est.)

Organized labor: All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) follows the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party; membership over 80 million or about 65% of the urban work force (1985)

NOTE: The information regarding China on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of China People 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about China People 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.