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China Travel Guide » About China » China's Geography
China's Geography
China is one of the largest countries in the world by land mass. It also has other record-breaking features, in particular more than fifty percent of the world's highest mountain ranges above 8000 meters are found in this nation.
There are actually five geographic regions in China. They are the Tibetan Plateau in the far southwest, the Tarim and Dzungarian basins of the Xinjiang River to the north of the Tibetan Plateau, the far northern Inner Mongolian Tableland, the outer territory of the Manchurian areas and China Proper. China Proper makes up eighty percent of the country's total size.
To a great degree, we can say that the western areas of China are the highest in elevation with the elevations tapering downward as one moves eastward toward the Pacific shores.
Four major rivers have influenced China and continue to do so. They are the Huang He (Yellow River), the Xi and Pearl River valleys combined in South-Central China and the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) in Central China. The Huang He River floods nearly every year, becoming a river of mud. This river in the northern areas is kept from invading Central China by the presence of the Qingling Mountains to the south. To the north of the Qingling Mountains, the land supports the growing of grain crops while rice is grown south of the mountains.
The wettest and warmer areas of China Proper are in the region of the Xi and Pearl Rivers. The Yangtze River and its many tributaries form the natural drainage of China, dispersing water from twenty percent of the nation's total areas. The Yangtze (Chang Jiang) acts as the main street of China at 6300 km in length. It is one of the busiest waterways on Earth.
China has land borders with fifteen countries. Its eastern border is largely against the Pacific Ocean. There are a number of other countries within close range of China although their borders do not touch China's border.
China is Asia's largest nation as far as land size. It land area is significant at 9.6 million square kilometres. It has a coastline of over eighteen thousand km. It is around 5500 km from north to south borders and around 5000 km from west to east.
About two-thirds of the country is covered by hills, mountains or plateaus. The presence of mountains and rivers help to dictate what types of crops can be grown in various areas of China.
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