How big is china: Just how big is China really?

Just how big is China really?

China is one of the largest countries in the world. We’ve seen it on a map, but it’s hard to envisage just how big it is. Here are some facts and comparisons to help you understand China’s huge size – and put its population and diversity into perspective!

How many people live in China?

• China has the largest population of a single country in the world. Its current population is over 1.4 billion, which is 18% of the whole world’s population! Compare that to the US, whose population makes up for a comparatively tiny 4.2% and the UK, which makes up for just 0.9%.
• Shanghai is the third most populated city in the world, with a population of over 27 million. That’s over three times that of New York City’s 8.5 million.
• China has over 600 hundred cities, over 100 of which are home to over 1 million people. Compare that to the US, with only 10 cities with over 1 million people, or the UK, with only one city with a population over this number: London.

What is the size of China?

• China is the fourth largest country in the world. It’s so large that some parts of China are closer to countries like Turkey and Egypt than other parts of China. For example, if you’re in Akto in Western China, you’re closer to the Maldives than you are to Da Hinggan Ling, a prefecture in North-East China.
• China is 9.6 million km2, whilst the UK is 243,000 km2. That means that China is 39 times bigger than the UK. An equivalent comparison is that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is 39 times taller than the average UK woman.
• By car, travelling from Beijing to Shanghai is a 1,200km journey that takes about 12 hours – the same amount of time as driving from London to Salzburg, a route that takes you through four different countries!
• Travelling from the northernmost point of China, Mohe county in Da Hinggan Ling, to the southernmost point, Hai’an in Guangdong, would take you 53 hours by car on a 4,900km journey. That’s the equivalent of driving from Plymouth to the very top of Scotland and back down again, twice!

How diverse is China’s population?

• Due to China’s population and size, it is a diverse country, composed of 56 different ethnic groups. In Shanghai, you’ll find world-leading technology companies and the latest iPhone in every passerby’s hand. Venture out into to interact with minority peoples with a different way of life, like the Bai people in Yunnan, a province in South-West China. Unlike those living in China’s cities, most Bai people make their living from the land, are Buddhist and participate in their own festivals.
• Over 70% of people in China speak Mandarin, but there are still many other major languages. Most are related to Mandarin – they are collectively called hanyu, and 92% of the Chinese population speak one of these languages. But these languages are still very different; although they are related, they are as different as English, Italian and French to each other. Along with these hanyu languages, there are about 300 minority languages which correspond with geographical areas.

What does Chinese rule look like?

• China exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities and two special administrative regions.
• China’s smallest province, Hainan, is approximately three times larger than the UK’s biggest county, Yorkshire.
• Autonomous regions in China are home to large populations of a specific minority group. China’s largest autonomous region, Xinjiang in North-West China, has an area of 1.665 million km2. That means seven UKs could fit into this region!

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How Big Is China? 😲 48 (Incredible) Facts To Blow Your Mind

So how big is China, really? We all know China is big, but just how big?

How Big is China – Population

How Big is China – World Maps

How Big is China – High Speed Rail

How Big is China – Golden Week Migration

How Big is China – Time Zone(s)

How Big is China – Cement Used

How Big is China – Random, Crazy Facts

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Discover how Big China is in 2 minutes on our YouTube Channel

Let’s start with some basic, but rather large numbers

• China is the 4th largest country in the world (behind Russia, Canada and the US)
• China’s population is 1. 386 billion (2017) – the largest in the world
• China is the largest country in Asia
• The total area of China (including administrative regions) is 9,596,960 sq km (3,705,406 sq mi)

How Big is China? BIG! Map thanks to mylifeelsewhere.com

Size matters in China – numbers are staggering and, despite being eclipsed by three countries in terms of land mass, they make up for it in population!

Oh and as we are talking about rather large numbers, this seems rather appropriate to drop into the post:

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How Big is China – Population

As stated, China is the world’s most populous country but let’s dig deeper:

• More than 100 Chinese cities have a population that is greater than 1,000,000 people!
  • For a look at those cities, Wikipedia have you covered
• Tianjin nearly doubles New York in terms of size.
• On average, 34 new born children are born every minute in China.

China’s Population Growth since the turn of 2000 – Tables thanks to statista.com

To put into perspective the size of China’s population here are the top 10 most populated countries in the world:

*numbers will vary from source to source

PERSPECTIVE – Russia is the biggest country in world, and the 9th most populous. China’s population is around ten times bigger than Russia

In terms of most populated cities in the world, although China does not take the Gold Medal (that award belongs to Tokyo), it does dominate the bigger positions.

• Shanghai – 3rd biggest city in the world (almost 26,000,000 people)
• Beijing – 8th biggest city in the world (roughly 20,000,000 people)
• Chongqing – 13th biggest city in the world (roughly 15,000,000 people)
• Tianjin – 19th biggest city in the world (over 12,000,000 people)

China has 5 representatives in the top 20 most populated cities in the world (Guangzhou also coming in at 20th), India comes next with 3 cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata) and Japan has two (Tokyo and Osaka).

DID YOU KNOW – Roughly 1 in every 5 people in the world is Chinese (18. 41% of the total world population is Chinese)

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And to finish off, here’s some key vocab for us to learn

Population – 人口 Rénkǒu

Country – 国家 Guójiā

Number – 数 Shù

Big – 大 Dà

How Big is China – World Maps

Visuals are always more striking than words for topics like this so we’ll let the images do the talking here with some comparisons that will prove to you just how big China is!

All maps are credited to mylifeelsewhere.com

Africa is NOT small! It’s actually the 2nd largest continent in the world (behind Asia of course)!

China covers a vast array of countries in Africa as you’ll see below. We’ve placed China in the centre of the continent to give you a clearer picture.

How Big is China compared to Africa

Australia is the 6th largest country in the world, it’s a big player. China however, eats it up for breakfast!

With over 2 million more square miles to its name, China is comfortably bigger than Australia.

How Big is China vs Australia – Bigger!

Bar Russia, no country in Europe can even come close to competing with the size of China.

How Big is China? BIG! Map thanks to mylifeelsewhere.com

Brazil is huge, still not as big as China, but not too far off, but what about the rest of South America?

Here’s how China fares over South America on a map.

How Big is China vs South America

More vocab now:

South America – 南美洲 Nán měizhōu

Africa – 非洲 Fēizhōu

Europe – 欧洲 Ōuzhōu

Australia – 澳大利亚 Àodàlìyǎ

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How Big is China – Incredible Progress with High Speed Rail

The progress China has made with high speed rail from 2008-2018 is staggering… see this screenshot below to show the differences.

*We took these screenshots from the below video, please watch. It’s 12 minutes, but you will not regret it, the figures and facts are hard to believe!

China High Speed Rail in 2008China High Speed Rail in 2018

The captions tell you all you need to know:

• 8 times more high speed rail than France
• 10 times more high speed rail than Japan

It’s fair to say in just 10 years China has made utterly incredible progression with their high-speed rail that no other country can even come close to competing with!

Here’s some more quite astounding figures to wrap your head around:

• China has a huge 65% of the world’s of high-speed running on the planet
  • To be more precise, China has 26,869 km (16,696 mi) of the 41,222 km (25,614 mi) high speed rail worldwide!
    • Just because that isn’t enough, another 10,738 km (6,672 mi) is currently under construction meaning soon enough, China will have over 40,000 km worth of high speed rail! That’s the rest of the world’s high speed rail put together!
• Data from 2015: Half the world’s high-speed rail riders were based in China.
  • To be more exact, that was 800 million high speed riders in 2015!
•  The top speed of the trains are 350km p/h

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And the vocab:

High Speed Train – 高铁 Gāo tiě

Train Ticket – 火车票 Huǒchē piào

Speed – 速度 Sùdù

Kilometers – 公里 Gōnglǐ

How Big is China – Golden Week Migration

On the topic of transport let’s quickly touch on China’s Golden Week.

How big is China: Taken from the Telegraph

From October 1st – 7th Chinese are given time off and this is commonly used to travel (with Chinese New Year the time to spend with loved ones and relatives).

OVER 700 MILLION JOURNEYS ARE MADE DURING GOLDEN WEEK

Travel and Tourism revenue over Golden Week reached 87 BILLION USD during the 2018 holiday.

The top 3 destinations for Chinese tourists during this mass migration are:

• Sanya (beach holiday)
• Beijing
• Xiamen

Retail and catering businesses during the holiday took in an almost incomprehensible 200+ BILLION USD!

That was a 9.5% increase on the previous year!

Golden Week is a BIG deal in China, hence it’s inclusion in this post!

Vocab time:

Travel – 旅行 Lǚxíng

Golden Week – 国庆节 Guóqìng jié

Tourists – 游客 Yóukè

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How Big is China – Only One Time Zone?

So you are starting to realise China is huge right?

Timezones are a thing for those of us who live in larger countries.

If you are Russian, you have the joy of trying to navigate just the mere 11 time zones!

America’s mainland covers 4 time zones but with Alaska and Hawaii there are 6 (there are further ones but we needn’t go into those). From west to east, they are Hawaii, Alaska, Pacific, Mountain, Central, and Eastern.

China, being big should have a similar number then?

Well in fact, China has as many time zones as the UK – just one!

We wrote a blog about it, find out why, anyway, moving on…

It’s that time again:

Time Zone – 时区 Shíqū

Time Difference – 时差 Shíchā

How Big is China – Cement Used

Sounds like an odd chapter doesn’t it? However, one fact inspired this:

US Cement Usage vs China Cement Usage

China used more cement between 2011 and 2013 than the U. S. used in the entire 20th Century.

Seems barely believable doesn’t it. The US is a monster and endured great growth in the 1900’s.

Yet China managed to eclipse the amount of cement used in just 2 years, that’s just 730 days (731 actually, including the leap year)!

731 days work, or a century?! Just doesn’t seem possible but that’s exactly what happened.

Thanks to the Washington Post for the data/graphic provided.

Although it’s difficult to illustrate this, pictures again are our best tool. Here are some images showing China’s growth in recent years. It’s a LOT of cement!

Shanghai – Then (1990) and Now (2010)

Perhaps China’s greatest triumph in recent history is the transformation of the city of Shenzhen.

Hong Kong and Shenzhen – 1980 – 2010

Shenzhen, up until recent history was a minor fishing village with a small population.

Within the space of a generation it has been transformed into one of China’s great superpowers, with skyscraper after skyscraper and job opportunities for the masses.

Sure, this didn’t all happen between 2011 and 2013 but the virtual creation of not just a city, but a superpower in the space of 30 years? It seems beyond the realms of possibility.

Crunching some numbers again:

HONG KONG:

• 1980 population: 4.6 million
• 2015 population: 7.3 million

SHENZHEN:

• 1980 population: 58,000
• 2015 population: 10.7 million

Yes, you saw that right! An increase in population of OVER 10 million in just 35 years! There are no words!

Right then, one final time, it’s vocab time:

Cement – 水泥 Shuǐní

Shanghai – 上海

Shenzhen – 深圳

USA – 美国

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How Big is China – Random, Crazy Facts

And the grand finale:

Time for some purely random, but ridiculous facts about this unique country, here goes:

It’s Big – but not the biggest

• China’s railway lines are so broad they could loop around the planet, TWICE!
• On average, there is a new skyscraper built in China every FIVE DAYS!
  • That’s 73 per year!
• Half the world’s pigs, live in China
• China’s Shanghai Tower is currently the 2nd tallest building in the world. Its overall height is a mere 632 metres / 2,073 feet!
• In the top 10 tallest buildings in the world, China holds positions 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th (10th being the Taipei 101 in Taiwan)
  • It also holds positions 11th and 12th for good measure!
• Using the Heihe-Tengchong Line proves that there is 94% of the entire Chinese population live in a 43% of the area of China. On the west side of the line, 57% of the area and only 6% of the population
  • To find out more about this imaginary line, Wikipedia is your best friend!
• China uses 45 BILLION Chopsticks every year.

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How Big is China – FAQ’s

Is China bigger than the USA?

In terms of size, the USA is bigger. In terms of population, China is much bigger.

Is China bigger than Russia?

No, Russia is way bigger than China in terms of size, a huge 6.6 million square miles in total. China, however, has a much larger population.

Is China bigger than the Australia?

Yes, China is quite comfortably bigger than Australia. Australia comes in at 7,700,000 sq km (roughly), while China is approximately 9,500,000.

Is China bigger than the India?

Yes China is comfortably bigger than India, roughly three times bigger in fact.

That said, India’s population is growing fast and although China currently is the most populous country on the planet, India is forecast to overtake China in the not too distant future.

Is the world’s biggest building in China?

No the biggest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa based in Dubai which is almost 700 feet taller than the second biggest building in the world.

The second is indeed in China, the Shanghai Tower at just over 2,000 feet.

Is China the most populated country on the planet?

Yes China is the most populated country in the world with a population of 1.386 billion (2017). India is not too far off in second though.

On average how many children are born in China per minute?

On average there are 34 new born children are born every minute in China.

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How big is China’s Belt and Road? — “Kaspiyskiy Vestnik”

Over the past few years, one of the main directions of the economic policy of the countries of the Caspian region has been the accelerated development of transport and logistics infrastructure, primarily rail and sea. The injection of significant financial resources into the development of the transport sector, as a rule, is explained by the desire of the Caspian states to obtain the status of transit countries within the framework of the China-formed global transport project “One Belt – One Road” (BRI), aimed at creating an extensive network of supplies of Chinese goods to foreign markets, primarily European. nine0004

However, despite the grandeur of the project initiated by China, a number of experts express reasonable doubts about the ability of the Caspian countries to attract any significant part of the cargo flow of Chinese goods to their territory. At the same time, the reasons for this are the uneven development of infrastructure in the region, the need to cross a large number of borders, China’s inability to fulfill the stated promises in terms of the size of the planned investments in the development of the transport infrastructure of the countries participating in the OBOR project, and others. nine0004

Jonathan Hillman, director of the Reconnecting Asia project at the US Center for Strategic and International Studies, in which the staff of the Center monitors China’s activities on the implementation of the One Belt, One Road initiative, is a supporter of this point of view.

Portal “ Casp – Geo ” publishes a translation of D. Hillman’s article titled “How Big is China’s Belt and Road?” ( nine0004 How Big Is China’s Belt and Road? ), in which the author analyzes Beijing’s investment activity under the BRI and expresses doubts about China’s ability to provide the declared financial injections for the project within the time frame specified by it. An American analyst, based on facts, makes a number of interesting remarks about the Chinese initiative, which indicate that the Caspian countries should not expect to quickly receive significant profits from the transit of Chinese goods:

The large investments that Xi decides to make under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are not cumulative. The most popular estimates of Chinese BRI investment range from $1 trillion to $8 trillion, which is unlikely to be rounding errors. Without a clearer understanding of the scope of the BRI, it is difficult to assess its economic and strategic implications. However, a closer assessment reveals that the upper threshold is substantially overestimated and aimed more at political gains for Beijing in the short term, and therefore also creates unrealistic expectations for its potential participants. nine0005

BRI mapping is more of an art or a science. It is a moving force, loosely defined and ever-expanding. It includes Chinese investment in roads, ports and other heavy infrastructure. It includes trade deals, transport agreements and other soft infrastructure efforts. If you have traveled to China since September 2013, congratulations, you may have participated in the BRI. It includes tourism and other interpersonal relationships such as education and cultural exchanges. nine0005

BRI is not limited by geography or even gravity. When it was announced in 2013, it had two main components: a land “belt” across the Eurasian supercontinent and a maritime “path” across the Indian Ocean and to Europe via the Suez Canal. Since its announcement in 2013, this vision has expanded to the Arctic, cyberspace and outer space. The contract with China under the OBOR was signed even by the countries of Central America that are far from China.

However, participation in the BRI is less significant than it might seem at first glance. Approximately 70 countries have joined the project, but the levels of Chinese investment in their economies vary widely. Pakistan, for example, has already raised about $60 billion, and BRI South Korea, as of last year, had no projects related to the Chinese initiative. Despite being one of the loudest critics of the BRI, India still attracts some Chinese investment through the program. For example, the Industrial Park in Gurajat would easily be branded as one of the BRI projects elsewhere. Therefore, participation in BRI is not a prerequisite for doing business with China, and participation is not a guarantee of more business. nine0005

BRI projects do not have clear timelines. Some projects and activities that started even before the official announcement of the program are currently renamed and are often counted in conjunction with later projects. Until recently, some pundits expected the BRI to be phased out when Xi Jinping steps down as chairman in 2022. But by dropping presidential term limits, Xi will likely be able to hold out longer, as will his trademark foreign policy strategy. Theoretically, the implementation of the BRI could stretch until 2049year, the 100th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China and the 11th target date for the formation of China as a “fully developed, rich and powerful country.”

Different assumptions for such basic questions as what, where, who and when naturally lead to different estimates of the size of the BRI. Expand any dimension and the scores start to rise, especially looking to the future. However, looking at what has been done to date, a more modest picture emerges, including risks that could ultimately bury BRI’s grand ambitions. nine0005

Consider the most common estimate, $1 trillion. This figure is usually associated with promised infrastructure investments. There are two key qualifiers to pay attention to here: infrastructure and promises. For example, the infrastructure data tracked by the Center for Strategic and International Studies through the Reconnecting Asia project is rather mixed. Given the complexity of the project planning and construction process, there is a natural lag between pledged infrastructure contributions and actual investment. China, like other countries, tends to promise more than it can deliver. nine0005

The best available data suggests that China’s $1 trillion investment promise has not been kept and, on current trends, will not be kept for several years. The Reconnecting Asia project tracks approximately $90 billion allocated by the Chinese side to finance transport projects (in particular, railways, roads, ports and dry ports) during 2014-2017.

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the China Heritage Foundation’s global investment tracker, which tracks Chinese construction and investment across all sectors, estimate approximately $340 billion in 2014-2017. Based on current trends, AEI, Cecilia Joy-Perez and Derek Scissors estimate that it will take another six to seven years for BRI investment to reach the $1 trillion level. Given the limited involvement of the private sector in the BRI, these institutions also predict that the US$2 trillion investment threshold may only be reached in the 2030s. nine0005

So why is the BRI valued at $8 trillion? Our theory is that they are based on a combination of Asia’s massive infrastructure needs and relatively modest Chinese investment.

In particular, most of the references to the $8 trillion figures are based on the publication of comments in the Hong Kong Economic Journal dated 2016, which notes, “The financial experts of the State Council have calculated that the “One Belt, One Road” will cost as much as $8 trillion if it was fully implemented according to Xi Jinping’s plan.0005

This assessment of the State Council is clearly unattainable. Interestingly, a similar number was in circulation around the same time. In 2009, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimated that developing countries in Asia needed $8 trillion in infrastructure investment over the period 2010-2020.

If the State Council made the estimate, the author may have accepted the ADB figures. This could happen for several reasons. The BRI has been defined only in general terms, as it is difficult, if not impossible, to make a reliable estimate. Why then create a new assessment from scratch, if you can take an existing one? Other than that, the BRI has evolved since its announcement. The vision for a maritime cooperation corridor under the BRI was not published until June 2017. After that, even the name changed to One Belt, One Road (OBOR). nine0005

Misconceptions about the size of the BRI have practical consequences. For now, Chinese officials may enjoy watching valuations rise and may even reap some political benefits from it. They conjured a huge carrot that attracted the attention of the whole world. Some developing countries are linking their development plans to the BRI. International companies have assembled entire teams to close BRI deals.

But China also faces the disadvantages of unrealistic BRI estimates. The size of the project excites some observers but worries others. As these efforts heat up, so do concerns about their impact on debt levels, the environment, and even regional security. For China, perhaps the biggest risk is unmet expectations. Now the world is watching as China faces the pressure to deliver on its promises. Even if Chinese officials have not pledged trillions of dollars in investment, they have done little to correct these misconceptions. nine0005

A realistic estimate of the scope of the BRI can go a long way. For the backers of the project, this article will help temper expectations. For skeptics, it could moderate concerns about the risks of BRI. The benefits of BRI are obvious, but they require bringing Xi’s great vision down to earth. This is the price some of his advisors will be willing to pay.

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Caspian transport logistics China

Sina (China): how big is the gap between Chinese and Russian nuclear submarines? nine0001

InoSMI materials contain only foreign media assessments and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI

Read inosmi. ru in

The Chinese military industry is developing rapidly, in recent years a huge number of modern warships have been produced. So far, Chinese ships are much inferior to Russian ones. The Chinese expert is confident that everything will change after the appearance in China of a new generation of submarines that will overtake the Russian Borey submarines and reach the level of the American Ohios. nine0005

Da Shui (大水)

China’s military industry is developing rapidly, and a huge number of modern warships have been produced in recent years. Recently, a German naval officer asked how many submarines China now had, to which the persons accompanying him replied that there were about ten, the German feigned surprise. This year, the troops received large destroyers with a displacement of 550,000 tons. They became the first main warships in the history of the Chinese Navy with world-class combat capability, which China is very proud of. nine0005

Russia is not so lucky in this regard, it recently announced the dismantling of nuclear warships with a displacement of 100 thousand tons, including two missile cruisers of the Kirov project, six nuclear submarines, both attacking and carrying ballistic missiles. Compared to China, the Russian Navy is seriously losing.

Has the Chinese Navy completely overtaken Russia?

No, China has overtaken Russia only in the field of surface ships, in terms of technology related to nuclear submarines, it is still far behind. nine0005

Second-generation nuclear attack submarines and ballistic missile-carrying submarines, such as attack submarines 091 and 093, ballistic missile submarines 092 and 094 are currently being built in China.

Nuclear submarine technology in China, Russia in the West strikingly different from each other. Since the Chinese ones have a curved shape, some details are not sufficiently developed, for example, the holes for draining water stick out, creating a lot of noise. In the West, this shortcoming was eliminated back in the 70s of the last century, and on many Chinese submarines with ballistic missiles, you can still see drain holes protruding outside, creating a lot of noise. nine0005

Of course, the technologies for creating nuclear submarines in China are developing. Submarine 094 was developed as an upgraded version of Submarine 092 and continues to improve slowly but surely.

Externally, the following changes can be seen on the 094 submarines: firstly, the number of drain holes has been reduced from three to one, and secondly, there is no longer a drain hole in the head part. Due to this, the noise produced by the submarine was greatly reduced, but at the same time, the surface of the hatch for launching the rocket began to fit loosely, a gap formed. nine0005

Let’s see what the Russian missile submarine Borey looks like. At first glance, you can see some differences with Chinese submarines. First, the upper deck remains smooth despite the absence of a bulge, and there are also no open slot holes.

Secondly, there are no water drain holes sticking out on the boat’s hull. However, on submarines of this design, the holes must be between the light and strong hulls of submarines with a double hull. To solve this problem, two concave drain holes were arranged under the rocket launch hatch.