Education in china

 China
(Chinese: 
中国
; pinyin: Zhōngguó), officially the 
People's Republic of 
China
(
PRC
),
[k]
 is a country in East Asia. It is the world's second-most populous 
country with a population exceeding 1.4 billion. China spans the equivalent of 
five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, tied with Russia as having 
the most of any country in the world. With an area of nearly 9.6 million square 
kilometres (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the world's third largest country by total land 
area.
[m]
 The country is divided into 22 provinces,
[n]
 five autonomous regions, 
four municipalities, and two semi-autonomous special administrative regions. The 
national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and largest financial 
center is Shanghai. 
The region that is now China has been inhabited since the Paleolithic era. The 
earliest Chinese dynastic states, such as the Shang and the Zhou, emerged in the 
basin of the Yellow River before the late second millenium BCE. The eighth to 
third centuries BCE saw a breakdown in Zhou authority and significant conflict, as 
well as the emergence of Classical Chinese literature and philosophy. In 221 BCE, 
China was unified under an emperor, ushering in more than two millennia in which 
China was governed by one or more imperial dynasties, such as 
the Han, Tang, Ming and Qing. Some of China's most notable achievements, such 
as the invention of gunpowder and paper, the establishment of the Silk Road, and 
the building of the Great Wall, occurred during this period. The Chinese culture, 
including languages, traditions, architecture, philosophy and more, has heavily 
influenced East Asia during this imperial period. 
In 1912, the Chinese monarchy was overthrown and the Republic of 
China established. The Republic saw consistent conflict for most of the mid-20th 

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century, 
including 
a civil 
war between 
the Kuomintang government 
and 
the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which began in 1927, as well as the Second 
Sino-Japanese War that began in 1937 and continued until 1945, therefore 
becoming involved in World War II. The latter led to a temporary stop in the civil 
war and numerous Japanese atrocities such as the Nanjing Massacre, which 
continue to influence China-Japan relations. In 1949, the CCP established control 
over China as the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan. Early communist rule saw two 
major projects: the Great Leap Forward, which resulted in a sharp economic 
decline and massive famine; and the Cultural Revolution, a movement to purge all 
non-communist elements of Chinese society that led to mass violence and 
persecution. Beginning in 1978, the Chinese government began economic 
reforms that moved the country away from planned economics, but political 
reforms were cut short by the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, which ended in a 
massacre. Despite the event, the economic reform continued to strengthen the 
nation's economy in the following decades while raising China's standard of living 
significantly. 
China is a unitary one-party socialist republic led by the CCP. It is one of the 
five permanent members of the UN Security Council and a founding member of 
several multilateral and regional organizations such as the Asian Infrastructure 
Investment Bank, the Silk Road Fund, the New Development Bank, and the RCEP. 
It is also a member of the BRICS, the G20, APEC, and the East Asia Summit. 
China ranks poorly in measures of democracy, transparency, and human rights, 
including for press freedom, religious freedom, and ethnic equality. Making up 
around one-fifth of the world economy, China is the world's largest economy by 
GDP at purchasing power parity, the second-largest economy by nominal GDP, 
and the second-wealthiest country. The country is one of the fastest-growing major 
economies and is the world's largest manufacturer and exporter, as well as 
the second-largest 
importer. 
China 
is 
a nuclear-weapon 
state with 
the 
world's largest standing army by military personnel and the second-largest defense 
budget. 

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Etymology 
Main article: Names of China 
China (today's Guangdong), Mangi (inland 
of Xanton), 
and Cataio (inland 
of China and Chequan, and including the capital Cambalu, Xandu, and a marble 
bridge) are all shown as separate regions on this 1570 map by Abraham Ortelius. 
The word "China" has been used in English since the 16th century; however, it was 
not a word used by the Chinese themselves during this period. Its origin has been 
traced through Portuguese, Malay, and Persian back to the Sanskrit word Cīna, 
used in ancient India. "China" appears in Richard Eden's 1555 translation
[o]
 of the 
1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa.
[p]
 Barbosa's usage was 
derived 
from Persian Chīn (نی چ), 
which 
was 
in 
turn 
derived 
from 
Sanskrit Cīna (
चीन
). Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including 
the Mahābhārata (5th century BCE) and the Laws of Manu (2nd century BCE). In 
1655, Martino Martini suggested that the word China is derived ultimately from 
the name of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE). Although usage in Indian sources 
precedes this dynasty, this derivation is still given in various sources.
[23]
 The origin 
of the Sanskrit word is a matter of debate, according to the Oxford English 
Dictionary.
Alternative suggestions include the names for Yelang and the Jing or Chu 
state. The official name of the modern state is the "People's Republic of China" 
(simplified 
Chinese: 
中
华人民共和国
; traditional 
Chinese: 
中華人民共和國
; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó). The shorter 
form 
is 
"China" Zhōngguó (
中国
; 
中國
) 
from zhōng ("central") 
and guó ("state"),
[q]
 a term which developed under the Western Zhou dynasty in 
reference to its royal demesne.
[r][s]
 It was then applied to the area 
around Luoyi (present-day Luoyang) during the Eastern Zhou and then to 
China's Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state 
under the Qing. It was often used as a cultural concept to distinguish 
the Huaxia people from perceived "barbarians". The name Zhongguo is also 

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translated as "Middle Kingdom" in English China (PRC) is sometimes referred to 
as the Mainland when distinguishing the ROC from the PRC.
History 
Main article: History of China 
For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Chinese history.