One of the most famous states in the world is China. It is located in Asia, namely in its central and eastern parts. The population is more than 1000 million people. The capital is Beijing, the official language is Chinese.
China, where minerals have been mined for several millennia and are of great importance throughout the world, is a fairly developed state with a well-organized economic sphere. The people of the Middle Kingdom are called the “factory of the world”, because most of the products that are supplied to many countries come from China.
Power in the country has been in the hands of the Communist Party since 1949. She began to rule immediately after the proclamation of the People's Republic of China. The state is a member of some world organizations, for example, the UN, WTO, etc.
Nature
The relief features of China and the minerals that are mined here are due to a rather complicated orography. The state is conditionally divided into three parts: the Tibetan Plateau, the Central Asian plains, and lowlands in eastern China.
In Tibet there are high elevated upland plains, various plateaus (mainly in the central region) and several ridges. Here are mountain systems, namely the Himalayas, Karakoram, Kunlun, Nanshan and the Sino-Tibetan mountains.
The relief and minerals of China are not equally developed. Often there are slopes, rounded peaks, karst forms, as well as watersheds. In the Central Asian plains are plateaus and ranges known throughout Asia. Lowland plains stretch from north to south, capturing the coast of the Yellow Sea.
There are desert areas, semi-desert and steppes. Here, a form of relief is common, like yards.
Rich soils are located on the plains that rise at an altitude of 1,500 m above the sea. The vegetation here is very rich. Due to the change of zones in which China is located, beautiful meadows are abruptly replaced by snowy deserts, and they, in turn, are replaced by a subtropical forest.
Climate
China, whose minerals are largely dependent on climatic conditions, has a temperate continental climate. In some areas, cold cyclones predominate. The temperature can drop to 25 degrees below zero. In the zone of plains and plateaus, snow does not fall, the total rainfall per year does not exceed 260 mm.
The east of the Republic of China boasts very pleasant weather conditions. The climate is monsoon in nature, in some parts of the country with a predominance of temperate and subtropical, in others - a tropical cyclone.
In winter, the maximum temperature is -25 degrees (north) and +10 degrees (south). A large amount of precipitation in some areas is explained by the presence of a sufficient number of rivers and waterfalls.
Typhoons, tsunamis, floods - all this is well known to residents of eastern China. These weather phenomena are not uncommon here, and they no longer scare local citizens. In the spring, huge sandstorms rise in the country, namely in its deserts, due to certain climatic conditions, which as a result are transferred to the territory of Japan, South Korea and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Geological structure
On the Chinese platform, China itself is located. Minerals are largely dependent on it. The sedimentary cover, which was formed due to marine and continental deposits, took several centuries to form. Here are rich deposits of chromium, lead, gold, molybdenum and other minerals. Most of them are located in the mountains and plains.
The geosynclinal complex is already crumpled and broken by thrusts. It produces granites that have been formed recently. China (minerals valued all over the world) is rich in oil, coal, chromium, lead, gold, zinc and nickel. Some depressions have sources of gas, tin and mercury. Until now, fossils are formed due to constant seismic activity and volcanism.
Mineral resources of China
The state has a sufficient amount of mineral (namely fuel and raw materials) substances. The country is a leader in coal mining worldwide. There is also a stone view, but less frequently. It can be found in the north and northeast.
Since 2007, China has been a leader in gold production. Two years ago, this volume rose several times more. Because of this , gold mining is flourishing , not only in China itself, but also beyond.
The sphere of shale gas is also developing. Now there is a plan to produce more than 6 billion cubic meters of oil shale.
Of all the known types of minerals in China, there are more than 150. At the same time, 20 of them attract a lot of attention in the world, since they are quite rare. The main minerals of China, which cannot be briefly described, are oil, coal, gas, shale, radioactive elements, uranium and thorium.
Almost one third of all the world's coal reserves are concentrated here. Most of it is in the north of the country, although it is found in other areas. Shanxi is considered the "home of coal" in China. Almost 30 percent of the total amount is mined here. Recently, another six largest gas deposits have been discovered in the state. Most important in this regard is the region of the East China Sea.
Since the 50s, more than 350 zones have been opened in China in which gas and oil fields are located.
Black metals
The main minerals of China are titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese and iron. Titanium, iron and manganese ore are of great value. In weight equivalent, their reserves are estimated at almost 50 billion tons, while manganese reserves are only 400 million tons. Most of the iron is in Liaoning, manganese - in Hubei.
Jewels and rare metals
The group “precious and rare minerals” includes various mineral resources of the country. China is rich:
- copper;
- aluminum;
- lead
- zinc
- nickel;
- cobalt;
- tungsten;
- tin;
- molybdenum;
- mercury;
- antimony;
- bismuth;
- gold
- in silver.
In addition to them, there are several more substances related to the platinum group.
China ranks first in the world in the number of deposits of many minerals, including such as tungsten, zinc, tin, antimony, molybdenum, lead, and mercury. Copper is found in large quantities along the banks of the Yangtze, as well as in some provinces (Sichuan, Yunnan).
Rare metals
The People's Republic of China has deposits of eight types of fairly rare metals, ten rare-earth minerals and eleven simple, which have dispersed elements. An interesting fact is that the rare minerals of China occur in small quantities, while the deposits of unclean rare earth metals are the largest in the whole world.
Non-metallic ores
Of the 73 non-metallic minerals found here, nine species are distinguished that are used in metallurgy as raw materials. There are also 23 species of those that have the same purpose, only in the chemical industry. The most important among them are sulfur, asbestos, phosphorus, gypsum and others. In addition to them, jade, as well as other ornamental and precious stones, is of value.