Many people do not even suspect that in the world now there is not one Republic of China, but two, only one of them has the prefix “popular”. But that is not all. In the twentieth century for a short time there was another Chinese republic, but this time “Soviet”. Let's try to figure out which of them is who.
PRC
This powerful state is widely known in the world under the more familiar name "China." It was founded on 01.10.1949. The capital of this country is in Beijing. China (People's Republic of China) is a socialist state. Today, its chairman is Xi Jinping. The country is ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. This country is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. And every day its weight in world politics and economics is growing rapidly.
The government of the People's Republic of China has always taken care of the defense capabilities of its country. Today, China is the owner of the largest army in the world. Moreover, it also has a large arsenal of nuclear weapons. The largest cities in China are Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin. Despite the fact that in this republic there are a huge number of people speaking different dialects, they have only one official language - Chinese.
Geographical location and general information about China
The People's Republic of China is located in East Asia. Its coordinates: 32 ° 48′00 ″ north latitude and 103 ° 05′00 ″ east longitude. This state takes the 3rd place in the world in its area. It covers an area of almost 9.6 million square meters. km But in terms of population, no one can compete with China. According to 2013 estimates, 1,366.5 million people lived in this country.
China is washed by the waters of the seas of the Pacific Ocean (East China, Yellow, South China). Its neighbors are Russia, North Korea, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos. The coast of China starts from the border with North Korea and stretches to Vietnam. It has a length of 14.5 thousand km. The time zone of the PRC is +8. The country phone code is +86.
Economy of China
The People's Republic of China is one of the leaders in the global economy. So, according to the results of 2013, its GDP amounted to 7318 trillion US dollars, which in terms of the country's population is 6569 dollars. Gross product at purchasing power parity (PPP) amounted to 12 383 trillion US dollars. In terms of per capita, it is $ 9,828. In December 2014, the PRC economy became the first in the world in terms of this indicator.
In the People's Republic of China, the national currency is the renminbi (CNY). It corresponds to the digital code of the country of origin 156. The economy of the People's Republic of China is diversified. At the same time, China is a recognized world leader in the production of many types of industrial products, such as automobiles and machinery. It exports a huge amount of consumer goods to almost all countries, therefore it is often called the "factory of the world." China is the owner of the largest foreign exchange reserves.
People of China
According to the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2014, China ranked 91st among the countries of the world. He amounted to 0.719, which is a very high result. Ethno-burial (the name of the inhabitants of a particular area) sounds like "Chinese", "Chinese", "Chinese."
In the territory of the PRC dozens of different peoples live (officially recognized 56). All of them differ in their customs, traditions, national costumes, cuisine. Many of them have their own language. All of these small nations make up only 7% of the population of this state. The bulk of people living in China are the Chinese, who call themselves "Han".
Despite the fact that since 1979 the country has been strictly controlling birth rates, the annual natural population growth continues to grow steadily. The average life expectancy of the Chinese is 71 years. Recently, the share of urban and rural residents has almost equalized, which indicates the high rate of urbanization of the country. The population of the People's Republic of China professes the following main religions - Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism.
The general history of the formation of the PRC
China is one of the most ancient states on Earth. Some scientists are sure that the civilization of this state is about 5 thousand years old. Available written sources confirm that in the PRC territory already 3,500 years ago there were administrative entities with a developed management system. Each successive dynasty of rulers worked on its improvement. The economy of this country has always been based on developed agriculture.
A major role in strengthening Chinese civilization was played by the introduction of Confucianism as a state ideology and a unified writing system. This happened in the II-I century BC. For hundreds of years, the various kingdoms and provinces that were in this territory, then united, then disintegrated. At the same time, the local population suffered from constant raids by nomads. To protect against them, the Great Wall of China was built . For millennia, this mighty civilization has developed, fought, assimilated with the surrounding Asian peoples. Modern China is the result of centuries of political and cultural processes.
For millennia, this state was ruled by emperors of different dynasties. The Republic of China, called Zhonghua Mingguo, lasted from 1911 to 1949.
02.12.1912 the last emperor, Pu Yi, signed the abdication of the throne. In this state, a republican form of government was introduced de jure, but in fact, the period of “troubled times” continued from 1911 to 1949. At the same time, China disintegrated into various state formations arising on the basis of provincial army detachments. Only in 1949 did the army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) become the victor in the civil war going on in its territory. This was largely facilitated by the support of the Soviet Union. The CCP defeated the conservative party of the Republic of China called the Kuomintang. The rulers of the latter fled to Taiwan. There they became the founders of a state like the Republic of China.
Proclamation of the Republic
In September 1949, the People’s Advisory Council of China began to work in the territory of modern China. It was he who proclaimed the formation of the People's Republic. At this time, the Central People's Government Council (NPPC) was elected, chaired by Mao Zedong. In 1954, the Constitution was adopted in the PRC, renaming the Central People's Commissariat of Education a Standing Committee of the All-China Assembly of People's Representatives.
In the period from 1949 to 1956, the USSR rendered all assistance to this state in the creation of basic industries. Nationalization and collectivization was carried out on the territory of the republic. Socialist construction began to develop at a tremendous pace. In 1956, a new course of development was proclaimed in the country, thanks to which Mao Zedong's ideas regarding the policy of "communization" and the "big leap" began to be implemented. From 1966 to 1976, a “cultural revolution” was proclaimed in China, which led to the intensification of the class struggle. Walking along the “special” path of development, the state and society denied commodity-money relations, banned non-state forms of ownership, froze foreign economic relations and arranged for public courts.
The beginning of the "economic miracle"
Deng Xiaoping, who came to power, condemned the policies of his predecessor and in 1977 launched a new campaign called the “Beijing Spring”. In 1978, at the plenum of the CPC, a course towards a socialist market economy was proclaimed. She had specific features. It was supposed to combine a planned distribution and market system with a significant attraction of foreign investment. Chinese enterprises gained more independence in their business activities. The public sector in the economy was significantly reduced, and free economic zones were opened. Great attention was paid to overcoming poverty, as well as scientific and technological progress.
By the end of the 80s of the XX century, the population of the People's Republic of China was fully provided with food. Every year, GDP and industrial production steadily increased. Deng Xiaoping's reforms successfully implemented his subsequent successors:
- since 1993 - Jiang Zemin;
- since 2002 - Hu Jintao;
- since 2012 - Xi Jinping.
The political system of the PRC
Over the entire history of this country, 4 Constitutions were adopted (1954, 1975, 1978, 1982). According to the latter, China is a socialist state of a democratic dictatorship of the people. Its supreme authority is the unicameral NPC (All-China Assembly of People's Representatives). It consists of a huge number of deputies (2979) who are elected for 5 years by regional elections. The NPC is convened annually. Only members of the CPC and 8 "democratic" parties that are part of the CPPCC (People’s Political Advisory Council of China) are allowed to participate in the elections. The highest executive body is the Council of State, or (as it is often called) the Central People's Government. It consists of: the prime minister with his deputies, ministers, the auditor general, rank-and-file members, and executive secretary. The highest court is the Supreme People's Court. A huge role in the development of the country is played by local authorities - meetings of people's representatives and executive-administrative (people's) governments.
Today, its own legislative bodies are located in special administrative regions, namely, in Hong Kong and Macau. The head of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, does not stop friendly relations with the successor of the USSR - the Russian Federation. With each year, friendship between countries and mutually beneficial cooperation is only gaining momentum. The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Russian Federation pays great attention to further strengthening the relations between our countries.
Administrative division
Since China is a huge state in terms of scale and population, it has a very complicated administrative division. The PRC exercises control over 22 provinces, and the government considers Taiwan the 23rd administrative unit. The structure of this state also includes 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities (cities of central subordination), 2 special territorial units. All together they are called "mainland China." Separate administrative units are: Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan.
In fact, in China there are such levels of local government:
- provincial (23 provinces, 4 cities of central subordination, 5 autonomous and 2 special regions);
- district (15 prefectures, 3 aimakhs, 286 city and 30 autonomous districts);
- county (counties: 1455 simple, 370 - urban, 117 - autonomous; 857 simple and 4 special regions; 49 simple and 3 autonomous khoshuns);
- volost (13 587 ordinary and 1085 national volosts, 19 683 villages, 106 ordinary and 1 national somon, 2 districts of district subordination and 7194 street committees);
- rustic (urban neighborhoods, local communities, villages).
Hong Kong is one of the financial centers of the world. In this special administrative region of the PRC, which came under its jurisdiction in 1997, more than 7 million people live. Macau is an autonomous territory (formerly a colony of Portugal) with more than 0.5 million inhabitants.
Republic of China
Now we should deal with the states located in this territory. What is the Republic of China? And this is nothing but Taiwan, which the Chinese government considers the 23rd province of its country. This island in the Pacific Ocean is located 150 km from the east coast of mainland China. Between them is the Taiwan Strait. The territory of the island is 36 thousand square meters. km
The independence of this state was proclaimed on 10.10.1911, but so far it has partial diplomatic recognition. Taiwan's official language is Chinese. Its capital is Taipei. This republic is a democracy with a semi-presidential state system and universal suffrage. Today, Taiwan is one of the most developed countries in this region. He is included in the so-called "Four Asian Tigers." The president of this mixed republic is Ma Ying-jeou.
The flag of the Republic of China is a red panel symbolizing the Earth, with a blue rectangle in the upper left corner, which represents the Sky. It depicts the White Sun. The flag of the Republic of China first appeared in 1928 in the Kuomintang party.
About 23.3 million people live in Taiwan. At the same time, per capita GDP in 2013 amounted to 39,767 US dollars, which is 11 times more than this indicator in China. Taiwan's technology industry plays an important role in the global economy. Moreover, its significance is only increasing every year. The economy of the Republic of China has been developing successfully over the past decades due to the use of the latest technologies and excellent education of the population. The currency of this country is the Taiwan dollar.
The education of the Republic of China has developed over many decades in such a way that it always takes into account the changing requirements of a growing economy. Today, the period of compulsory basic education is 9 years. Recently, the Taiwan authorities want to increase this period to 12 years. The entire educational system is largely biased towards the study of technical sciences. As a result of training, graduates have one of the highest levels of training in mathematics and science.
Republic of China
Many have long forgotten about the era of socialism-communism. Few people know that there was such a state as the Chinese Soviet Republic. It did not last long. This small state was created in 1931 under the leadership of the Communist Party in the south of Central China (in Jiangxi). In 1937 it was transformed into a Special District.
The Chinese Soviet Republic had its own flag, Provisional Government, Constitution, laws, banknotes, and other state attributes. The Council of People's Commissars of this republic was headed by none other than Mao Zedong, who later became the long-term leader of the People’s Republic of China. The military support of this country was the Central Army Group. It included the troops of Mao Zedong and Zhu De. In the years 1931-1932. reorganization of the Red Army took place.
The main geographical features of the Chinese Soviet Republic were: mountain location, remoteness, lack of communication, which contributed to its protection from external enemies. It was inhabited by about 5 million people.