Full name: People's Republic of China Population: 1.3 billion (C.I.A. World Factbook) (July 2008 est.) Capital: Beijing Largest city: Shanghai Area: 9.6 million sq km (3.7 million sq miles) Major language: Mandarin Chinese Major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism Life expectancy at birth: 71 years (men), 75 years (women) (C.I.A. World Factbook) Monetary unit: Renminbi (yuan) Main exports: Electrical and other machinery, apparel, textile, iron and steel, optical and medical equipment
China has one of the world’s oldest cultures and continuous civilizations, consisting of states and empires dating back more than six millennia. It has the world’s longest continuously used written language system, and is the source of many major inventions, such as what the British scholar and biochemist Joseph Needham called the "four great inventions of Ancient China": paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing. Historically, China’s cultural sphere has extended across East Asia as a whole, with Chinese religion, customs, and writing systems being adopted to varying degrees by neighbors such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. With a population of over 1.3 billion people, and about the same size as the United States, China has over 1,000 orphanages and is one of the leading forces in international adoption. Adoptions from China are among the most ethical and transparent of any country in the world. Most of the children available to be adopted were abandoned at birth, and medical information about the children is reliable.
Adoptions from China to the U.S. (U.S. State Department)
