China Population: 1,336,718,015
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| Background | |
| For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, MAO's successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight. China since the early 1990s has increased its global outreach and participation in international organizations. |
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| Geography | |
| World's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak | |
| Location: | Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam |
| Geographic coordinates: | 35 00 N, 105 00 E |
| Area: | total: 9,596,961 sq km land: 9,569,901 sq km water: 27,060 sq km Size comparison: slightly smaller than the US |
| Land Boundaries: | total: 22,117 km border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Mongolia 4,677 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km regional borders: Hong Kong 30 km, Macau 0.34 km |
| Coastline: | 14,500 km |
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
| Climate: | extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north |
| Terrain: | mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m |
| Natural resources: | coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, rare earth elements, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest) |
| Land use: | arable land: 14.86% permanent crops: 1.27% other: 83.87% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: | 641,410 sq km (2008) |
| Natural hazards: | frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence volcanism: China contains some historically active volcanoes including Changbaishan (also known as Baitoushan, Baegdu, or P'aektu-san), Hainan Dao, and Kunlun although most have been relatively inactive in recent centuries |
| Current Environment Issues: | air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species |
| International Environment Agreements: | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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| People | |
| Population: | 1,336,718,015 (July 2011 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 17.6% (male 126,634,384/female 108,463,142) 15-64 years: 73.6% (male 505,326,577/female 477,953,883) 65 years and over: 8.9% (male 56,823,028/female 61,517,001) (2011 est.) |
| Median age: | total: 35.5 years male: 34.9 years female: 36.2 years (2011 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 0.493% (2011 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 12.29 births/1,000 population (2011 est.) |
| Death rate: | 7.03 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | -0.33 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.133 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.17 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.93 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2011 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 16.06 deaths/1,000 live births male: 15.61 deaths/1,000 live births female: 16.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 74.68 years male: 72.68 years female: 76.94 years (2011 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 1.54 children born/woman (2011 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.1% (2009 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 740,000 (2009 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 26,000 (2009 est.) |
| Nationality: | noun: Chinese (singular and plural) adjective: Chinese |
| Ethnic groups: | Han Chinese 91.5%, Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uighur, Tujia, Yi, Mongol, Tibetan, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Korean, and other nationalities 8.5% (2000 census) |
| Religions: | Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%, Muslim 1%-2% note: officially atheist (2002 est.) |
| Languages: | Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry) note: Mongolian is official in Nei Mongol, Uighur is official in Xinjiang Uygur, and Tibetan is official in Xizang (Tibet) |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 92.2% male: 96% female: 88.5% (2008 census) |
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| Government | |
| Country name: | conventional long form: People's Republic of China conventional short form: China local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo local short form: Zhongguo abbreviation: PRC |
| Government type: | Communist state |
| Capital: | name: Beijing geographic coordinates: 39 55 N, 116 23 E time difference: UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: despite its size, all of China falls within one time zone; many people in Xinjiang Province observe an unofficial "Xinjiang timezone" of UTC+6, two hours behind Beijing |
| Administrative divisions: | 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities (shi, singular and plural) provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang; (see note on Taiwan) autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol (Inner Mongolia), Ningxia, Xinjiang Uygur, Xizang (Tibet) municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau |
| Independence: | 1 October 1949 (People's Republic of China established); notable earlier dates: 221 BC (unification under the Qin Dynasty); 1 January 1912 (Qing Dynasty replaced by the Republic of China) |
| National holiday: | Anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949) |
| Constitution: | most recent promulgation 4 December 1982; amended several times |
| Legal system: | civil law influenced by Soviet and continental European civil law systems; legislature retains power to interpret statutes; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislation |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: President HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003); Vice President XI Jinping (since 15 March 2008) head of government: Premier WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003); Executive Vice Premier LI Keqiang (17 March 2008), Vice Premier HUI Liangyu (since 17 March 2003), Vice Premier ZHANG Dejiang (since 17 March 2008), and Vice Premier WANG Qishan (since 17 March 2008) cabinet: State Council appointed by National People's Congress (For more information visit the World Leaders website ) elections: president and vice president elected by National People's Congress for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); elections last held on 15-17 March 2008 (next to be held in mid-March 2013); premier nominated by president, confirmed by National People's Congress election results: HU Jintao elected president by National People's Congress with a total of 2,963 votes; XI Jinping elected vice president with a total of 2,919 votes |
| Legislative branch: | unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,987 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses, and People's Liberation Army to serve five-year terms) elections: last held in December 2007-February 2008 (date of next election to be held in late 2012 to early 2013) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - 2,987 note: only members of the CCP, its eight allied parties, and sympathetic independent candidates are elected |
| Judicial branch: | Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local People's Courts (comprise higher, intermediate, and basic courts); Special People's Courts (primarily military, maritime, railway transportation, and forestry courts) |
| Political parties and leaders: | Chinese Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | no substantial political opposition groups exist |
| International organization participation: | ADB, AfDB (nonregional member), APEC, ARF, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CDB, CICA, EAS, FAO, FATF, G-20, G-24 (observer), G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUSCO, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SCO, SICA (observer), UN, UN Security Council, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador ZHANG Yesui chancery: 3505 International Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 495-2266 FAX: [1] (202) 495-2190 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Gary Locke embassy: 55 An Jia Lou Lu, 100600 Beijing mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [86] (10) 8531-3000 FAX: [86] (10) 8531-3300 consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, Wuhan |
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| Economy | |
| Since the late 1970s China has moved from a closed, centrally planned system to a more market-oriented one that plays a major global role - in 2010 China became the world's largest exporter. Reforms began with the phasing out of collectivized agriculture, and expanded to include the gradual liberalization of prices, fiscal decentralization, increased autonomy for state enterprises, creation of a diversified banking system, development of stock markets, rapid growth of the private sector, and opening to foreign trade and investment. China has implemented reforms in a gradualist fashion. In recent years, China has renewed its support for state-owned enterprises in sectors it considers important to "economic security," explicitly looking to foster globally competitive national champions. After keeping its currency tightly linked to the US dollar for years, in July 2005 China revalued its currency by 2.1% against the US dollar and moved to an exchange rate system that references a basket of currencies. From mid 2005 to late 2008 cumulative appreciation of the renminbi against the US dollar was more than 20%, but the exchange rate remained virtually pegged to the dollar from the onset of the global financial crisis until June 2010, when Beijing allowed resumption of a gradual appreciation. The restructuring of the economy and resulting efficiency gains have contributed to a more than tenfold increase in GDP since 1978. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis that adjusts for price differences, China in 2010 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US, having surpassed Japan in 2001. The dollar values of China's agricultural and industrial output each exceed those of the US; China is second to the US in the value of services it produces. Still, per capita income is below the world average. The Chinese government faces numerous economic challenges, including: (a) reducing its high domestic savings rate and correspondingly low domestic demand; (b) sustaining adequate job growth for tens of millions of migrants and new entrants to the work force; (c) reducing corruption and other economic crimes; and (d) containing environmental damage and social strife related to the economy's rapid transformation. Economic development has progressed further in coastal provinces than in the interior, and approximately 200 million rural laborers and their dependents have relocated to urban areas to find work. One consequence of the "one child" policy is that China is now one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world. Deterioration in the environment - notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table, especially in the north - is another long-term problem. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. The Chinese government is seeking to add energy production capacity from sources other than coal and oil, focusing on nuclear and alternative energy development. In 2009, the global economic downturn reduced foreign demand for Chinese exports for the first time in many years, but China rebounded quickly, outperforming all other major economies in 2010 with GDP growth around 10%. The economy appears set to remain on a strong growth trajectory in 2011, lending credibility to the stimulus policies the regime rolled out during the global financial crisis. The government vows, in the 12th Five-Year Plan adopted in March 2011, to continue reforming the economy and emphasizes the need to increase domestic consumption in order to make the economy less dependent on exports for GDP growth in the future. However, China likely will make only marginal progress toward these rebalancing goals in 2011. Two economic problems China currently faces are inflation - which, late in 2010, surpassed the government's target of 3% - and local government debt, which swelled as a result of stimulus policies, and is largely off-the-books and potentially low-quality. | |
| GDP (purchasing power parity): | GDP (purchasing power parity): $10.09 trillion (2010 est.) $9.144 trillion (2009 est.) $8.374 trillion (2008 est.) note: data are in 2010 US dollars |
| GDP (official exchange rate): | GDP (official exchange rate): $5.878 trillion note: because China's exchange rate is determine by fiat, rather than by market forces, the official exchange rate measure of GDP is not an accurate measure of China's output; GDP at the official exchange rate substantially understates the actual level of China's output vis-a-vis the rest of the world; in China's situation, GDP at purchasing power parity provides the best measure for comparing output across countries (2010 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | 10.3% (2010 est.) 9.2% (2009 est.) 9.6% (2008 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | GDP - per capita (PPP): $7,600 (2010 est.) $6,900 (2009 est.) $6,400 (2008 est.) note: data are in 2010 US dollars |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 10.2% industry: 46.9% services: 43% (2010 est.) |
| Labor force: | 815.3 million (2010 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 38.1% industry: 27.8% services: 34.1% (2008 est.) |
| Unemployment rate: | 4.3% (September 2009 est.) 4.2% (December 2008 est.) note: official data for urban areas only; including migrants may boost total unemployment to 9%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas |
| Population below poverty line: | 2.8% note: 21.5 million rural population live below the official "absolute poverty" line (approximately $90 per year); an additional 35.5 million rural population live above that level but below the official "low income" line (approximately $125 per year) (2007) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 3.5% highest 10%: 15% note: data are for urban households only (2008) |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 41.5 (2007) 40 (2001) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.2% (2010 est.) -0.7% (2009 est.) |
| Investment (gross fixed): | Investment (gross fixed): 46.2% of GDP (2010 est.) |
| Budget: | revenues: $1.227 trillion expenditures: $1.35 trillion (2010 est.) |
| Public debt: | 18.9% of GDP (2010 est.) 18.8% of GDP (2009 est.) |
| Agriculture - products: | world leader in gross value of agricultural output; rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, apples, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish |
| Industries: | world leader in gross value of industrial output; mining and ore processing, iron, steel, aluminum, and other metals, coal; machine building; armaments; textiles and apparel; petroleum; cement; chemicals; fertilizers; consumer products, including footwear, toys, and electronics; food processing; transportation equipment, including automobiles, rail cars and locomotives, ships, and aircraft; telecommunications equipment, commercial space launch vehicles, satellites |
| Industrial production growth rate: | 15.7% (2010 est.) |
| Electricity - production: | 3.446 trillion kWh (2009 est.) |
| Electricity - consumption: | 3.438 trillion kWh (2008 est.) |
| Electricity - exports: | 17.39 billion kWh (2009 est.) |
| Electricity - imports: | 11.38 billion kWh (2009 est.) |
| Oil - production: | 4.273 million bbl/day (2010 est.) |
| Oil - consumption: | 9.189 million bbl/day (2010 est.) |
| Oil - exports: | 480,600 bbl/day (2009 est.) |
| Oil - imports: | 4.753 million bbl/day (2009 est.) |
| Oil - proved reserves: | 20.35 billion bbl (1 January 2011 est.) |
| Natural gas - production: | 94.41 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
| Natural gas - consumption: | 106.7 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
| Natural gas - exports: | 4.02 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
| Natural gas - imports: | 16.33 billion cu m (2010 est.) |
| Natural gas - proved reserves: | 3.03 trillion cu m (1 January 2011 est.) |
| Current account balance: | $305.4 billion (2010 est.) $297.1 billion (2009 est.) |
| Exports: | $1.581 trillion (2010 est.) $1.204 trillion (2009 est.) |
| Exports - commodities: | electrical and other machinery, including data processing equipment, apparel, textiles, iron and steel, optical and medical equipment |
| Exports - partners: | US 18%, Hong Kong 13.8%, Japan 7.6%, South Korea 4.4%, Germany 4.3% (2010) |
| Imports: | $1.327 trillion (2010 est.) $954.3 billion (2009 est.) |
| Imports - commodities: | electrical and other machinery, oil and mineral fuels, optical and medical equipment, metal ores, plastics, organic chemicals |
| Imports - partners: | Japan 12.6%, South Korea 9.9%, US 7.3%, Germany 5.3%, Australia 4.3% (2010) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $2.876 trillion (31 December 2010 est.) $2.426 trillion (31 December 2009 est.) |
| Debt - external: | $428.4 billion (31 December 2010 est.) $348.6 billion (31 December 2009 est.) |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: | $658.1 billion (31 December 2010 est.) $473.1 billion (31 December 2009 est.) |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: | $289.7 billion (31 December 2010 est.) $229.6 billion (31 December 2009 est.) |
| Market value of publicly traded shares: | $4.763 trillion (31 December 2010 est.) $5.008 trillion (31 December 2009) $2.794 trillion (31 December 2008 est.) |
| Exchange rates: | Renminbi yuan (RMB) per US dollar - 6.7852 (2010) 6.8314 (2009) 6.9385 (2008) 7.61 (2007) 7.97 (2006) |
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| Communications | |
| Telephones in use: | 313.68 million (2009) country comparison to the world: 1 |
| Cellular Phones in use: | 747 million (2009) |
| Telephone system: | general assessment: domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns; China continues to develop its telecommunications infrastructure, and is partnering with foreign providers to expand its global reach; China in the summer of 2008 began a major restructuring of its telecommunications industry, resulting in the consolidation of its six telecom service operators to three, China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom, each providing both fixed-line and mobile services domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; mobile-cellular subscribership is increasing rapidly; the number of Internet users exceeded 250 million by summer 2008; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place international: country code - 86; a number of submarine cables provide connectivity to Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the US; satellite earth stations - 7 (5 Intelsat - 4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean; 1 Intersputnik - Indian Ocean region; and 1 Inmarsat - Pacific and Indian Ocean regions) (2008) |
| Radio broadcast stations: | |
| Television broadcast stations: | |
| Internet country code: | .cn |
| Internet hosts: | 15.251 million (2010) |
| Internet users: | 389 million (2009) |
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| Transportation | |
| Airports: | 502 (2010) country comparison to the world: 15 |
| Airports (paved runways): | total: 442 over 3,047 m: 63 2,438 to 3,047 m: 137 1,524 to 2,437 m: 132 914 to 1,523 m: 27 under 914 m: 83 (2010) |
| Airports (unpaved runways): | total: 60 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 9 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 27 (2010) |
| Heliports: | 48 (2010) |
| Pipelines: | gas 38,566 km; oil 23,470 km; refined products 13,706 km (2010) |
| Railways: | total: 86,000 km standard gauge: 86,000 km 1.435-m gauge (36,000 km electrified) (2009) |
| Roadways: | total: 3,860,800 km paved: 3,056,300 km (includes 65,000 km of expressways) unpaved: 804,500 km (2009) |
| Waterways: | 110,000 km (navigable waterways) (2010) |
| Merchant marine: | total: 2,010 by type: barge carrier 6, bulk carrier 571, cargo 639, carrier 5, chemical tanker 98, container 204, liquefied gas 55, passenger 9, passenger/cargo 83, petroleum tanker 271, refrigerated cargo 35, roll on/roll off 9, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 24 foreign-owned: 18 (Germany 1, Hong Kong 15, Japan 2) registered in other countries: 1,623 (Bahamas 4, Bangladesh 1, Belize 64, Bermuda 13, Cambodia 203, Comoros 1, Cyprus 6, France 5, Georgia 11, Germany 2, Honduras 2, Hong Kong 432, India 1, Indonesia 1, Kiribati 28, Liberia 10, Malta 11, Marshall Islands 16, North Korea 1, Norway 25, Panama 574, Philippines 4, Saint Kitts and Nevis 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 82, Sierra Leone 12, Singapore 26, South Korea 9, Thailand 1, Togo 2, Tuvalu 9, UK 7, unknown 59) (2010) |
| Ports and terminals: | Dalian, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin |
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| Military | |
| Military branches: | People's Liberation Army (PLA): Ground Forces, Navy (includes marines and naval aviation), Air Force (Zhongguo Renmin Jiefangjun Kongjun, PLAAF; includes Airborne Forces), and Second Artillery Corps (strategic missile force); People's Armed Police (PAP); PLA Reserve Force (2010) |
| Military service age and obligation: | 18-24 years of age for selective compulsory military service, with a 2 year service obligation; no minimum age for voluntary service (all officers are volunteers); 18-19 years of age for women high school graduates who meet requirements for specific military jobs; a recent military decision allows women in combat roles; the first class of women warship commanders was in training in 2011 (2011) |
| Manpower available for military service: | males age 16-49: 385,821,101 females age 16-49: 363,789,674 (2010 est.) |
| Manpower fit for military service: | males age 16-49: 318,265,016 females age 16-49: 300,323,611 (2010 est.) |
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