China
People's Republic of China
Asia
Geography
Area: 9,573,000 sq km
The third-largest state in the world, also containing the highest mountains and plateaus in the world. The climate and geography are extremely diverse, ranging from tropical in the south to sub-arctic in the north, from a highly industrialized and modern eastern seaboard to sparsely populated western deserts and mountain ranges. Hong Kong and Macau are integral parts of China, though their statistics are not included here; Taiwan’s status is
debated. These three are handled separately.
Population: 1,330,584,783 Annual Growth: 0.63%
Capital: Beijing
Urbanites: 44.9%
HDI Rank: 92 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)
Peoples
Peoples: 516 (83% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese); local languages in the five Autonomous Regions. 15 regional mega-languages. There are an estimated 600 different spoken Han dialects, but one written language common to all Languages: 296 All languages
Religion
Largest Religion: Non-religious
Prayercast
Challenges for Prayer
China faces environmental disasters on many fronts; possibly her heaviest burdens directly resulting from great economic achievements. Pollution of Chinas water sources has surpassed crisis level, and the combined effects of land, air and water pollution result in hundreds of thousands of deaths per year to say nothing of the numbers born with defects or suffering environmentally-related illness. Chemical pollutants from agricultural and industrial waste continue to render Chinese cities and rural areas, as well as neighbouring countries, rife with dangers. Desertification of the northern provinces, combined with population growth, will affect millions in coming years. China has recently taken unprecedented steps toward addressing environmental concerns, though falling short of substantial progress. Pray for a government courageous and trusted enough to make the difficult decisions required for the long-term well-being of the nation.
For an additional 5 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.