Although China's population comprises 56 ethnic groups, 92% of the population of mainland China belongs to the Han group and constitutes about 19% of the world's population. There are about 55 other ethnic groups in China, customarily referred to as the 'national minorities'. For a long time, the Chinese government discouraged religious practice, officially because it was atheist but in reality because it feared an alternative credo to communism. With the gradual liberalisation under Deng Xiaoping, the constitution was amended to allow more freedom. The main three traditional religions are Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism, but the country also has 20 million Muslims, 10 million Protestants and 4 million Catholics.
FINANCIAL INDICATORS
For each indicator, the data for all 31 regions was ranked in size order and then plotted:
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
2005 (estimated, dollars m)
most: Jiangsu: 13,000
least: Gansu: 20
GDP (Rmb bn)
Nominal GDP at factor cost, 2005
most: Guangdong: 2,200
least: Tibet: 25
GDP GROWTH (%)
Real GDP at factor cost, 2004-05
most: Inner Mongolia: 21.6
least: Yunnan: 9.0
EXPORTS (dollars m)
Value of commodity exports, 2005
most: Guangdong: 238,000
least: Tibet: 170
IMPORTS (dollars m)
Value of commodity imports, 2005
most: Guangdong: 190,000
least: Gansu: 40
POPULATION 2005
most: Henan: 93.8m
least: Tibet*: 2.8m
total: 1.3bn
*Autonomous region
GDP/CAPITA 2005 (Rmb)
most: Shanghai: 51,600
least: Guizhou: 5,200
LENGTH OF ROAD 2004 (km)
most: Yunnan: 167,000
least: Shanghai: 7,800
GDP SPLIT nominal GDP at factor cost
AGRICULTURE 2005 (Rmb bn)
most: Shandong: 193
least: Tibet: 5
INDUSTRY and CONSTRUCTION 2005
most: Guangdong: 1,075
least: Tibet: 6
SERVICE 2005
most: Guangdong: 958
least: Tibet: 14
Source: Global Insight
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