China has one of the oldest civilizations on the planet and the largest national population - 1.3 billion. Dating back as far as 5000 BC, archaeology identifies farming communities in the Yellow River Valley. The year 221 BC is commonly used as the date when China became unified in an empire. Over the centuries, many dynastic families, from a variety of different ethnic groups, came to power through war and conquest. The last of these was the Qing Dynasty, which ended at the hands of Xinhai revolutionaries in 1911. This was the same group to name China's first president, Sun Yat-sen. Civil War unseated this government and led, in 1949, to the declaration of the new Communist-run People's Republic of China. The PRC and U.S. ceased diplomatic relations on the day the Communist government was declared. President Richard Nixon's breakthrough trip to the PRC in 1972 began a process that President Carter formalized in 1979, leading to lively trade and cultural ties. The country has grown to be the fourth largest economy in the world with Americans making up a large percentage of its customer base.

Capital: Beijing
Official Language: Chinese
Population: 1,313,973,713
Currency: Yuan
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