The name China comes just as the Latin Sina (Chinese), probably from the Qin Dynasty. Over several stations and languages, the name Qin along the Silk Road to Europe. The Chinese equivalent of the German word China is Zhongguo,which in German quite well with the Middle Kingdom is being played.

The People's Republic of China covers almost the whole of China known as the cultural-geographical area of Asia, with the exception of the island of Taiwan, which of the People's Republic is claimed, and some small islands off the coast of Fujian. Since in 1949, according to a state of civil war made the People's Republic of China's Communist Party government. The Chinese Nationalist Party Kuomintang withdrew to Taiwan back. The political status of Taiwan and the other islands is controversial, which with 23 million inhabitants, densely populated area is officially Republic of China. This is in-Taiwan conflict.

Other names for the PRC are the obsolete notion Rotchina and especially in the English-speaking countries widespread mainland China (Mainland China). Both terms include the coastal special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macao, which since 1997 or 1999 on the territory belong.

The territory is divided into 22 provinces (excluding Taiwan), five autonomous regions, four cities direct governmental and two special administrative regions (see Administrative division of the PRC). Of this total, the three largest areas 45 percent of the state space: Tibet and Xinjiang in the west, and Inner Mongolia in the north. However, these limited fertile areas and with a share of 4 percent in the population of the People's Republic of very sparsely populated. In order to curb rapid population growth, the one-child policy, which again has been alleviated, because it is too big mistakes and demographic disruptions have occurred. In recent decades, the increase in population of about 2.8 percent in the 1960s to 0.6 percent eingependelt. The most populous country in the world with 1.3 billion, has more residents than North America and Europe.

Although the People's Republic of China as a developing country will be classified, since they changed their partial economic opening of the "Cultural Revolution" has increasingly become a superpower to represent internationally the "one-China policy", whose official recognition since the early seventies also prevails in the West. Economically, China on a high momentum.