Signification :
The meaning of the word China is the "Country in the middle" or "Kingdom of the middle".

Geography :
China is the 3rd largest country in the world, after Russia and Canada. It is a land of mountains: two thirds of the country is higher than 1000 meters (like in Yunnan in the south). Tibet, a province of China, has 6 peaks over 8000m. China also has some of Asia's largest rivers (Yangtze, Yellow River, Blue River and Amur River). Other treasures of China : Shandong Peninsula and the cities of the Silk Road. The center of China reveals its gorges, bamboo forests and mountain passes at high altitude in Sichuan.
History :
The Chinese civilization, has lasted for nearly five thousand years, and is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It started in the valley of the Huang He, then spread southward (after conquest of land south of the Yangtze River by the Han Dynasty), to the west (first intrusions into Central Asia during the Han period, temporary extension to the Caspian Sea during the Tang period, conquest of Xinjiang and Tibet under the Qing10 dinasty) and to the north (by the Qing Dynasty,who were of Manchu origin, and brought to China Manchuria and Mongolia). Throughout its history China has been divided and reunited several times and has twice been completely conquered by foreigners (the Mongols in the thirteenth century, and by the Manchus in the seventeenth century), who finally adopted the customs and administrative system to govern the Chinese empire. The last imperial dynasty the Qing (originating from the Manchu dynasty which has been ruling the country since 1644), experienced a period of decline during the phase of colonial expansion of Western countries, leading the country from defeat to defeat starting from the Opium Wars. Only after the victory against the Japanese army in 1945, China was able to free itself from foreign interventions. The People's Republic of China was founded by the Communist leader Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1949. It consists of China mainland, Hong Kong and Macau. Today, its economic development, initiated in 1978 by the reforms of Deng Xiao Ping and his successors, is in fact one of the main economic and geopolitical players worldwide.