Country Name: People's Republic of China (PRC) Area: 9,596,960 sq km Population: 1.2 billion Capital City: Beijing (pop 11 million) People: 93% Han Chinese, plus more than 50 minority groups including the Tibetan, Mongol, Zhuang, Manchu and Uighur. Languages: Putonghua (Beijing dialect Mandarin), Cantonese, Tibetan, Mongolian, Russian, Mien, Hmong (Miao), Lisu, Akha (Aini), Lahu, Uighur, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Tajik and numerous local dialects. Religion: Officially atheist, but Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Lslam, Christianity, ancestor worship and animism are all practiced. Government: Communist People's Republic Currency: Renminbi (RMB); the basic unite is the yuan. Time Zone: Eight hours ahead of GMT/UTC Country Code: 86 Electricity: 220V, 50AC; plugs can be three-pronged angled, three-pronged round, two flat pins or two narrow round pins.