Hong Kong vs. China
Geography
| Hong Kong | China | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China | Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam |
| Geographic coordinates | 22 15 N, 114 10 E | 35 00 N, 105 00 E |
| Map references | Southeast Asia | Asia |
| Area | total: 1,108 sq km land: 1,073 sq km water: 35 sq km | total: 9,596,960 sq km land: 9,326,410 sq km water: 270,550 sq km |
| Area - comparative | six times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than the US |
| Land boundaries | total: 33 km regional borders (1): China 33 km | total: 22,457 km border countries (14): Afghanistan 91 km, Bhutan 477 km, Burma 2129 km, India 2659 km, Kazakhstan 1765 km, North Korea 1352 km, Kyrgyzstan 1063 km, Laos 475 km, Mongolia 4630 km, Nepal 1389 km, Pakistan 438 km, Russia (northeast) 4133 km and Russia (northwest) 46 km, Tajikistan 477 km, Vietnam 1297 km |
| Coastline | 733 km | 14,500 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
| Climate | subtropical monsoon; cool and humid in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, warm and sunny in fall | extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north |
| Terrain | hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north | mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Tai Mo Shan 958 m lowest point: South China Sea 0 m | highest point: Mount Everest (highest peak in Asia and highest point on earth above sea level) 8,849 m lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m mean elevation: 1,840 m |
| Natural resources | outstanding deepwater harbor, feldspar | coal, iron ore, helium, petroleum, natural gas, arsenic, bismuth, cobalt, cadmium, ferrosilicon, gallium, germanium, hafnium, indium, lithium, mercury, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, antimony, manganese, magnesium, molybdenum, selenium, strontium, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, rare earth elements, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest), arable land |
| Land use | agricultural land: 5% (2018 est.) arable land: 3.2% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0.9% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 0.9% (2018 est.) forest: 0% (2018 est.) other: 95% (2018 est.) | agricultural land: 54.7% (2018 est.) arable land: 11.3% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 1.6% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 41.8% (2018 est.) forest: 22.3% (2018 est.) other: 23% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 10 sq km (2012) | 690,070 sq km (2012) |
| Natural hazards | occasional typhoons | frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence volcanism: China contains some historically active volcanoes including Changbaishan (also known as Baitoushan, Baegdu, or P'aektu-san), Hainan Dao, and Kunlun although most have been relatively inactive in recent centuries |
| Environment - current issues | air and water pollution from rapid urbanization; urban waste pollution; industrial pollution | air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal produces acid rain; China is the world's largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; coastal destruction due to land reclamation, industrial development, and aquaculture; deforestation and habitat destruction; poor land management leads to soil erosion, landslides, floods, droughts, dust storms, and desertification; trade in endangered species |
| Geography - note | consists of a mainland area (the New Territories) and more than 200 islands | note 1: world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US) and largest country situated entirely in Asia; Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak above sea level note 2: the largest cave chamber in the world is the Miao Room, in the Gebihe cave system at China's Ziyun Getu He Chuandong National Park, which encloses some 10.78 million cu m (380.7 million cu ft) of volume note 3: China appears to have been the center of domestication for two of the world's leading cereal crops: millet in the north along the Yellow River and rice in the south along the lower or middle Yangtze River |
| Population distribution | population fairly evenly distributed | overwhelming majority of the population is found in the eastern half of the country; the west, with its vast mountainous and desert areas, remains sparsely populated; though ranked first in the world in total population, overall density is less than that of many other countries in Asia and Europe; high population density is found along the Yangtze and Yellow River valleys, the Xi Jiang River delta, the Sichuan Basin (around Chengdu), in and around Beijing, and the industrial area around Shenyang |
Source: CIA Factbook
