Name: China Continent: Asia Population: 1,275,000,000 Religion: Officially atheist; Daoist, Buddhist & Muslim 3%; Christian 1%

For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the 19th and early 20th centuries, China was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping gradually introduced market-oriented reforms and decentralized economic decision making, and output quadrupled by 2000. Political controls remain tight even while economic controls continue to be relaxed. Information from the CIA World Fact Book

Timeline of Events Date Event 5200 BC   5200 bc Chickens domesticated (China) 2296 BC   2296 bc Chinese record a comet 1500 BC   1500 bc Silkworm domesticated (China) 1350 BC   1350 bc War chariot introduced to China 720 BC   720 bc Chinese record solar eclipse 550 BC   550 bc Earliest use of cast iron in China 209 BC   209 bc Modu Shanyu unites the Xiongnu tribes of Mongolia 552   552 Byzantine emperor Justinian I introduces silk production in Europe after smuggling silkworms out of China 593   593 Empress Suiko becomes first Japanese ruler to gain official recognition from China 645   645 Buddhism reaches Tibet 853   853 China prints first book 939   939 Ngo Quyen defeats Chinese army and establishes independent kingdom in northern Vietnam 1145   1145 First recorded autopsy performed in China 1150   1150 Chinese develop rockets 1211   1211 Genghis Khan conquers Kara-Khitai empire in Turkestan and invades China 1215   1215 Mongols under Genghis Khan sack Beijing 1260   1260 Kublai Khan becomes Emperor of China 1275   1275 Marco Polo arrives at Kublai Khan's court in China 1279   1279 Kublai Khan completes the Mongol conquest of China 1295   1295 Marco Polo returns from China 1333   1333 Bubonic plague strikes China 1428   1428 Vietnam gains independence from Ming China 1644   1644 Rebels take Peking   1644 Last Ming emperor commits suicide 1842   1842 First Opium War between China and Britain 1850  December 1850 Taiping Rebellion in China; Up to 30 million Chinese die in civil war between Qing government and Hong Xiuquan's Heavenly Kingdom 1894   1894 Sino-Japanese War 1899 2 November 1899 Boxer Rebellion against foreign influence in China 1904 5 May 1904 Battle of Port Arthur 1934   1934 Communists' Long March in China 1949   1949 Communists under Mao assume power in China 1967   1967 China enters the nuclear age Go here for timeline sources.