CHINA PROPER (anciently Cathay; Chinese, Chung Kuo, "Middle Kingdom') forms the southeastern portion of the republic, and occu pies less than a third of its whole extent. Not including the island of Hainan, it lies between tat. 20° 20' and N., and long. 98° and 123° E. China is bounded, north by one of the most remarkable of human structures, the Great Wall, which proceeds directly over mountain and valley, and for a length of 1,250 miles forms the barrier between China and Mongolia; on the west it is bounded by Tibet; on the south by Burma, Tonkin and the China Sea; and on the east by the North Pacific Ocean. There are 18 provinces with area and population as • follows: The official so-called of 1910, with enumerations, only approximate to actuality re duces the number of souls in the Chinese Em pire to about 325,000,000. The number of foreigners in the empire in 1915, the Japanese far outnumbering all others, was not ar from 200,000.
Physical Features.— The coast-line, form ing an irregular curve of about 2,500 miles, gives about one mile of coast for every 500 miles of area. It is not deeply penetrated by gulfs, the only one of great extent being that of Pe-chi-Li in the northeast, but numerous indentations form safe and capacious roadsteads. With ex ception of a bold and rocky peninsula in the province of Shan-Tung, the shore from the Gulf of Pe-chi-Li south to the island of Chusan is flat, and in many places so little raised above the sea-level as to be extensively inundated dur ing a continuance of strong winds. From Chu san to the mouth of Canton River it is usually rocky; from this point southwest, flats chiefly prevail. A peninsula of some size juts out in the extreme south from Kwang-Tung province, separated from which by a narrow strait is the large island of Hainan. Chusan Island and archipelago are also of importance, but most of the innumerable islands dotted round the Chinese coast are very small. The large island of Formosa, off the east coast, now belongs to Japan. Many lighthouses have been planted along the coast. Owing to the exclusive policy of the Chinese and their dislike of foreigners, a great part of the interior of the country must be regarded as still almost a terra incognita. The surface is mostly mountainous. The gen eral slope is from west to east, and the moun tains are a continuation of those of Tibet and central Asia. Branches of the Kuenlun trav erse almost the whole breadth of China. In western Sze-Chuen, there are peaks reaching the height of 25,000 feet. In the north the Nan-shan branch of the Kuenlun Range runs under various names along the northeast of China till it reaches the frontier of Manchuria, north of Peking. A third great mountainous re
gion of China is in the southeast, where exten sive chains stretch on the south of the Yang tse-Kiang all the way from the highlands of Yunnan to the eastern seaboard. Between the main mountain system, and following courses which may be roughly described as parallel, run the two great rivers of China, the Hoang-Ho and the Yang-tse-Kiang. Here lie the central and richest Chinese provinces. On both sides of the lower Hoang-Ho is an immense delta plain, consisting generally of a deep alluvial soil of unparalleled fertility. This great plain has a length of not less than 700 miles, and a width varying from 150 to 500 'miles, and probably maintains a denser population than any other portion of the earth's surface of similar extent.
Rivers and Lakes.— No country of the world is better watered than China. The Yang tse-Kiang, which traverses the country centrally from west to east, has a course of some 3,000 miles, and forms a splendid inland waterway up which ocean steamers can sail for 1,100 miles to Ichang, a port opened to foreign trade. The Hoang-Ho, farther north, and next in size, has a course of over 2,600 but is of much less value for commerce, being comparatively shallow, subject to tremendous and disastrous floods and apt to shift its course. The Grand Canal connects the lower course of the Yang tse with that of the Hoang-Ho, starting from Hang-Chau Bay in the south, and being con tinued to Tien-Tsin in the north, thus com pleting what is said to be the most magnificent system of water communication in existence. This great waterway has, however, been greatly neglected, and threatens to become unnavigable, unless the necessary repairs are taken in hand. Besides these rivers and their numerous tribu taries, the most deserving of notice are the Si-Kiang in the south, of considerable size but still more commercial importance, having at or near its mouth Canton, Hongkong and Macao; and the Pei-Ho, which, though much smaller, forms a waterway between Peking and the Gulf of Pe-chi-Li. The lakes of China, though rather numerous, are not individually of great extent. Perhaps the largest is Tung-Ting, in the province of Hunan, which furnishes an affluent to the Yang-tse-Kiang, and has a cir cuit of 270 miles. Po-yang, in the province of Kiang-Si, is 90 miles long by 20 broad, abounds in fish and is remarkable both for the pictur esque scenery around it and the numerous beau tiful and populous islands which it encloses.