The People's Republic of China (2024)

FAQs

Why is China now called the People's Republic of China? ›

Socialist transformation

Following the Chinese Civil War and victory of Mao Zedong's Communist forces over the Kuomintang forces of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, who fled to Taiwan, Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1 October 1949.

Definitions of People's Republic of China. noun. a communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern Asia; the most populous country in the world. synonyms: Cathay, China, Communist China, PRC, Red China, mainland China. example of: Asian country, Asian nation.

What it means: The People's Republic of China refers to the country as a geographic and political entity. Sometimes it's also appropriate to shorten this to China when it's being used to refer to the historical civilisation and political system in the region of the modern nation-state.

On October 1, 1949, Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

The People's Republic of China (Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó) and the Republic of China (Zhōnghuá Mínguó) are the official names of the two governments presently claiming sovereignty over "China".

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Marxism–Leninism was the first official ideology of the Chinese Communist Party, and is a combination of classical Marxism (the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels) and Leninism (the thoughts of Vladimir Lenin).

On January 1, 1979, the United States recognized the PRC and established diplomatic relations with it as the sole legitimate government of China.

When did China stop being the People's Republic of China? ›

The Republic of China (ROC), or simply China, was a sovereign state based on mainland China from 1912 to 1949 prior to the government's relocation to Taiwan, where it continues to be based today.

The People's Republic of China is a unitary multinational state; Persons belonging to any of the nationalities in China shall have Chinese nationality.

Marco Polo, the famous explorer who familiarized China to Europe in the 13th century CE, referred to the land as 'Cathay. In Mandarin Chinese, the country is known as 'Zhongguo' meaning "central state" or "middle empire".

Top 10 Largest Countries in the World (by total area km²):

Encyclopedia Britannica gives the third slot to China (9,600,013 km²) and places the United States in fourth. However, other sources, such as the United Nations and the CIA World Factbook, display a larger area for the U.S. and rank it above China.

The constitution of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the CCP constitution state that its form of government is "people's democratic dictatorship". The state constitution also holds that China is a one-party state that is governed by the CCP. This gives the CCP a total monopoly of political power.

During the 1950s and 1960s, after the ROC government had withdrawn to Taiwan, it was commonly referred to as "Nationalist China" (or "Free China") to differentiate it from "communist China" (or "Red China"). Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become commonly known as "Taiwan", after the main island.

The ROC government relocated to Taiwan in 1949 while fighting a civil war with the Chinese Communist Party. Since then, the ROC has continued to exercise effective jurisdiction over the main island of Taiwan and a number of outlying islands, leaving Taiwan and China each under the rule of a different government.

Modern China has had two guohao: Zhonghua Minguo (the Republic of China), which replaced the last imperial dynasty, the Da Qing (“the great pure dynasty”), in 1912; and Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo (the People's Republic of China), in use from 1949 to the present day.