China, officially the People’s Republic of China, is a country in East Asia. It is the world’s most populous country, with a population of around 1.4 billion in 2019. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometers, it is the world’s third or fourth-largest country by area.  As a one party state led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the country is officially divided into 23 provinces, five autonomus regions.