Empire · since 1949 · East Asia

People's Republic of China

Also known as China

Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, after the Communist Party won the civil war. The new state took control of Tibet in 1950–51, fought the United States in Korea and carried out land reform and Soviet-style planning.

Mao's Great Leap Forward of 1958–62 caused a famine that killed tens of millions, and his Cultural Revolution of 1966–76 unleashed a decade of persecution and chaos. After his death, Deng Xiaoping began reform and opening in 1978, allowing family farming, foreign investment and markets while keeping one-party rule, which was violently reasserted at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Hong Kong and Macau returned to Chinese rule in 1997 and 1999. Decades of rapid growth lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and made China the world's second-largest economy.

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Years

since 1949

Capital

Beijing

Greatest extent

1951, about 9.60 million km²

Region

East Asia

c. 9.6M km²; Taagepera (1997) gives c. 9.7M km² for 1950; after taking control of Tibet