On January 1, 1912, the Republic of China was established. The tie of the last Chinese Civil War has resulted in two political entities using the name China: the People's Republic of China (PRC), commonly known as China, which controls mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau; and the Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan, which controls the island of Taiwan and some nearby islands.
Most languages in China belong to the Sino-Tibetan language family. They are spoken by 29 ethnicities. There are also several major dialects within the Chinese language itself. The most spoken dialects are Mandarin, Wu, Yue, Min, Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Hundreds of ethnic groups have existed in China throughout its history. The largest ethnic group in China by far is the Han. |
