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In land size alone, China is the fourth largest country in the world. For centuries, much of this mysterious nation was hidden from outsiders. But when traders and foreign adventurers explored within China's borders, they found mountains, high plateaus, deserts, plains, deltas, and hills that rivaled those of legends.
The world-renowned Chang Jiang (Yangtze) is China's longest river, traveling over 6,300 km through China's most economically developed regions. First constructed around 605 AD to serve commercial and military interests, The Grand Canal connects the Yangtze and the Yellow Rivers from north to south in the longest artificial waterway in the world.
China is an agricultural country. The Eastern third of the country--that portion east of the Tibetan Plateau and south of the Great Wall--forms the core of "China proper." The western region is comprised of mountains and deserts as well as plateaus that do not provide much arable land for agriculture. The densely settled North China Plain along the lower course of the Huang He includes the eighteen traditional provinces of imperial China, and can be divided into Northern China and Southern China.
