Look up stuart in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Stuart may refer to:

People[link]

• House of Stuart, a royal house of Scotland and England
• Clan Stuart of Bute, a Scottish clan
• Stuart (name), people with the surname and given name Stuart

Places[link]

Australia

• Stuart, the former name for Alice Springs, Northern Territory (changed 1933)
• Stuart Park, an inner city suburb of Darwin
• Central Mount Stuart, a mountain peak in the Northern Territory
• Electoral district of Stuart, a state electoral district in South Australia
• Stuart, Queensland, a suburb of Townsville

United Kingdom

• Castle Stuart

United States

• Stuart, Florida
• Stuart, Iowa
• Stuart, Nebraska
• Stuart, Oklahoma
• Stuart, Virginia
• Stuart Township, Holt County, Nebraska
• Illinois Institute of Technology Stuart School of Business, Chicago, Illinois
• Mount Stuart, Washington, a mountain in the Cascade Range

Fictional characters[link]

• Disco Stu, a recurring character in The Simpsons
• Stuart, original name of Peter Sam), a character in The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry
• Stuart Chandler, a character on All My Children played by David Canary
• Stuart Larkin, a recurring character on MADtv, onald
• Stuart Little, the main character of the E. B. White novel of the same name later turned into three successful films:
  • Stuart Little (film), released in 1999
  • Stuart Little 2, released in 2002
  • Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild, which went direct-to-video in 2006
  • Stu Price, recurring character from the Hangover film series
• Stu Redman, one of the main characters from Stephen King's The Stand
• Stuart Smalley, a recurring character played by Al Franken on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live

Other[link]

• St Thomas University in Miami, Florida
• Stuart period, a historical era in Britain coinciding with the rule of the Stuart dynasty
• Kerr Stuart, English railway locomotive manufacturer
• Stuart tank, American WW2 tank named after J.E.B. Stuart
• HMAS Stuart, several ships of the Royal Australian Navy

See also[link]

• Stewart (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Bill Nelson
United States Senator from Florida
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2001 Serving with Marco Rubio
Preceded by	Connie Mack III
Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal of Florida
In office January 3, 1995 – January 1, 2000
Governor	Lawton Chiles (1995-1998) Buddy MacKay (1998-1999) Jeb Bush (1999-2000)
Preceded by	Tom Gallagher
Succeeded by	Tom Gallagher
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 11th district
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1991
Preceded by	Daniel A. Mica
Succeeded by	Jim Bacchus
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 9th district
In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1983
Preceded by	Louis Frey
Succeeded by	Michael Bilirakis
Member of the Florida House of Representatives
In office 1972–1979
Personal details
Born	Clarence William Nelson (1942-09-29) September 29, 1942 (age 69) Miami, Florida
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Grace Cavert Nelson
Children	Bill Nelson, Jr. Nan Ellen Nelson
Residence	Orlando, Florida
Alma mater	Yale University (B.A.) University of Virginia (J.D.)
Religion	Christian
Website	www.billnelson.senate.gov
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1965-1968, 1970-1971 (Reserve) 1968-1970 (Active Duty)
Rank	Captain

Clarence William "Bill" Nelson (born September 29, 1942) is the senior United States Senator from the state of Florida and a member of the Democratic Party. He is a former United States Representative and former Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner of Florida. In 1986, he became the second sitting member of the United States Congress to fly in space.

In 1972, Nelson was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. He was re-elected in 1974 and 1976. Nelson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978. He served in the U.S. House from 1979 to 1991. In January 1986, he flew as a Payload Specialist on the Space Shuttle Columbia. After a failed gubernatorial race in 1990, he successfully ran for the office of Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner of Florida in 1994 and served for six years. In 2000, Nelson ran for U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Republican Senator Connie Mack. In the Senate he is generally considered a social moderate and economic liberal. He was re-elected in 2006 with 60 percent of the vote^[1] and is seeking re-election in 2012.

Personal life[link]

Nelson was born in Miami, the only child of Nannie Merle (née Nelson) and Clarence William Nelson.^[2][3] He spent his youth in Melbourne, Florida, where he attended Melbourne High School.^[4]

Nelson attended the University of Florida before transferring to Yale University. He subsequently received a law degree from the University of Virginia.^[5] In 1965, he joined the U.S. Army Reserve; he served on active duty from 1968 to 1970, attaining the rank of captain, and he remained in the Army until 1971. Nelson was admitted to the Florida bar in 1968, and began practicing law in Melbourne in 1970. In 1971, he worked as legislative assistant to Governor Reubin Askew.^[5]

In 1972, Nelson married Grace Cavert. The couple has two adult children: Bill Nelson, Jr., and Nan Ellen Nelson.^[4][6]

He was baptized as a Baptist, and grew up attending Baptist and Episcopal churches. In 2005, he joined the First Presbyterian Church in Orlando.^[7]

Spaceflight[link]

Clarence William "Bill" Nelson
NASA Payload Specialist
Nationality	American
Born	September 29, 1942 Miami, Florida
Current occupation	U.S. Senator
Previous occupation	Representative, U.S. House
Time in space	6d 02h 03m
Missions	STS-61-C
Mission insignia

In 1986, Nelson became the second sitting member of Congress (and the first member of the House) to travel into space. He went through NASA training with Senator Jake Garn of Utah. He was a Payload Specialist on Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-61-C mission from January 12 to 18, 1986.

The primary objective of the mission was to deploy the Ku-1 communications satellite, second in a planned series of geosynchronous satellites owned and operated by RCA Americom. The deployment was successful. The flight also carried a large number of small experiments, including 13 GAS canisters devoted to investigations involving the effect of microgravity on materials processing, seed germination, chemical reactions, egg hatching, astronomy and atmospheric physics.

Columbia landed at Edwards AFB at 5:59 a.m. PST, on January 18. Mission elapsed time was 6 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes, 51 seconds. It was the last successful Space Shuttle flight before the Challenger accident, as the disaster occurred only 10 days after Columbia's return.

Political career[link]

Florida legislature[link]

In 1972, Nelson was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. He won re-election in 1974 and 1976.^[8]

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Nelson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978. He served in the U.S. House from 1979 to 1991.

Gubernatorial campaign[link]

In 1990, Nelson ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Florida. He lost to former U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles, who went on to win the general election. During the primary campaign, Nelson tried to make an issue out of Chiles' health and age, a strategy that backfired on him in a state with a large population of retirees and senior citizens.

Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner[link]

In 1994 Nelson announced his intention to seek the office of Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner of Florida. He won the election with 52% of the vote over State Rep. Tim Ireland's 48%. In 1998, he again defeated Ireland for his reelection to the office.

In 2000, Nelson resigned his post as Commissioner following his election to the U.S. Senate.

U.S. Senate[link]

In 2000, Nelson ran as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Republican Senator Connie Mack. He won the election, defeating U.S. Representative Bill McCollum, who ran as the Republican candidate.

Political Positions[link]

Nelson's votes have tended to be more liberal than conservative. He has received high ratings from left-of-center groups such as Americans for Democratic Action, and low ones from right-of-center groups such as the Eagle Forum and the Club for Growth. According to ratings by the National Journal, Nelson's votes have been liberal on economic matters, moderate on social issues, and liberal but close to the center on foreign policy.^[9]

Nelson has called for greater bipartisanship and civility between left and right. “The finger pointing and hyper-partisanship has to stop,” he has said. “Democrats need to see tea partiers as something other than debt-limit hostage-taking Republicans. And Republicans need to see President Barack Obama and Democrats as something other than big-spending socialists....We’ve got to stop this attack madness. We have to bring civility back to the public square.... It’s time to stop the shouting and bickering and political attacks. It’s time to show the world that America can take care of business.”^[10] In November 2011 he told a conference: “People are so rigid, they are in their ideological boxes, they won't move and it is my way or the highway. The people of our country are fed up with this nonsense. I tell you I am fed up with it. It is frustrating.”^[11]

Nelson has been especially vocal on the issue of minority voting rights and on funding for space exploration. A strong supporter of NASA, he flew on the space shuttle Columbia in 1986.

The Progressive Patriots website gave Nelson a “progressive” score of 25/100.^[12]

Central America Free Trade Agreement[link]

In 2005, Nelson was one of ten Democrats who voted in favor of the Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) on its 55-45 passage in the Senate;^[13] Nelson's vote was cast despite opposition by special interests like the sugar lobby.^[14]

Estate tax[link]

On several occasions, Nelson has voted against his party to reduce or eliminate the estate tax,^[15] notably in June 2006, when he was one of four Democrats voting for a failed (57-41) cloture motion on a bill to eliminate the tax.^[16]

Withholding funding from the CIA[link]

In 2007, Nelson was the lone Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee to vote against an amendment to withhold funds for CIA use of harsh interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects. His vote, combined with those of all Republican members of the committee, killed the measure.^[17]

Healthcare[link]

In March 2010, Nelson voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which passed and were signed into law by President Obama. A Mason-Dixon Florida poll indicated that the measure was opposed by a majority of those surveyed, and by nearly two-thirds of Florida voters aged 65 or older. The same poll showed Nelson's negative rating rising to 34%, from 16% at the time of his 2006 re-election.^[18] However, a Gallup poll indicated that 79% of Democrats approved of the legislation, with only 40% of all adults opposing the legislation.^[19]

Space exploration[link]

Nelson is seen as a major supporter of the space program. In 2010 he proposed creating as many as “five business enterprise zones as magnets for commercial space ventures.” “The move is expected to attract thousands of jobs to Florida’s 'Space Coast' area around NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base.”^[20]

In March 2010 Nelson complained that Obama had made a mistake in canceling NASA's Constellation program.^[21] On July 7, 2011, Tom Parkinson reported that Nelson had said that Congress “starved” the space program of funding for several years, but suggested that the situation was turning around and called on the Obama Administration to push for NASA funding.^[22]

Don't Ask Don't Tell[link]

On December 18, 2010, Nelson voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010.^[23][24]

Congressional Term Limits[link]

Nelson does not support Congressional Term Limits, and agrees with constitutional scholars who argue that term limits would limit the prerogative of the voters."^[25]

Debt ceiling[link]

Nelson has a mixed record on budgetary and business issues. In July 2011, Marc Caputo and Erika Bolstad of the Miami Herald noted that “Bill Nelson was against raising the debt ceiling before he was for it. And he was for it before he was against it.”^[26]

2006 re-election campaign[link]

Sen. Nelson works with government storm trackers during a hurricane-hunter flight into the center of Hurricane Charley in August 2004

Following the 2004 election, in which Republican George W. Bush was re-elected and the Republican party increased its majority in both the House and the Senate, Nelson was seen as vulnerable. He was a Democrat in a state that Bush had won, though by a margin of only five percentage points.^[27]

Evangelical Christian activist James Dobson declared that such Democrats, including Nelson, would be "in the 'bull's-eye'" if they supported efforts to block Bush's judicial nominees;^[28] and Nelson's refusal to support efforts in Congress to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case was seen as "a great political issue" for a Republican opponent to use in mobilizing Christian conservatives against him.^[29] Florida governor Jeb Bush, precluded by term limits from seeking re-election in 2006, was suggested as an opponent who might secure Nelson's seat for the Republicans.^[27] Bush chose not to run for the seat. Katherine Harris, the former Florida Secretary of State and two-term U.S. representative, defeated three other candidates in the September 5 Republican primary. Nelson was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Harris's role in the 2000 presidential election made her a polarizing figure. Many Florida Republicans were eager to reward her for her perceived party loyalty in the Bush-Gore election; many Florida Democrats were eager to vote against her for the same reason.^[30] Harris's campaign was beset by difficulties: poor fundraising, a series of gaffes, and a high turnover of staff, including the loss of three campaign managers and of chief advisor Ed Rollins.^[31] In February, it was learned that Harris had received $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions from defense contractor Mitchell J. Wade.^[32]

In April, a National Review editorial urged Harris to withdraw, arguing that she would unquestionably win the primary and lose the general election.^[33] In May, when the party found itself unable to recruit a candidate who could defeat Harris in the primary, many Republican activists admitted that the race was already lost.^[34]

Harris's campaign focused heavily on evangelical Christianity.^[35] In an August interview with Florida Baptist Witness, she declared: "[I]f you're not electing Christians then in essence you are going to legislate sin"^[36] Nelson, meanwhile, focused on safe issues, portraying himself as a bipartisan centrist problem-solver.^[30] He obtained the endorsement of all 22 of Florida's daily newspapers.^[37] Harris failed to secure the endorsement of Jeb Bush, who publicly stated that she could not win; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which had supported her in her congressional campaigns, did not endorse her in this race.^[38]

As the election approached, polls showed Harris trailing Nelson by 26 to 35 points.^[31] Nelson transferred about $16.5 million in campaign funds to other Democratic candidates,^[39] and won the election with 60.4% of the vote to Harris's 38.2%.^[40]

2012 re-election campaign[link]

In late May 2010 on the Talking Points blog, Brian Beutler reported that Nelson had “called on Obama...to shake up the arrangement of the cleanup and rescue operation by putting the military in charge.”^[41] In early June, CBS News reported that Nelson was “becoming increasingly frustrated with the chaos surrounding the cleanup.”^[42]

Biden has called Nelson crucial to President Obama's chances for winning Florida in 2012. Several possible 2012 challengers have emerged, but the only one who is widely seen as a real threat is Connie Mack IV (the son of Nelson's direct predecessor in the Senate). In March 2011, Vice President Joe Biden was reported as having said that if Nelson lost in 2012, “it means President Obama and the Democratic presidential ticket won't win the key battleground state, either....'He's a truly, truly decent guy who has the absolute respect of his colleagues, and I've heard that from both sides of the aisle,' Biden said of his former Senate colleague.”^[43]

Controversies[link]

On February 17, 2009, David D. Kirkpatrick wrote that Nelson was one of three lawmakers who “were returning campaign contributions from donors listed as employees of the PMA Group, a Washington lobbying firm whose founder is under investigation for purportedly funneling money through bogus donors.”^[44]

During his 2006 Senate campaign, according to the Open Congress website, Nelson “was accused of taking $80,000 in illegal campaign contributions from Riscorp, Inc....The Riscorp scandal involved dozens of Florida state legislators and was among the largest scandals in recent Florida history.”^[45]

In November 2011, Ahmed Bedier, an activist linked to CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, donated money to Nelson and co-hosted a fundraiser for him. Nelson's representatives later claimed that he “did not know about Bedier's relationship with CAIR” and that Bedier had exaggerated his closeness to the Senator.^[46] In November 2011 Marc Caputo of the Miami Herald wrote that the scandal over Bedier threatened the Jewish vote for Nelson, given that Bedier had called Israel a “terrorist state.” Caputo noted that while “Nelson has gone to great lengths to fashion himself as pro-Israel,” that wasn't enough for some conservative groups.^[47]

Committee assignments[link]

Senator Nelson serves on the following committees in the 112th Congress.

• Committee on the Budget
• Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
  • Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
  • Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
  • Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard
  • Subcommittee on Science and Space (Chairman)
• Committee on Finance
  • Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
  • Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight
• Select Committee on Intelligence
• Special Committee on Aging

Electoral history[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Bill Nelson

Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bill Nelson

• United States Senator Bill Nelson official U.S. Senate site
• Nelson for US Senate official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• NASA – Bill Nelson official NASA astronaut biography

v t e Current statewide political officials of Florida U.S. Senators Bill Nelson Marco Rubio State government Rick Scott, Governor Jennifer Carroll, Lieutenant Governor Jeff Atwater, Chief Financial Officer Pam Bondi, Attorney General Adam Putnam, Commissioner of Agriculture Senate Mike Haridopolos, President Andy Gardiner, Majority Leader Nan Rich, Minority Leader House Dean Cannon, Speaker Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Majority Leader Ronald Saunders, Minority Leader Supreme Court (appointed) Charles T. Canady, Chief Justice Barbara Pariente R. Fred Lewis Peggy Quince Ricky Polston Jorge Labarga James E.C. Perry AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY

v t e United States Senators from Florida Class 1 Yulee Mallory, Sr. Welch Gilbert Jones Pasco Taliaferro N. Bryan Trammell Loftin Andrews Holland Chiles Mack Nelson Class 3 Westcott Morton Yulee Osborn Conover Call Mallory, Jr. W. Bryan Milton Fletcher Hill Pepper Smathers Gurney Stone Hawkins Graham Martinez LeMieux Rubio

People's Republic of China 中华人民共和国 Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó
Flag National Emblem
Anthem:  "March of the Volunteers" 《义勇军进行曲》 (Pinyin: "Yìyǒngjūn Jìnxíngqǔ")
Capital		Beijing 39°55′N 116°23′E / 39.917°N 116.383°E / 39.917; 116.383
Largest city		Shanghai[1][2]
Official language(s)		Standard Chinese[3]
Recognised regional languages		Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Zhuang, and various others
Official written language		Vernacular Chinese
Official script		Simplified Chinese[3]
Ethnic groups		91.51% Han;[4] 55 recognised minorities List of ethnic groups 1.30% Zhuang 0.86% Manchu 0.79% Uyghur 0.79% Hui 0.72% Miao 0.65% Yi 0.62% Tujia 0.47% Mongol 0.44% Tibetan 0.26% Buyei 0.15% Korean 1.05% other
Demonym		Chinese
Government		Nominally Marxist–Leninist single-party state[5][a]
-	President[b]	Hu Jintao
-	Congress Chairman	Wu Bangguo
-	Premier	Wen Jiabao
-	Conference Chairman	Jia Qinglin
Legislature		National People's Congress
Establishment
-	Unification of China under the Qin Dynasty	221 BC
-	Republic established	1 January 1912
-	People's Republic proclaimed	1 October 1949
Area
-	Total	9,640,821 km2 [c] or 9,671,018 km² [c](3rd/4th) 3,704,427 sq mi
-	Water (%)	2.8[d]
Population
-	2010 census	1,339,724,852[4] (1st)
-	Density	139.6/km2 (53rd) 363.3/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$11.299 trillion[6] (2nd)
-	Per capita	$8,382[6] (91st)
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$7.298 trillion[6] (2nd)
-	Per capita	$5,413[6] (90th)
Gini (2007)		41.5[7]
HDI (2011)		0.687[8] (medium) (101st)
Currency		Renminbi (yuan) (¥) (CNY)
Time zone		China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Date formats		yyyy-mm-dd or yyyy年m月d日 (CE; CE-1949)
Drives on the		right, except for Hong Kong & Macau
ISO 3166 code		CN
Internet TLD		.cn[c] .中國[9] .中国
Calling code		+86[c]
a. ^ Simple characterizations of the political structure since the 1980s are no longer possible.[10] b. ^ As paramount leader, Hu Jintao holds four concurrent positions: General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission for both state and party.[11] c. ^ 9,598,086 km2 (3,705,842 sq mi) excludes all disputed territories. 9,640,821 km2 (3,722,342 sq mi) Includes Chinese-administered area (Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract, both territories claimed by India), Taiwan is not included.[12] d. ^ Information for mainland China only. Hong Kong, Macau, and territories under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China (Taiwan) are excluded.

China (ⁱ/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area,^[13] and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.^[14]

The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China.^[15] It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau).^[16] Its capital city is Beijing.^[17] The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.

China's landscape is vast and diverse, with forest steppes and the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts occupying the arid north and northwest near Mongolia and Central Asia, and subtropical forests being prevalent in the wetter south near Southeast Asia. The terrain of western China is rugged and elevated, with the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separating China from South and Central Asia. The world's apex, Mt. Everest (8,848 m), lies on the China–Nepal border, while the world's second-highest point, K2 (8,611 m), is situated on China's border with Pakistan. The country's lowest and the world's third-lowest point, Lake Ayding (−154 m), is located in the Turpan Depression. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, have their sources in the Tibetan Plateau and continue to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometres (9,000 mi) long—the 11th-longest in the world—and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East and South China Seas.

The nation of China has had numerous historical incarnations. The ancient Chinese civilization—one of the world's earliest—flourished in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain.^[18] China's political system was based on hereditary monarchies, known as dynasties, beginning with the semi-mythological Xia of the Yellow River basin (approx. 2000 BC) and ending with the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Since 221 BC, when the Qin Dynasty first conquered several states to form a Chinese empire, the country has expanded, fractured and been reformed numerous times. The Republic of China, founded in 1911 after the overthrow of the Qing dynasty, ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949. In 1945, the ROC acquired Taiwan from Japan following World War II.

In the 1946–1949 phase of the Chinese Civil War, the Chinese Communist Party defeated the nationalist Kuomintang in mainland China and established the People's Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949. The Kuomintang relocated the ROC government to Taiwan, establishing its capital in Taipei. The ROC's jurisdiction is now limited to Taiwan and several outlying islands, including Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. Since 1949, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (now widely known as "Taiwan") have remained in dispute over the sovereignty of China and the political status of Taiwan, mutually claiming each other's territory and competing for international diplomatic recognition. In 1971, the PRC gained admission to the United Nations and took the Chinese seat as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the BCIM and the G-20. As of September 2011, all but 23 countries have recognized the PRC as the sole legitimate government of China.

Since the introduction of market-based economic reforms in 1978, China has become the world's fastest-growing major economy.^[19] As of 2012, it is the world's second-largest economy, after the United States, by both nominal GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP),^[20] and is also the world's largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. In per capita terms, China ranked 90th by nominal GDP and 91st by GDP (PPP) in 2011, according to the IMF. China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing army, with the second-largest defense budget. In 2003, China became the third nation in the world, after the former Soviet Union and the United States, to independently launch a successful manned space mission. China has been characterized as a potential superpower by a number of academics,^[21] military analysts,^[22] and public policy and economics analysts.^[23]

Etymology[link]

China
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese:	中国
Traditional Chinese:	中國
Literal meaning:	Middle Kingdom[24][25]
Transliterations Gan - Romanization: Tung-koe̍t Kejia - Romanization: Dung24 Gued2 Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōngguó - Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo - Bopomofo ㄓㄨㄥ ㄍㄨㄛˊ Min - Hokkien POJ: Tiong-kok - Min Dong BUC: Dṳ̆ng-guók Wu - Romanization: Tson平 koh入 Yue - Jyutping: Zung1 gwok3 - Yale Romanization: Jūnggwok
People's Republic of China
Alternative Chinese name
Simplified Chinese:	中华人民共和国
Traditional Chinese:	中華人民共和國
Transliterations Gan - Romanization: Chungfa Ninmin Khungfokoet Hakka - Romanization: Dung24 fa11 ngin11 min11 kiung55 fo11 gued2 Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Min - Hokkien POJ: Tiong-hôa jîn-bîn kiōng-hô-kok - Min Dong BUC: Dṳ̆ng-huà Ìng-mìng Gê̤ṳng-huò-guók Wu - Romanization: Tson平 gho平 zin平 min平 gon去 ghu平 koh入 Yue - Jyutping: Zung1 waa4 jan4 man4 gung6 wo4 gwok3 - Yale Romanization: Jūngwàh Yàhnmàhn Guhngwòhgwok
Mongolian name
Mongolian:
Tibetan name
Tibetan:	ཀྲུང་ཧྭ་མི་དམངས་སྤྱི མཐུན་རྒྱལ་ཁབ
Transliterations - Wylie: krung hwa mi dmangs spyi mthun rgyal khab - Zangwen Pinyin: Zhunghua Mimang Jitun Gyalkab
Uyghur name
Uyghur:	جۇڭخۇا خەلق جۇمھۇرىيىت
Transliterations - Latin Yëziqi: Jungxua Xelq Jumhuriyiti - Yengi Yezik̡: Junghua Həlk̡ Jumh̡uriyiti - SASM/GNC: Junghua Hälk̂ Jumĥuriyiti - Siril Yëziqi: Җуңхуа Хәлқ Җумһурийити
Zhuang name
Zhuang:	Cunghvaz Yinzminz Gunghozgoz

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

The word "China" is derived from Cin (چین), a Persian name for China popularized in medieval Europe by the account of the 13th-century Venetian explorer Marco Polo.^[26][27] The first recorded use in English dates from 1555.^[28] The Persian word is, in turn, derived from the Sanskrit word Cīna (चीन),^[29] which was used as a name for China as early as AD 150.^[30] There are various scholarly theories regarding the origin of this word. The traditional theory, proposed in the 17th century by Martino Martini, is that "China" is derived from "Qin" (秦), the westernmost of the Chinese kingdoms during the Zhou Dynasty, or from the succeeding Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC).^[31] The word Cīna is used in two Hindu scriptures – the Mahābhārata of the 5th century BC and the Laws of Manu of the 2nd century BC – to refer to a country located in the Tibetan-Burman borderlands east of India.^[32][33]

In China, common names for the country include Zhōngguó (Chinese: 中国; literally "the Central State(s)") and Zhōnghuá (Chinese: 中华), although the country's official name has been changed numerous times by successive dynasties and modern governments. The term Zhongguo appeared in various ancient texts, such as the Classic of History of the 6th century BC,^[34] and in pre-imperial times it was often used as a cultural concept to distinguish the Huaxia from the barbarians. The term, which can be either singular or plural, referred to the group of states in the central plain. It was only in the nineteenth century that the term emerged as the formal name of the country. The Chinese were not unique in regarding their country as "central", since other civilizations had the same view.^[35]

History[link]

Prehistory[link]

Archaeological evidence suggests that early hominids inhabited China between 250,000 and 2.24 million years ago.^[36] A cave in Zhoukoudian (near present-day Beijing) exhibits fossils dated at between 300,000 and 780,000 BC.^[37][38][39] The fossils are of Peking Man, an example of Homo erectus who used fire. There are also remains of Homo sapiens dating back to 18,000–11,000 BC found at the Peking Man site.^[40]

Early dynastic rule[link]

Jade deer ornament dating from the Shang Dynasty.

Chinese tradition names the first dynasty Xia, but it was considered mythical until scientific excavations found early Bronze Age sites at Erlitou in Henan Province in 1959.^[41] Archaeologists have since uncovered urban sites, bronze implements, and tombs in locations cited as Xia's in ancient historical texts, but it is impossible to verify that these remains are of the Xia without written records from the period.

Some of the thousands of life-size Terracotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty, ca. 210 BC.

The Great Wall of China was built by several dynasties over two thousand years to protect the sedentary agricultural regions of the Chinese interior from incursions by nomadic pastoralists of the northern steppes.

The first Chinese dynasty that left historical records, the loosely feudal Shang (Yin), settled along the Yellow River in eastern China from the 17th to the 11th century BC. The oracle bone script of the Shang Dynasty represent the oldest forms of Chinese writing found and the direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters used throughout East Asia. The Shang were invaded from the west by the Zhou, who ruled from the 12th to the 5th century BC, until their centralized authority was slowly eroded by feudal warlords. Many independent states eventually emerged out of the weakened Zhou state, and continually waged war with each other in the Spring and Autumn Period, only occasionally deferring to the Zhou king. By the time of the Warring States Period, there were seven powerful sovereign states, each with its own king, ministry and army.

Imperial China[link]

The first unified Chinese state was established by Qin Shi Huang of the Qin state in 221 BC. Qin Shi Huang proclaimed himself the "First Emperor" (始皇帝), and imposed many reforms throughout China, notably the forced standardization of the Chinese language, measurements, length of cart axles, and currency. The Qin Dynasty lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after Qin Shi Huang's death, as its harsh legalist and authoritarian policies led to widespread rebellion.^[42][43]