- published: 18 Apr 2013
- views: 37129
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a sovereign state in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of over 1.35 billion. The PRC is a one-party state governed by the Communist Party, with its seat of government in the capital city of Beijing. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces; five autonomous regions; four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing); two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau); and claims sovereignty over Taiwan.
Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometers, China is the world's second-largest country by land area, and either the third or fourth-largest by total area, depending on the method of measurement. China's landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes and the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts in the arid north to subtropical forests in the wetter south. The Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, run from the Tibetan Plateau to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometres (9,000 mi) long, and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East and South China Seas.
China Zorrilla (Spanish: [ˈtʃina soˈriʒa], born Concepción Matilde Zorrilla de San Martín Muñoz; Montevideo, 14 March 1922 – Montevideo, 17 September 2014) was an emblematic Uruguayan theater, film, and television actress, also director, producer and writer. An immensely popular star in the Rioplatense area is often regarded as a Grand Dame of the South American theater stage.
After a long career in the Uruguayan theater, Zorrilla made over 50 appearances in Argentina's film, theater and TV. Her distinguished career took off in Uruguay in the 50-60s, later she settled in Argentina where she lived for over 35 years and was popular on TV, theater, and cinema. At 90, she retired and went back to Uruguay where she died in 2014.
In 2008, Zorrilla was invested Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government and in 2011, the Correo Uruguayo (the national postal service in Uruguay) released a print run of 500 commemorative postage stamps dedicated to her.
Born in Montevideo into an aristocratic Uruguayan family, "China" was the second of the five daughters of Guma Muñoz del Campo and sculptor José Luis Zorrilla de San Martín (1891–1975), a disciple of Antoine Bourdelle, responsible for monuments in Uruguay and Argentina. Revered as Uruguay's national poet, her paternal grandfather was Juan Zorrilla de San Martín, author of Tabaré. An artistic family, her older sister, Guma Zorrilla (1919–2001), was a well respected theater costume designer for the Uruguayan stage.