CHINA
639
J
*
an being from Chinese official data for 1882, those with a + from the data of 1879 and Folkien being estimated on the basis of the census of 1844:-
Province
Provincial Capital
Area English
Square Miles
Estimated Popultn. per Population Square Mile
Chihli +
Peking
58,949
17,937,000
304
Shantung*
Tsinan
53,762
36,247,835
557
Shansi *
Taiyuen..
56,268
12,211,453
221
Honan *
Kaifung.
66,913
22,115,827
340
Kiangsu *
Nanking
92,961
Anhwei*
Ngankin
{
20,905,171
470
20,596,288
425
Kiangsi +
Nanchang.
72,176
21,534,118
340
Chekiang *
Hangehow
39,150
11,588,692
296
Fohkien..
Foochow
38,500
22,190,556
574
Hupeh *
Wuchang
Hunan*.
Changchau
144,770 {
22,190,556
473
21,002,604
282
Shensi t
Sigan
8,432,193
126
Kansuh +
Lanchow
192,850
9,285,377
74
Szechuen *
Chingtu...
166,800
67,712,897
406
Kwangtung
*
Canton
79,456
29,706,249
377
Kwangsi +
Kwelin
78,250
5,151,327
65
Kweichau +
Kweiyang..
64,554
7,669,181
118
Yunnan +
Yunnan
107,969
11,721,576
108
1,312,328
383,253,029
297
It is to be noted that the Chinese census, following all Oriental methods of calculation, is not to be trusted. There is no subject on which foreign and native statisticians are more contentious than that of the Chinese population. "Experts vary in their estimates between 250,000,000 and 440,000,000.
The total number of foreigners in China in 1903 was 18,962, of whom 5,482 were subjects of Great Britain, 2,461 of the United States, 1,263 of France, 1,359 of Germany, 5,030 of Japan, and 1,220 Portuguese, almost entirely natives of Macao, all other nationalities being represented by very few members. Since this return was compiled the number of Japanese who have settled in China has increased enormously.
The principal dependencies of China are Mongolia, with an area of 1,288,035 square miles, and some 2,000,000 people; and Manchuria, with an area of 362,312 square miles, and {111 estimated population of 15,000,000, The latter has in recent years been steadily and rapidly colonised by Chinese, who greatly outnumber the Manchus in their own land. Thibet, which is also practically a dependency of China, has an area of 643,734 square miles and a population of 6,000,000 souls. It is ruled by the Dalai Lama, but subject to the Government of Peking, who maintain a Resident at Lhassa.
ARMY AND NAVY
The standing military force of China consists of two great divisions, the first formed by the more immediate subjects of the ruling dynasty, the Manchus, and the second by the Chinese and other subject races. The first, the main force upon which the Imperial Government can rely, form the so-called troops of the Eight Banners; they garrison all the great cities in such a manner as to be separated by walls and forts from the population. According to the latest but entirely untrustworthy reports, the Imperial army comprises a total of 850,000 men, including 678 companies of Tartar troops, 211 companies of Mongols, and native Chinese infantry, a kind of militia, numbering 120,000 men ; but these figures, derived from Native sources, are altogether untrustworthy. In organization, equipment, personnel and commissariat, the Army is utterly inefficient and with the exception of a few brigades of foreign-drilled troops is little better than rabble as far as concerns opposition to European, Indian or Japanese troops. The native soldiers do not as a rule live in barracks but in their own houses, mostly pursuing some civil occupation. The Army of Chih-li, undoubtedly the best in the whole Empire, utterly failed to withstand the foreign troops in 1900 except in the cases when the disparity in numbers was over five to one. Disorganisation was supreme: although the arsenals around Tientsin and Peking were known to contain more than
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