China (Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; lit. 'Central State; Middle Kingdom'), officially the People's Republic of China (Chinese: 中华人民共和国; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó; abbr: PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of more than 1.4 billion. China follows a single standard time offset of UTC+08:00 even though it spans five geographical time zones and borders 14 different countries, the second most of any country in the world after Russia. Covering an area of approximately 9.6 million square kilometres (3.7 million mi2), it is the world's third or fourth largest country. The country is officially divided into 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing (capital city), Chongqing, Shanghai (larges