China is an East Asian country, situated in the Northern and Eastern hemispheres of the Earth. China shares its borders with 14 countries: Mongolia in the north; Russia and North Korea in the northeast; Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, India, Bhutan and Nepal in the south; Pakistan in the southwest; Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in the west. China is also bounded by the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea in the east and the South China Sea in the southeast. China covers an area of about 9.6 million sq. km in East Asia. As observed on the physical map of China above, the country has a highly varied topography including plains, mountains, plateaus, deserts, etc.In the vast western reaches of China – mountains, high plateaus and deserts dominate the landscape, while in the central and east areas, the land slopes into broad plains and deltas.