Editing Geography of China (section)

==== Border security ====
The security and strength of the Chinese borders vary depending on the location of the section of the border in question. This is due to the nature of the borders as well as the physical geography of the country. China has a large territory, about the same size as the United States, but the actual distribution of population is highly disproportionate. Sixty percent of the population live on the east coast of China which is only 22 percent of its territory while the other 78 percent lying inland is sparsely populated with ethnic minorities such as Tibetans, Kazakhs, Uyghurs, and other Chinese Muslim groups. Many of these groups have little to no loyalty to the central government of China further adding to the strained security of China's borders. The regions of Xinjiang and Tibet in particular harbor strong separatist movements.<ref name="Chung"/>

China signed the [[Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance]] with the Soviet Union in 1950. In the wake of the [[Sino-Soviet split]] during the 1960s, the Sino-Soviet border became highly militarized: at one point over 1.5 million nuclear-armed troops were installed along both sides of the border. Relations improved in the mid-1980s due to the decrease in threat to the Chinese government from the USSR.<ref name="Chung"/> On 13 January 2011, the parliament of Tajikistan voted to ratify a 1999 deal to cede {{cvt|1000|km2}} of land in the remote Pamir Mountain range, which thoroughly resolved a century-long border dispute with China. China is the largest investor in the Tajik economy especially in the energy and infrastructure sectors.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-12180567|title=Tajikistan cedes land to China|date=2011|work=BBC News|access-date=2018-11-26}}</ref>