It is the largest of all Asian countries and has the largest population of any country in the world. Occupying nearly the entire East Asian landmass, it covers approximately one-fourteenth of the land area of Earth. Among the major countries of the world, China is surpassed in area by only Russia and Canada , and it is almost as large as the whole of Europe. China has 33 administrative units directly under the central government; these consist of 22 provinces , 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities Chongqing , Beijing , Shanghai , and Tianjin , and 2 special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau.