China, satellite image. North is at top. Green areas are vegetated, brown are desert and white are snow-covered. China is the world's most populous country. It has an estimated population of over 1.3 billion people. China borders fourteen other countries, including Russia, Mongolia, India and Pakistan. Much or China is composed of desert or mountains. The Himalayas mark the southwest border of the country. The Gobi Desert is in the country's northeast and the Takla Makan Desert in the northwest. China's capital city is Beijing in the east of the country close to the coast of the Yellow Sea (inlet, right centre).