Administrative Division System
China's administrative units are currently based on a three-tier system, dividing the nation into provinces, counties and townships:
The country is divided into provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government;
A province or an autonomous region is subdivided into autonomous prefectures, counties, autonomous counties and cities;
A county or an autonomous county is subdivided into townships, ethnic townships and towns.
Municipalities directly under the Central Government and large cities are subdivided into districts and counties; autonomous prefectures are subdivided into counties, autonomous counties and cities. Autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties are all ethnic autonomous areas. The Constitution specifically empowers the state to establish special administrative regions when necessary. A special administrative region is a local administrative area directly under the Central Government.
The People's Republic of China has 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 centrally administered municipalities and 2 special administrative regions (see the following table).
China's Provinces, Autonomous Regions, Centrally Administered Municipalities and Special Administrative Regions
Name
Seat of Government
Area(10,000 sq km)
Population* (10,000 persons)
Beijing Municipality
Beijing
1.68
1,538
Tianjin Municipality
Tianjin
1.13
1,043
Hebei Province
Shijiazhuang
19.00
6,851
Shanxi Province
Taiyuan
15.60
3,355
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
Hohhot
119.75
2,386
Liaoning Province
Shenyang
14.57
4,221
Jilin Province
Changchun
18.70
2,716
Heilongjiang Province
Harbin
46.90
3,820
Shanghai Municipality
Shanghai
0.62
1,778
Jiangsu Province
Nanjing
10.26
7,475
Zhejiang Province
Hangzhou
10.18
4,898
Anhui Province
Hefei
13.90
6,120
Fujian Province
Fuzhou
12.00
3,535
Jiangxi Province
Nanchang
16.66
4,311
Shandong Province
Jinan
15.30
9,248
Henan Province
Zhengzhou
16.70
9,380
Hubei Province
Wuhan
18.74
5,710
Hunan Province
Changsha
21.00
6,326
Guangdong Province
Guangzhou
18.60
9,194
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
Nanning
23.77
4,660
Hainan Province
Haikou
3.40
828
Chongqing Municipality
Chongqing
8.20
2,798
Sichuan Province
Chengdu
48.80
8,212
Guizhou Province
Guiyang
17.00
3,730
Yunnan Province
Kunming
39.40
4,450
Tibet Autonomous Region
Lhasa
127.49
277
Shaanxi Province
Xi'an
20.50
3,720
Gansu Province
Lanzhou
45.00
2,594
Qinghai Province
Xining
72.00
543
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
Yinchuan
6.28
596
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Urumqi
165.58
2,010
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Hong Kong
0.1103
694 (in mid-2005)
Macao Special Administrative Region
Macao
0.0027
48 (in mid-2005)
Taiwan Province
3.60
2,277 (at the end of 2005 |
