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China's
administrative units are currently based on a three-level 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/or cities;
A
county or an autonomous county is subdivided into townships, national
minority townships, and/or 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 autonomous national minority
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.
At
present, China was divided into 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions,
4 municipalities directly under the Central Government, and 2 special
administrative region (see the following table).
China's Provinces, Autonomous Regions,
Centrally Administered
Municipalities and Special Administrative Regions
|
Name
|
Seat of Government
|
Area (100,000sqkm)
|
Population
(100,000)
|
|
Beijing Municipality
|
Beijing
|
0.168
|
125.7
|
|
Tianjin Municipality
|
Tianjin
|
0.113
|
95.9
|
|
Hebei Province
|
Shijiazhuang
|
1.900
|
661.4
|
|
Shanxi Province
|
Taiyuan
|
1.560
|
320.4
|
|
Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region
|
Hohhot
|
11.830
|
236.2
|
|
Liaoning Province
|
Shenyang
|
1.457
|
417.1
|
|
Jilin Province
|
Changchun
|
1.870
|
265.8
|
|
Heilongjiang
Province
|
Harbin
|
4.690
|
379.2
|
|
Shanghai Municipality
|
Shanghai
|
0.062
|
147.4
|
|
Jiangsu Province
|
Nanjing
|
1.026
|
721.3
|
|
Zhejiang Province
|
Hangzhou
|
1.018
|
447.5
|
|
Anhui Province
|
Hefei
|
1.390
|
623.7
|
|
Fujian Province
|
Fuzhou
|
1.200
|
331.6
|
|
Jiangxi Province
|
Nanchang
|
1.666
|
423.1
|
|
Shandong Province
|
Jinan
|
1.530
|
888.3
|
|
Henan Province
|
Zhengzhou
|
1.670
|
938.7
|
|
Hubei Province
|
Wuhan
|
1.874
|
593.8
|
|
Hunan Province
|
Changsha
|
2.100
|
653.2
|
|
Guangdong
Province
|
Guangzhou
|
1.860
|
727.0
|
|
Guangxi Autonomous
Region
|
Nanning
|
2.363
|
471.3
|
|
Hainan Province
|
Haikou
|
0.340
|
76.2
|
|
Chongqing
Municipality
|
Chongqing
|
0.820
|
307.5
|
|
Sichuan Province
|
Chengdu
|
4.880
|
855.0
|
|
Guizhou Province
|
Guiyang
|
1.700
|
371.0
|
|
Yunnan Province
|
Kunming
|
3.940
|
419.2
|
|
Tibet Autonomous
Region
|
Lhasa
|
12.200
|
25.6
|
|
Shaanxi Province
|
Xi'an
|
2.050
|
361.8
|
|
Gansu Province
|
Lanzhou
|
4.500
|
254.3
|
|
Qinghai Province
|
Xining
|
7.200
|
51.0
|
|
Ningxia Autonomous
Region
|
Yinchuan
|
0.664
|
54.3
|
|
Xinjiang Autonomous
Region
|
Urumqi
|
16.000
|
177.4
|
|
Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region
|
Hong Kong
|
0.01092
|
68.4 (in mid
1999)
|
|
Macao Special
Administrative Region
|
Macao
|
0.00024
|
4.3
|
|
Taiwan Province
|
|
0.360
|
217.4 (at
the end of 1997)
|
|
|
