Autonomous regions of China

Autonomous regions
自治区
*Zìzhìqū*
Autonomous regions; 自治区; Zìzhìqū
Category	Unitary state
Location	People's Republic of China
Number	5 (Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Xinjiang, and Tibet)
Populations	110,879,058; Guangxi – 50,126,804; Inner Mongolia – 24,049,155; Ningxia – 7,202,654; Xinjiang – 25,852,345; Tibet – 3,648,100
Areas	4,380,000 km2 (1,690,000 sq mi); Guangxi – 237,600 km2 (91,700 sq mi); Inner Mongolia – 1,183,000 km2 (457,000 sq mi); Ningxia – 66,400 km2 (25,600 sq mi); Xinjiang – 1,665,000 km2 (643,000 sq mi); Tibet – 1,228,000 km2 (474,000 sq mi)
Government	Regional People's Government, Central People's Government;
Subdivisions	Prefecture-level city, prefecture, league, sub-provincial autonomous prefecture, autonomous prefecture;

The autonomous regions (Chinese: 自治区; pinyin: Zìzhìqū) are one of four types of province-level divisions of China. Like Chinese provinces, an autonomous region has its own local government, but under Chinese law, an autonomous region has more legislative rights, such as the right to "formulate self-government regulations and other separate regulations."[1] An autonomous region is the highest level of minority autonomous entity in China, which has a comparably higher population of a particular minority ethnic group.

History

Established in 1947, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region became the first autonomous region in the Chinese liberated zone. Xinjiang was made autonomous in 1955 after the PRC's founding, and Guangxi and Ningxia were made autonomous in 1958. Tibet was annexed by the People's Republic of China in 1951, and was declared an autonomous region in 1965. The designation of Guangxi and Ningxia as Zhuang and Hui autonomous areas, respectively, was bitterly protested by the local Han Chinese, who made up two-thirds of the population of each region. Although Mongols made up an even smaller percentage of Inner Mongolia than either of these, the ensuing Chinese Civil War gave little opportunity for protest.[2]

Legal rights

Autonomous regions in China have no legal right to secede, unlike in the Soviet Union – the Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional Ethnic Autonomy, written in 1984, states that "each and every ethnic autonomous region is an inseparable part of the People's Republic of China," and that "any form of ... separatism ... is absolutely prohibited."[3][4][5]

List of autonomous regions

Designated minority	Name in English	Simplified Chinese Pinyin	Local name SASM/GNC romanization (Language)	Abbreviation	Capital	Language	Pre-1949 ROC subdivision
Zhuang	Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region	广西壮族自治区 Guǎngxī Zhuàngzú Zìzhìqū	Gvangjsih Bouxcuengh Swcigih (Standard Zhuang/Zhuang)	桂 Guì (GZAR)	Nanning (南宁; Nanzningz)	Zhuang, Standard Zhuang language (Vahcuengh)	Guangxi (province)
Mongol	Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region	内蒙古自治区 Nèi Měnggǔ Zìzhìqū	ᠦᠪᠦᠷ ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠤᠯ ᠤᠨ ᠥᠪᠡᠷᠲᠡᠭᠡᠨ ᠵᠠᠰᠠᠬᠣ ᠣᠷᠣᠨ Öbür mongüol-un öbertegen zasaqu orun (Mongolian)	蒙 Měng (IMAR)	Hohhot (呼和浩特; ᠬᠥᠬᠡᠬᠣᠲᠠ)	Mongolian	Suiyuan, Chahar, Rehe, Liaobei, Xing'an, Gansu and Ningxia.
Tibetan	Tibet Autonomous Region	西藏自治区 Xīzàng Zìzhìqū	བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས། Poi Ranggyong Jong (Standard Tibetan)	藏 Zàng (TAR)	Lhasa (拉萨; ལྷ་ས།)	Standard Tibetan	Tibet Area, Xikang
Uyghur	Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region	新疆维吾尔自治区 Xīnjiāng Wéiwú'ěr Zìzhìqū	شىنجاڭ ئۇيغۇر ئاپتونوم رايونى Xinjang Uyĝur Aptonom Rayoni (Uyghur)	新 Xīn (XUAR)	Ürümqi (乌鲁木齐; ئۈرۈمچی)	Uyghur	Xinjiang (province)
Hui	Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region	宁夏回族自治区 Níngxià Huízú Zìzhìqū	The Hui speak Chinese	宁 Níng (NHAR)	Yinchuan (银川)	Dungan, Chinese	Ningxia (province)

Statistics

Population

Administrative Division	National Share (%)	2020 Census[6]	2010 Census[7]	2000 Census[8]	1990 Census[9]	1982 Census[10]	1964 Census[11]	1954 Census[12]
Guangxi	3.55	50,126,804	46,026,629	43,854,538	42,245,765	36,420,960	20,845,017	19,560,822
Inner Mongolia	1.70	24,049,155	24,706,321	23,323,347	21,456,798	19,274,279	12,348,638	6,100,104
Ningxia	0.51	7,202,654	6,176,900	5,486,393	4,655,451	3,895,578	*	*
Tibet Autonomous Region	0.26	3,648,100	3,002,166	2,616,329	2,196,010	1,892,393	1,251,225	1,273,969
Xinjiang	1.83	25,852,345	21,813,334	18,459,511	15,155,778	13,081,681	7,270,067	4,873,608
Total	7.85	110,879,058	101,725,350	93,740,118	85,709,802	74,561,891	41.714,947	31,808,503

Ethnic

Administrative Division	Titular Ethnic Group	Han Chinese	Other ethnic minorities
Xinjiang (Uyghur)	45.0%	42.2%	12.8%
Tibet (Tibetan)	86.0%	12.2%	1.8%
Inner Mongolia (Mongol)	17.7%	78.7%	3.6%
Ningxia (Hui)	35.0%	64.1 %	0.9%
Guangxi (Zhuang)	31.4%	62.5 %	6.1%

References

"Regional Autonomy for Ethnic Minorities in China (2005)". english1.english.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
Dreyer, June Teufel (1997). "Assimilation and Accommodation in China". In Brown, Michael Edward; Ganguly, Šumit (eds.). Government Policies and Ethnic Relations in Asia and the Pacific. MIT Press. p. 365.
"First Union Constitution". Seventeen Moments in Soviet History. 2015-08-27. Archived from the original on 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2021-07-07. ARTICLE 4. Each one of the member Republics retains the right to freely withdraw from the union.
"中华人民共和国民族区域自治法 – Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional Ethnic Autonomy". www.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2005-12-10. Retrieved 2021-07-07. 各民族自治地方都是中华人民共和国不可分离的部分 – Each and every ethnic autonomous region is an inseparable part of the People's Republic of China.
Zhu, Yuchao; Blachford, Dongyan (2006-08-31). "China's Fate as a Multinational State: a preliminary assessment". Journal of Contemporary China. 15 (47): 329–348. doi:10.1080/10670560500535043. ISSN 1067-0564. S2CID 154008693. Based on China's Constitution, any sub-national unit, either a province or an ethnic minority autonomous region, does not legally have the right to secede from China.
"Communiqué of the Seventh National Population Census (No. 3)". stats.gov.cn. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
"Communiqué of the National Bureau of Statistics of People's Republic of China on Major Figures of the 2010 Population Census". National Bureau of Statistics of China. Archived from the original on 2013-07-27.
现将2000年第五次全国人口普查快速汇总的人口地区分布数据公布如下. National Bureau of Statistics of China. Archived from the original on 2012-08-29.
中华人民共和国国家统计局关于一九九〇年人口普查主要数据的公报. National Bureau of Statistics of China. Archived from the original on 2012-06-19.
中华人民共和国国家统计局关于一九八二年人口普查主要数字的公报. National Bureau of Statistics of China. Archived from the original on 2012-05-10.
第二次全国人口普查结果的几项主要统计数字. National Bureau of Statistics of China. Archived from the original on 2012-09-14.
中华人民共和国国家统计局关于第一次全国人口调查登记结果的公报. National Bureau of Statistics of China. Archived from the original on 2009-08-05.

External links

Regional Autonomy for Ethnic Minorities in China

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[1] "Regional Autonomy for Ethnic Minorities in China (2005)". english1.english.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2021-07-07.

[2] Dreyer, June Teufel (1997). "Assimilation and Accommodation in China". In Brown, Michael Edward; Ganguly, Šumit (eds.). Government Policies and Ethnic Relations in Asia and the Pacific. MIT Press. p. 365.

[3] "First Union Constitution". Seventeen Moments in Soviet History. 2015-08-27. Archived from the original on 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2021-07-07. ARTICLE 4. Each one of the member Republics retains the right to freely withdraw from the union.

[4] "中华人民共和国民族区域自治法 – Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional Ethnic Autonomy". www.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2005-12-10. Retrieved 2021-07-07. 各民族自治地方都是中华人民共和国不可分离的部分 – Each and every ethnic autonomous region is an inseparable part of the People's Republic of China.

[5] Zhu, Yuchao; Blachford, Dongyan (2006-08-31). "China's Fate as a Multinational State: a preliminary assessment". Journal of Contemporary China. 15 (47): 329–348. doi:10.1080/10670560500535043. ISSN 1067-0564. S2CID 154008693. Based on China's Constitution, any sub-national unit, either a province or an ethnic minority autonomous region, does not legally have the right to secede from China.

[autogenerated3-6] "Communiqué of the Seventh National Population Census (No. 3)". stats.gov.cn. Retrieved 10 August 2021.

[census2010-7] "Communiqué of the National Bureau of Statistics of People's Republic of China on Major Figures of the 2010 Population Census". National Bureau of Statistics of China. Archived from the original on 2013-07-27.

[census2000-8] 现将2000年第五次全国人口普查快速汇总的人口地区分布数据公布如下. National Bureau of Statistics of China. Archived from the original on 2012-08-29.

[census1990-9] 中华人民共和国国家统计局关于一九九〇年人口普查主要数据的公报. National Bureau of Statistics of China. Archived from the original on 2012-06-19.

[census1982-10] 中华人民共和国国家统计局关于一九八二年人口普查主要数字的公报. National Bureau of Statistics of China. Archived from the original on 2012-05-10.

[census1964-11] 第二次全国人口普查结果的几项主要统计数字. National Bureau of Statistics of China. Archived from the original on 2012-09-14.

[census1954-12] 中华人民共和国国家统计局关于第一次全国人口调查登记结果的公报. National Bureau of Statistics of China. Archived from the original on 2009-08-05.

Provincial-level divisions of China
Provinces	Anhui Fujian Gansu Guangdong Guizhou Hainan Hebei Heilongjiang Henan Hubei Hunan Jiangsu Jiangxi Jilin Liaoning Qinghai Shaanxi Shandong Shanxi Sichuan Yunnan Zhejiang
Autonomous regions	Guangxi Inner Mongolia Ningxia Tibet Xinjiang
Direct-administered municipalities	Beijing Chongqing Shanghai Tianjin
Special administrative regions	Hong Kong Macao
Disputed province	Taiwan¹
¹ Taiwan is claimed by the People's Republic of China but administered by the Republic of China (see political status of Taiwan).

Articles on first-level administrative divisions of Asian countries
Sovereign states	Afghanistan Armenia² Azerbaijan¹ Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Cyprus¹ Georgia¹ India Indonesia¹ Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan¹ North Korea province special city South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan Palestine Philippines Qatar Russia¹ Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Taiwan Thailand Timor-Leste (East Timor) Turkey¹ Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen¹
States with limited recognition	Abkhazia² Artsakh² South Ossetia²
Table of administrative divisions by country ¹ Spans the conventional boundary between Asia and another continent. ² Considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons but is geographically in Western Asia.