• Administrative Division

    China’s administrative units are currently based on a three-level system dividing the nation into provinces, counties, and townships:
    Administrative Division Administrative Division  The country is divided into provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government;
    Administrative Division  A province or an autonomous region is subdivided into autonomous prefectures, counties, autonomous counties, and/or cities;
    Administrative Division  A county or an autonomous county is subdivided into townships, national minority townships, and/or towns. At present, China is divided into 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities directly under the Central Government, 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 (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)