Source: http://www.china.org.cn

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/or cities.






A county or an autonomous county is subdivided into townships, ethnic 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 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
1,456


Tianjin Municipality
Tianjin
1.13
1,011


Hebei Province
Shijiazhuang
19.00
6,769


Shanxi Province
Taiyuan
15.60
3,314


Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
Hohhot
118.30
2,380


Liaoning Province
Shenyang
14.57
4,210


Jilin Province
Changchun
18.70
2,704


Heilongjiang Province
Harbin
46.90
3,815


Shanghai Municipality
Shanghai
0.62
1,711


Jiangsu Province
Nanjing
10.26
7,406


Zhejiang Province
Hangzhou
10.18
4,680


Anhui Province
Hefei
13.90
6,410


Fujian Province
Fuzhou
12.00
3,488


Jiangxi Province
Nanchang
16.66
4,254


Shandong Province
Jinan
15.30
9,125


Henan Province
Zhengzhou
16.70
9,667


Hubei Province
Wuhan
18.74
6,002


Hunan Province
Changsha
21.00
6,663


Guangdong Province
Guangzhou
18.60
7,954


Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
Nanning
23.63
4,857


Hainan Province
Haikou
3.40
811


Chongqing Municipality
Chongqing
8.20
3,130


Sichuan Province
Chengdu
48.80
8,700


Guizhou Province
Guiyang
17.00
3,870


Yunnan Province
Kunming
39.40
4,376


Tibet Autonomous Region
Lhasa
122.00
270


Shaanxi Province
Xi'an
20.50
3,690


Gansu Province
Lanzhou
45.00
2,603


Qinghai Province
Xining
72.00
534


Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
Yinchuan
6.64
580


Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Urumqi
160.00
1,934


Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Hong Kong
0.1092
680 (in mid-2003)


Macao Special Administrative Region
Macao
0.0024
45 (in mid-2003)


Taiwan Province

3.60
2261




*Based on census at the end of 2003