Autonomous administrative divisions of China


Autonomous administrative divisions of China are specific areas associated with one or more ethnic minorities that are designated as autonomous within the People's Republic of China. These areas are recognized in the Constitution of China and are nominally given a number of rights not accorded to other administrative divisions. For example, Tibetan minorities in Autonomous regions are granted rights and support not given to the Han Chinese, such as fiscal and medical subsidies.

Autonomous administrative divisions

The PRC's autonomous administrative divisions may be found in the first to third levels of its national administrative divisions thus:
LevelTypeChinesePinyinNumber June 2005
province Autonomous regions自治区Zìzhìqū5
prefecture Autonomous prefectures自治州Zìzhìzhōu30
county Autonomous counties自治县Zìzhìxiàn117
county Autonomous banners自治旗Zìzhìqí3

Ethnic area

Although not named as autonomous areas, some third-level settlements and areas that are identified as county-level cities and county-level districts enjoy the same autonomy as autonomous areas. At the fourth level, 1 ethnic sumu and over 270 ethnic townships also exist, but are not considered to be autonomous and do not enjoy the laws pertaining to the larger ethnic autonomous areas.
LevelTypeChinesePinyinNumber
county Ethnic districts in City城市民族区Chéngshì Mínzú qū5
township Ethnic township *民族乡 *Mínzú xiāng *1,092 township
township Ethnic sumu民族苏木Mínzú sūmù1
villages Ethnic villages 民族村 Mínzú cūn ?

As these autonomous areas were created by the PRC, they are not recognised by the Republic of China on Taiwan which ruled Mainland China before the PRC's creation.

Nomenclature

The names of most of the PRC's autonomous areas are made from linking together:
For instance:
LevelGeographical area+Ethnic name/s+"Autonomous"+Admin. division=Result
1GuangxiZhuangAutonomousRegionGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
2IliKazakhAutonomousPrefectureIli Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
3ChangbaiKoreanAutonomousCountyChangbai Korean Autonomous County
3Morin DawaDaurAutonomousBannerMorin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner

In the Chinese name of the administrative area, the nationality name is always suffixed with "", unless the nationality name consists of more than two syllable or the geographical name contains the nationality name. This distinction is not reflected in translation into English.
Some autonomous areas have more than one specified minority, which tend to be listed in the name of the prefecture, creating rather long names. Two autonomous counties simply use "Various Nationalities" in their names as placeholders, rather than listing out all of their designated ethnicities:
Full nameGeographicalNationalityAdministrative
Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous PrefectureEnshiTujia and MiaoAutonomous Prefecture
Shuangjiang Lahu, Va, Blang and Dai Autonomous CountyShuangjiangLahu, Wa, Blang and DaiAutonomous County
Longlin Pan-Ethnicities Autonomous CountyLonglinVarious Ethnicities Autonomous County
Longsheng Pan-Ethnicities Autonomous CountyLongshengVarious Ethnicities Autonomous County

A few autonomous areas break the regular nomenclature pattern, because the name of the nationality is already contained within the geographical name, or because there is no geographical name:
Full nameGeographicalNationalityAdministrative
Tibet Autonomous RegionTibetAutonomous Region
Inner Mongolia Autonomous RegionInner MongoliaAutonomous Region
Dongxiang Autonomous County—DongxiangAutonomous County
Evenki Autonomous Banner—EvenksAutonomous Banner
Oroqen Autonomous Banner—OroqenAutonomous Banner

Legal basis

Autonomous regions, prefectures, counties, and banners are covered under Section 6 of Chapter 3 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, and with more detail under the Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional National Autonomy. The constitution states that the head of government of each autonomous areas must be of the ethnic group as specified by the autonomous area. The constitution also guarantees a range of rights including: independence of finance, independence of economic planning, independence of arts, science and culture, organization of local police, and use of local language. In addition, the head of government of each autonomous region is known as a "chairman", unlike provinces, where they are known as "governors".

Demographics

Of the five autonomous regions, only Tibet has an absolute majority of the designated ethnic group, since Tibetans make up 90% of the population as of 2011. Xinjiang is more ethnically diverse, with the titular Uyghurs making up a plurality at 46%, Han making up 39%, and various other ethnic groups making up the remaining 15% as of 2015. The remaining three autonomous regions have absolute majorities of Han people, the majority ethnicity of China.

History

Autonomous regions, prefectures, counties, and banners were established after communist takeover, following Soviet practice. At first, the nomenclature of these autonomous areas were somewhat confused, with autonomous regions appearing at the province, prefecture, county, and township levels. Eventually the nomenclature was standardized to the conventions used today.
The first autonomous region to be established was Inner Mongolia, created within communist-held territory in 1947, two years before the establishment of the People's Republic. Xinjiang was converted from a province to an autonomous region in 1955. Guangxi and Ningxia followed in 1957, and Tibet Autonomous Region was formally established in 1965.