Autonomous regions of China

Autonomous region
自治区
Zìzhìqū
Category Unitary State
Location People's Republic of China
Number 5
Populations 3,002,166 (Tibet) – 46,026,629(Guangxi)
Areas 25,000 square miles (65,000 km2) (Ningxia) – 642,800 square miles (1,665,000 km2) (Xinjiang)
Government Dual-Party Government
Subdivisions Prefecture-level city, Prefecture, League, Sub-Provincial Autonomous Prefecture, Autonomous Prefecture

An autonomous region (Chinese: 自治区; pinyin: Zìzhìqū) (AR) is a first-level administrative subdivision of China. Like Chinese provinces, an autonomous region has its own local government, but an autonomous region has more legislative rights. An autonomous region is a minority entity which has a higher population of a particular minority ethnic group.

The Inner Mongolia autonomous region was established in 1947; Xinjiang was made autonomous in 1955; Guangxi and Ningxia in 1958, and Tibet 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 even less of a percentage of Inner Mongolia, the ensuing Chinese Civil War gave little opportunity for protest.[1]

List of autonomous regions

Designated
minority
Name in English Simplified Chinese
Pinyin
Local name
SASM/GNC romanization (Language)
Abbreviation Capital
Uyghur Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 新疆维吾尔自治区
Xīnjiāng Wéiwú'ěr Zìzhìqū
شىنجاڭ ئۇيغۇر ئاپتونوم رايونى
Xinjang Uyĝur Aptonom Rayoni (Uyghur)

Xīn
(XUAR)
Ürümqi
(乌鲁木齐; ئۈرۈمچی)
Mongol Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
(Nei Mongol Autonomous Region)
内蒙古自治区
Nèi Měnggǔ Zìzhìqū
ᠦᠪᠦᠷ ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠤᠯ ᠤᠨ ᠥᠪᠡᠷᠲᠡᠭᠡᠨ ᠵᠠᠰᠠᠬᠣ ᠣᠷᠣᠨ
Öbür mongγol-un öbertegen zasaqu orun (Mongolian)
內蒙古
Nèi Měnggǔ
(IMAR)
Hohhot
(呼和浩特; ᠬᠥᠬᠡᠬᠣᠲᠠ)
Tibetan Tibet Autonomous Region
(Xizang Autonomous Region)
西藏自治区
Xīzàng Zìzhìqū
བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས།
Poi Ranggyong Jong (Tibetan)

Zàng
(TAR)
Lhasa
(拉萨; ལྷ་ས།)
Hui Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region 宁夏回族自治区
Níngxià Huízú Zìzhìqū
(The Hui speak Chinese)
Níng
(NHAR)
Yinchuan
(银川)
Zhuang Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region 广西壮族自治区
Guǎngxī Zhuàngzú Zìzhìqū
Gvangjsih Bouxcuengh Swcigih (Zhuang)
Guì
(GZAR)
Nanning
(南宁; Namzningz)

Statistics

Population

Administrative Division National Share (%) 2010 Census[2] 2000 Census[3] 1990 Census[4] 1982 Census[5] 1964 Census[6] 1954 Census[7]
Guangxi 3.5 46,026,629 43,854,538 42,245,765 36,420,960 20,845,017 19,560,822
Inner Mongolia 1.9 24,706,321 23,323,347 21,456,798 19,274,279 12,348,638 6,100,104
Ningxia 0.5 6,176,900 5,486,393 4,655,451 3,895,578 * *
Tibet 0.2 3,002,166 2,616,329 2,196,010 1,892,393 1,251,225 1,273,969
Xinjiang 1.6 21,813,334 18,459,511 15,155,778 13,081,681 7,270,067 4,873,608

Ethnic composition of Autonomous Regions (%, 2000)

Administrative Division Titular Ethnic Group Han Chinese Third Largest Ethnic
Xinjiang (Uyghur) 45.21% 40.58% 6.74% (Kazakh)
Tibet (Tibetan) 92.8% 6.1% 0.35% (Hui)
Inner Mongolia (Mongol) 17.13% 79.17% 2.14% (Manchu)
Ningxia (Hui) 33.9% 65.5 % 1.16 (Manchu)
Guangxi (Zhuang) 32.0% 62.0 % 3.0% (Yao)

Note: In the "Third Largest Ethnic" column is the ethnic group given in brackets, after the names of the autonomous regions and Han people.

See also

References

  1. Dreyer, June Teufel (1997). "Assimilation and Accommodation in China". In Brown, Michael Edward; Ganguly, Šumit. Government Policies and Ethnic Relations in Asia and the Pacific. MIT Press. p. 365.
  2. "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.
  3. "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.
  4. "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.
  5. "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.
  6. "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.
  7. "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.