List of ethnic groups in China and Taiwan

Multiple ethnic groups populate China, where "China" is taken to mean areas controlled by either of the two states using "China" in their formal names, the People's Republic of China (China) and the Republic of China (Taiwan).

The Han people are the largest ethnic group, where (as of 2010) some 91.51%^[1] of the population was classified as Han Chinese (~1.2 billion). Besides the Han majority, 55 other ethnic groups are recognised in China by the PRC government, numbering approximately 105 million people, mostly concentrated in the northwest, north, northeast, south, and southwest but with some in central interior areas.

The major minority ethnic groups in China are Zhuang (16.9 million), Uyghur (11.5 million), Hui (10.5 million), Manchu (10.3 million), Miao (9.4 million), Yi (8.7 million), Tujia (8.3 million), Tibetan (6.2 million), Mongol (5.9 million), Dong (2.8 million), Buyei (2.8 million), Yao (2.7 million), Bai (1.9 million), Korean (1.8 million), Hani (1.6 million), Li (1.4 million), Kazakh (1.4 million), and Dai (1.2 million).^[2]

Ethnic groups recognized by the People's Republic of China

In order of population, this is the list of the 56 ethnic groups in China that are officially recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China. The number of officially recognized ethnic groups in China used to be 39 in 1954, which increased to 54 by 1964. The last change was the addition of the Jino people in 1979, bringing the number of recognized ethnic groups to the current 56.^[3]

^AGB 3304－91 "Names of nationalities of China in romanization with codes";^[4]
BThe population only includes China and the Republic of China (Taiwan);
^CFor ethnic groups officially recognised in 1964 or earlier, this is the year of first inclusion in the national census, which were in 1954 ^[5] and 1964;^[6]
1Also included are the Chuanqing;
²Also includes Utsuls of Hainan, descended from Cham refugees;
³A subset of which is also known as Hmong;
⁴including Amdowa and Khampa, as well as roughly half of Pumi speakers, the remainder of whom are classified as a separate Pumi ethnicity;
⁵Also known as Kam;
⁶Also included are the Sangkong;
⁷This category includes several different Tai-speaking groups historically referred to as Bai-yi;
⁸Also included are the Mosuo;
⁹Also included are the 木佬人 (Qago);
¹⁰Known as Kachin in Myanmar;
¹¹Also included are the Then;
¹²Actually not Tajik people but Pamiri people;
¹³The same group as Vietnamese or Kinh people in Sino-Vietnamese;
¹⁴Known as Palaung in Myanmar;
¹⁵The same group as Nanai on the Russian side of the border;
¹⁶A collective name for all Taiwanese aborigine groups in Taiwan.

Taiwanese aborigines

The People's Republic of China government officially refers to all Taiwanese aborigines as Gaoshan (Chinese: 高山族; pinyin: Gāoshānzú), whereas the Republic of China (Taiwan) recognizes 16 groups of Taiwanese aborigines. The term Gaoshan has a different connotation in Taiwan than it does in mainland China. While several thousands of these aborigines have migrated to Fujian province in mainland China, most remain in Taiwan. Due to the contested political status and legal status of Taiwan, the PRC classification of Taiwanese aborigines may be controversial.

Taiwanese Han "blood nationalists" have in the past claimed that they have Plains Aboriginal ancestry in order to promote Taiwan independence, claiming an identity different from that of mainland Chinese. However, genetic tests showed differences between them and plains aborigines, and given that they usually were recent migrants, their claims were rejected by descendants of Taiwanese Plains Aborigines.^[7]

"Undistinguished" ethnic minority groups

Part of a poster in Beijing showing the 56 ethnic groups of China

This is a list of ethnic groups in China that are not officially recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China.

• Äynu people
• Gejia (亻革家人, Gèjiā Rén)
• Bajia (八甲人, Bājiǎ Rén)
• Deng (僜人, Dèng Rén)
• Hu (户语)
• Khmu (克木人, Kèmù Rén)
• Kucong (Yellow Lahu/Lahu Shi (苦聪人; Traditional: 苦聰人; Kǔcōng Rén)
• Mang (芒人, Máng Rén)
• Sherpas (夏尔巴人; Traditional: 夏爾巴人; Xiàěrbā Rén)
• Tankas (疍家人; Traditional: 蜑家人; Dànjiā Rén) including Fuzhou Tanka
• Tebbu people
• Tuvans (图瓦人, Túwǎ Rén)
• Waxiang (瓦乡人, Wǎxiāng Rén)
• Yi (羿人, Yìrén)
• Jews (犹太; Traditional: 猶太; Yóutài) (Jewish people of China and Jewish people in general)
• Yamato Japanese (大和民族) and Ryukyuans (琉球民族) living as permanent residents in Taiwan and North East China
• Macanese (土生葡人, mixed race Catholic Portuguese speakers who lived in Macau since 16th century of various ethnic origins
• Utsuls, descendants of Cham Muslims who fled Vietnamese invasions of Champa

During the Fifth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (2000), 734,438 persons in the Chinese mainland, 97% of them in Guizhou, were specifically recorded as belonging to "Undistinguished ethnic groups".^[8] Presumably, other members of such groups may have been counted within larger "recognized" groups.

The various Han Chinese subgroups, such as Hakka people and Cantonese people are all considered just Han by the PRC government.

Ethnic groups in Hong Kong and Macau

Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China. The governments of Hong Kong and Macau do not use the official PRC ethnic classification system, nor does the PRC's official classification system take ethnic groups in Hong Kong and Macau into account. As a result, minority groups such as Europeans (mainly English), and South or South East Asians (mainly Filipinos, Indian, Indonesians, Nepalese and Pakistani) live in Hong Kong.

See also

• Affirmative action in China
• Demographics of China
• Demographics of Taiwan
• Taiwanese people
• Ethnic minorities in China
• Han Chinese subgroups
• Hua–Yi distinction
• Languages of China
• List of endangered languages in China
• Tai–Kadai ethnic groups in China
• Taiwanese aborigines
• Unrecognized ethnic groups in China
• Zhonghua minzu

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ethnic groups in China.

• "Chinese ethnic odyssey" - collection of articles from the People's Daily
• Family album of Chinese 56 ethnic groups
• nytimes.com
• Map share of ethnic by county of China
• Map share of dominate ethnic by county of China