Autonomous regions of China
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2018) |
| Autonomous regions 自治区 Zìzhìqū | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Category | Unitary state |
| Location |  People's Republic of China |
| Number | 5 (Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang, and Xizang) |
| Populations | 110,879,058 Guangxi – 50,126,804 Nei Mongol – 24,049,155 Ningxia – 7,202,654 Xinjiang – 25,852,345 Xizang – 3,648,100 |
| Areas | 4,380,000 km2 (1,690,000 sq mi) Guangxi – 237,600 km2 (91,700 sq mi) Nei Mongol – 1,183,000 km2 (457,000 sq mi) Ningxia – 66,400 km2 (25,600 sq mi) Xinjiang – 1,665,000 km2 (643,000 sq mi) Xizang – 1,228,000 km2 (474,000 sq mi) |
| Subdivisions | |
| Administrative divisions of China |
|---|
|
History: before 1912, 1912–49, 1949–present Administrative division codes |
The autonomous regions (Chinese: 自治区; pinyin: Zìzhìqū) are the highest-level administrative divisions of China. Like Chinese provinces, an autonomous region has its own local government, but under Chinese law, an autonomous region has more legislative rights, such as the right to "formulate self-government regulations and other separate regulations."[1] An autonomous region is the highest level of minority autonomous entity in China, which has a comparably higher population of a particular minority ethnic group.
The autonomous regions are the creations of the People's Republic of China (PRC), as they are not recognized by the Republic of China (ROC) based in Taiwan, which previously ruled Mainland China before the PRC's establishment in 1949.
History
Established in 1947, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region became the first autonomous region in the Chinese liberated zone. Xinjiang was made autonomous in 1955 after the PRC's founding, and Guangxi and Ningxia were made autonomous in 1958. Tibet was placed under PRC control in 1951, with some Western observers calling this an annexation, and was named a Chinese Autonomous Region 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.[citation needed] Although Mongols made up an even smaller percentage of Inner Mongolia than either of these, the ensuing Chinese Civil War gave little opportunity for protest.[2]
Legal rights
Autonomous regions in China have no legal right to secede, unlike in the Soviet Union – the Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional Ethnic Autonomy, written in 1984, states that "each and every ethnic autonomous region is an inseparable part of the People's Republic of China," and that "any form of ... separatism ... is absolutely prohibited."[3][4][5]
List of autonomous regions
| Designated minority |
Name in English | Simplified Chinese Pinyin |
Local name SASM/GNC romanization (Language) |
Abbreviation | Capital | Language | Pre-1949 ROC subdivision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zhuang | Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region | 广西壮族自治区 Guǎngxī Zhuàngzú Zìzhìqū |
Gvangjsih Bouxcuengh Swcigih (Standard Zhuang/Zhuang) | 桂 Guì (GZAR) |
Nanning (南宁; Nanzningz) |
Zhuang, Standard Zhuang language (Vahcuengh) | Guangxi (province) |
| Mongol | Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region | 内蒙古自治区 Nèi Měnggǔ Zìzhìqū |
ᠦᠪᠦᠷ ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠤᠯ ᠤᠨ ᠥᠪᠡᠷᠲᠡᠭᠡᠨ ᠵᠠᠰᠠᠬᠣ ᠣᠷᠣᠨ Öbür mongüol-un öbertegen zasaqu orun (Mongolian) |
内蒙古 Nèi Měnggǔ (IMAR) |
Hohhot (呼和浩特; ᠬᠥᠬᠡᠬᠣᠲᠠ) |
Mongolian | Suiyuan, Chahar, Rehe, Liaobei, Xing'an, Gansu and Ningxia. |
| Tibetan | Tibet Autonomous Region | 西藏自治区 Xīzàng Zìzhìqū |
བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས། Poi Ranggyong Jong (Standard Tibetan) |
藏 Zàng (TAR) |
Lhasa (拉萨; ལྷ་ས།) |
Standard Tibetan | Tibet Area, Xikang |
| Uyghur | Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region | 新疆维吾尔自治区 Xīnjiāng Wéiwú'ěr Zìzhìqū |
شىنجاڭ ئۇيغۇر ئاپتونوم رايونى Xinjang Uyĝur Aptonom Rayoni (Uyghur) |
新 Xīn (XUAR) |
Ürümqi (乌鲁木齐; ئۈرۈمچی) |
Uyghur | Xinjiang (province) |
| Hui | Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region | 宁夏回族自治区 Níngxià Huízú Zìzhìqū |
The Hui speak Chinese | 宁 Níng (NHAR) |
Yinchuan (银川) |
Dungan, Chinese | Ningxia (province) |
Statistics
Population
| Administrative Division | National Share (%) | 2010 Census[6] | 2000 Census[7] | 1990 Census[8] | 1982 Census[9] | 1964 Census[10] | 1954 Census[11] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Autonomous Region | 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
| Administrative Division | Titular Ethnic Group | Han Chinese | Third Largest Ethnic Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Group" column is the ethnic group given in brackets, after the names of the autonomous regions and Han people.
See also
- Administrative divisions of China
- Autonomous administrative division
- Language Atlas of China
- Secession in China
- Standard Chinese
- Republics of Russia
References
- ^ "Regional Autonomy for Ethnic Minorities in China (2005)". english1.english.gov.cn. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
- ^ Dreyer, June Teufel (1997). "Assimilation and Accommodation in China". In Brown, Michael Edward; Ganguly, Šumit (eds.). Government Policies and Ethnic Relations in Asia and the Pacific. MIT Press. p. 365.
- ^ "First Union Constitution". Seventeen Moments in Soviet History. 2015-08-27. Archived from the original on 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
ARTICLE 4. Each one of the member Republics retains the right to freely withdraw from the union.
- ^ "中华人民共和国民族区域自治法 – Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional Ethnic Autonomy". www.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2005-12-10. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
各民族自治地方都是中华人民共和国不可分离的部分 – Each and every ethnic autonomous region is an inseparable part of the People's Republic of China.
- ^ Zhu, Yuchao; Blachford, Dongyan (2006-08-31). "China's Fate as a Multinational State: a preliminary assessment". Journal of Contemporary China. 15 (47): 329–348. doi:10.1080/10670560500535043. ISSN 1067-0564. S2CID 154008693.
Based on China's Constitution, any sub-national unit, either a province or an ethnic minority autonomous region, does not legally have the right to secede from China.
- ^ "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. Archived from the original on 2013-07-27.
- ^ 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. Archived from the original on 2012-08-29.
- ^ 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. Archived from the original on 2012-06-19.
- ^ 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. Archived from the original on 2012-05-10.
- ^ 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. Archived from the original on 2012-09-14.
- ^ 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. Archived from the original on 2009-08-05.
External links
