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 cities;
A county or an autonomous county is subdivided into townships, ethnic townships and 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 |
1,493 |
|
Tianjin Municipality |
Tianjin |
1.13 |
1,024 |
| Hebei Province |
Shijiazhuang |
19.00 |
6,809 |
| Shanxi Province |
Taiyuan |
15.60 |
3,335 |
| Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region |
Hohhot |
119.75 |
2,384 |
| Liaoning Province |
Shenyang |
14.57 |
4,217 |
| Jilin Province |
Changchun |
18.70 |
2,709 |
| Heilongjiang Province |
Harbin |
46.90 |
3,817 |
| Shanghai Municipality |
Shanghai |
0.62 |
1,742 |
| Jiangsu Province |
Nanjing |
10.26 |
7,433 |
| Zhejiang Province |
Hangzhou |
10.18 |
4,720 |
| Anhui Province |
Hefei |
13.90 |
6,461 |
| Fujian Province |
Fuzhou |
12.00 |
3,511 |
| Jiangxi Province |
Nanchang |
16.66 |
4,284 |
| Shandong Province |
Jinan |
15.30 |
9,180 |
| Henan Province |
Zhengzhou |
16.70 |
9,717 |
| Hubei Province |
Wuhan |
18.74 |
6,016 |
| Hunan Province |
Changsha |
21.00 |
6,698 |
| Guangdong Province |
Guangzhou |
18.60 |
8,304 |
| Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region |
Nanning |
23.77 |
4,889 |
| Hainan Province |
Haikou |
3.40 |
818 |
| Chongqing Municipality |
Chongqing |
8.20 |
3,122 |
| Sichuan Province |
Chengdu |
48.80 |
8,725 |
| Guizhou Province |
Guiyang |
17.00 |
3,904 |
| Yunnan Province |
Kunming |
39.40 |
4,415 |
| Tibet Autonomous Region |
Lhasa |
127.49 |
274 |
| Shaanxi Province |
Xi'an |
20.50 |
3,705 |
| Gansu Province |
Lanzhou |
45.00 |
2,619 |
| Qinghai Province |
Xining |
72.00 |
539 |
| Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region |
Yinchuan |
6.28 |
588 |
| Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region |
Urumqi |
165.58 |
1,963 |
| Hong Kong Special Administrative Region |
Hong Kong |
0.1103 |
688 (in mid-2004) |
| Macao Special Administrative Region |
Macao |
0.0027 |
46 (in mid-2004) |
| Taiwan Province |
|
3.60 |
2,269 (at the end of 2004) |
