In the context of Chinese government, a province (sheng), formally provincial level division, is the highest-level administrative division. The People's Republic of China (PRC) currently administers 33 such divisions, classified as 22 provinces, 4 municipalities, 5 autonomous regions and 2 special administrative regions.^[1]

Additionally, the PRC claims sovereignty over Taiwan Province, but since the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 this area has been administered by the Republic of China (ROC) under a province of the same name. The ROC also administers some offshore islands including Quemoy/Kinmen (Jinmen) and Matsu (Mazu), which form Fujian Province, ROC. These were part of an originally unified Fujian province, which since 1949 has been divided between the PRC and ROC.

In the People's Republic of China, every province has a Communist Party of China provincial committee, headed by a secretary beside the two special administrative regions. The committee secretary is in charge of the province, rather than the governor of the provincial government.

Types of provinces[link]

Province[link]

Province (省; shěng)— A standard provincial government is nominally led by a provincial committee, headed by a secretary. The committee secretary is first-in-charge of the province, come in second is the governor of the provincial government.

The People's Republic of China claims the island of Taiwan and its surrounding islets, including Penghu, as "Taiwan Province". (Kinmen and the Matsu Islands are claimed by the PRC as part of its Fujian Province. Pratas and Itu Aba are claimed by the PRC as part of Guangdong and Hainan provinces respectively.) The territory is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC, commonly called "Taiwan").

Special administrative region (SAR)[link]

Special administrative region (SAR) (特別行政區; tèbiéxíngzhèngqū)— A highly autonomous and self-governing subnational subject of the People's Republic of China that is directly under the Central People's Government. Each SAR has a provincial level^[2][3][4] chief executive as head of the region and head of government. The region's government is not fully independent, as foreign policy and military defence are the responsibility of the central government, according to the basic laws.

Municipality[link]

Municipality (直辖市; zhíxiáshì)— A higher level of city which is directly under the Chinese government, with status equal to that of the provinces. In practice, their political status are higher than common provinces.

Autonomous region[link]

Autonomous region (自治区; zìzhìqū)— A minority subject which has a higher population of a particular minority ethnic group along with its own local government, but an autonomous region theoretically has more legislative rights than in actual practice. The governor of the Autonomous Regions is usually appointed from the respective minority ethnic group.

List of Provincial-level divisions[link]

Notes:

¹: as of 2010

²: per km²

³: km²

†: Since its founding in 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has considered Taiwan to be its 23rd province. However, the PRC has never controlled Taiwan. The Republic of China (ROC, "Taiwan") currently administers Taiwan which it governs as part of Taiwan Area, consisting of Taiwan island, Penghu, as well as Kinmen and Matsu located off the coast of mainland Fujian Province, Republic of China.

Map[link]

History[link]

Administrative divisions of the Republic of China. Note: this map depicts the theoretical administrative divisions of the Republic of China, which are not synchronized with the actual administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China. The ROC controls Taiwan and nearby islands while the PRC controls Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.

The rulers of China first set up provinces - initially 10 in number - during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). By the time of the establishment of the Qing Dynasty in 1644 there were 18 provinces, all of them in China proper. These were:

Each province had a xunfu (巡撫; translated as "governor"), a political overseer on behalf of the emperor, and a tidu (提督; translated as "Captain General"), a military governor. In addition, there was a zongdu (總督), a general military inspector or governor general, for every two to three provinces.

Outer regions of China (those beyond China proper) were not divided into provinces. Military leaders or generals (將軍) oversaw Manchuria (consisting of Fengtian (now Liaoning), Jilin, Heilongjiang), Xinjiang, and Mongolia, while vice-dutong (副都統) and civilian leaders headed the leagues (盟長), a subdivision of Mongolia. The ambans (驻藏大臣) supervised the administration of Tibet.

In 1884 Xinjiang became a province; in 1907 Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang were made provinces as well. Taiwan became a province in 1885, but China ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895. As a result, there were 22 provinces in China (Outer China and China proper) near the end of the Qing Dynasty.

The Republic of China, established in 1912, set up 4 more provinces in Inner Mongolia and 2 provinces in historic Tibet, bringing the total to 28. But China lost four provinces with the establishment of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in Manchuria. After the defeat of Japan in World War II in 1945, China re-incorporated Manchuria as 10 provinces, and assumed control of Taiwan as a province. As a result, the Republic of China in 1946 had 35 provinces. Although the Republic of China now only controls one province, (Taiwan), and some islands of a second province (Fujian), it continues to formally claim all 35 provinces.

List of former Provinces[link]

The People's Republic of China abolished many of the provinces in the 1950s and converted a number of them into autonomous regions. Hainan became a separate province in 1988, bringing the total number of provinces under PRC control to 22.

Economies[link]

The provinces in south coastal area of China - such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian and (mainly) Guangdong - tend to be more industrialized, with regions in the hinterland less developed.

See also[link]

• Chinese federalism
• List of China administrative divisions by population
• Regional discrimination in China
• Taiwan Province
• Tiao-kuai
• Zhou (country subdivision)
• Yangtze River Delta

v t e Provincial level divisions of the People's Republic of China Provinces Anhui Fujian Gansu Guangdong Guizhou Hainan Hebei Heilongjiang Henan Hubei Hunan Jiangsu Jiangxi Jilin Liaoning Qinghai Shaanxi Shandong Shanxi Sichuan Yunnan Zhejiang Autonomous regions Guangxi Inner Mongolia (Nei Mongol) Ningxia Tibet (Xizang) Xinjiang Municipalities Beijing Chongqing Shanghai Tianjin Special administrative regions Hong Kong Macau Territorial disputes Paracel, Spratly, Zhongsha Islands (see Paracels, Spratlys, & Zhongsha Iss. Authority) Pratas Islands Diaoyu Islands (Senkaku Islands) South Tibet Taiwan, Quemoy & Matsu (see Legal status of Taiwan)

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