- published: 10 Jan 2012
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Shennongjia Forestry District (simplified Chinese: 神农架林区; traditional Chinese: 神農架林區; pinyin: Shénnóngjià Línqū) is a county-level administrative unit (a "forestry district") in northwestern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, directly subordinated to the provincial government. It occupies 3,253 square kilometres (1,256 sq mi) in western Hubei, and, as of 2007 had the resident population estimated at 74,000 (with the registered population of 79,976).
The population is predominantly (95%) Han Chinese, the remaining 5% being mostly Tujia.
The administrative status of Shennongjia is rather unique, in that it is the only county-level administrative unit of the People's Republic of China that is designated a "forestry district" (林区), rather than a more usual county or county-level city.
Shennongjia's status within Hubei is also somewhat unusual, in that this county-level unit is directly administered by the provincial government as opposed to be part of a prefecture-level city or prefecture, as are Hubei's all "normal" counties. However, this arrangement is not unique to Shennongjia, as Hubei also has three county-level cities (Xiantao, Tianmen, Qianjiang) which are directly under the provincial government, without being part of a prefecture-level unit.