Autonomous regions of China

The autonomous regions (Template:Lang-zh) are one of the four types of province-level divisions in the People's Republic of China. Like provinces, an autonomous region has its own local government, but under the law of the People's Republic of China, an autonomous region has more legislative rights, such as the right to "formulate self-government regulations and other separate regulations."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.

There are five autonomous regions in China: Guangxi, Inner Mongolia (Nei Menggu), Ningxia, Tibet (Xizang), and Xinjiang.

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 annexed by the People's Republic of China in 1951, and was declared an autonomous region in 1965. The designation of Guangxi and Ningxia as Zhuang and Hui autonomous areas, respectively, was protested by the local Han Chinese, who made up two-thirds of the population of each region.Template: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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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 ofTemplate:Nbsp... separatismTemplate:Nbsp... is absolutely prohibited."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Public goods and services

In general, China's minority regions have some of the highest per capita government spending on education, among other public goods and services.<ref name=":022">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Providing public goods and services in these areas is part of a government effort to reduce regional inequalities, reduce the risk of separatism, and stimulate economic development.<ref name=":022" />Template:Rp

List of autonomous regions

Name in English	Map	Simplified Chinese Pinyin	Abbreviation	Local name SASM/GNC romanization (Language)	Capital	Designated minority	Language	Pre-1949 ROC subdivision
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region	File:Inner Mongolia in China (+all claims hatched).svg	Template:Lang Template:Transliteration	Template:Lang Template:Transliteration (IMAR)	Template:Lang Template:Transliteration (Mongolian)	Hohhot (Template:Lang)	Mongol	Mongolian	Suiyuan, Chahar, Rehe, Liaobei, Xing'an, Gansu, and Ningxia
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region	File:Guangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg	Template:Lang Template:Transliteration	Template:Lang Template:Transliteration (GZAR)	Template:Lang (Standard Zhuang/Zhuang)	Nanning (Template:Lang; Template:Lang)	Zhuang	Zhuang, Standard Zhuang (Vahcuengh)	Guangxi (province)
Tibet Autonomous Region	File:Tibet in China (claimed hatched) (+all claims hatched).svg	Template:Lang Template:Transliteration	Template:Lang Template:Transliteration (TAR)	Template:Bo-textonly Template:Transliteration (Standard Tibetan)	Lhasa (Template:Lang; Template:Bo-textonly)	Tibetan	Standard Tibetan	Tibet Area, Xikang
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region	File:Ningxia in China (+all claims hatched).svg	Template:Lang Template:Transliteration	Template:Lang Template:Transliteration (NHAR)	Template:N/a	Yinchuan (Template:Lang)	Hui	Dungan, Chinese	Ningxia (province)
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region	File:Xinjiang in China (de-facto) (+all claims hatched).svg	Template:Lang Template:Transliteration	Template:Lang Template:Transliteration (XUAR)	Template:Lang Template:Transliteration (Uyghur)	Ürümqi (Template:Lang; Template:Lang)	Uyghur	Uyghur	Xinjiang (province)

Statistics

Population

Administrative Division	National Share (%)	2020 Census<ref name="autogenerated3">Template:Cite web</ref>	2010 Census<ref name="census2010"> Template:Cite web</ref> || 2000 Census<ref name="census2000"> Template:Cite web</ref> || 1990 Census<ref name="census1990"> Template:Cite web</ref> || 1982 Census<ref name="census1982"> Template:Cite web</ref> || 1964 Census<ref name="census1964"> Template:Cite web</ref> || 1954 Census<ref name="census1954"> Template:Cite web</ref>
Guangxi	3.55	50,126,804	46,026,629	43,854,538	42,245,765	36,420,960	20,845,017	19,560,822
Inner Mongolia	1.70	24,049,155	24,706,321	23,323,347	21,456,798	19,274,279	12,348,638	6,100,104
Ningxia	0.51	7,202,654	6,176,900	5,486,393	4,655,451	3,895,578	*	*
Tibet Autonomous Region	0.26	3,648,100	3,002,166	2,616,329	2,196,010	1,892,393	1,251,225	1,273,969
Xinjiang	1.83	25,852,345	21,813,334	18,459,511	15,155,778	13,081,681	7,270,067	4,873,608
Total	7.85	110,879,058	101,725,350	93,740,118	85,709,802	74,561,891	41,714,947	31,808,503

Ethnic

Administrative Division	Titular Ethnic Group	Han Chinese	Other ethnic minorities
Xinjiang (Uyghur)	45.0%	42.2%	12.8%
Tibet (Tibetan)	86.0%	12.2%	1.8%
Inner Mongolia (Mongol)	17.7%	78.7%	3.6%
Ningxia (Hui)	35.0%	64.1%	0.9%
Guangxi (Zhuang)	31.4%	62.5%	6.1%

See also

• Administrative divisions of China
  • Autonomous prefecture
  • Direct-administered municipalities of China
  • Provinces of China
  • Special administrative regions of China
• Autonomous administrative division
• Language Atlas of China
• Secession in China
• Standard Chinese
• Republics of Russia

External links

• Regional Autonomy for Ethnic Minorities in China