Regions of China

  

Regions of China
Category	Administrative division
Location	Republic of China
Found in	Legal jurisdictions
Created	March 24, 2021
Number	15
Government	Provincial government (10) Autonomous provincial government (1) Parliamentary republic (4)

Republic of China

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Republic of China

Law Constitution of the Republic of China Additional Articles Taxation in China Presidency President of the Republic of China Zhao Meijin (Ind) President's Office National Security Council Executive File:ROC Executive Yuan Logo.svg Premier of the Republic of China Wan Kaige (KMT) Vice Premier of the Republic of China Jiang Sen (DPS) Executive Yuan The Cabinet Legislature Legislative Yuan Speaker Chen Wenyang (DPS) Deputy Speaker An Wei (KMT) Judiciary File:ROC Judicial Yuan Logo.svg Judicial Yuan President and Chief Justice: Zhang Zelin Ministry of Justice Supreme Court Constitutional Court Other branches File:ROC Examination Yuan Seal.svg Examination Yuan President of the Examination Yuan: Yang Ruiyi File:Emblem of Control Yuan.svg Control Yuan President of the Control Yuan: Han Xiaojiang General Administrative divisions Elections Foreign relations Nationality law Political parties Republic of China Armed Forces

The Republic of China consists of 15 regions (Chinese: 地区, dìqū), which are also sometimes called federal states (联邦州, liánbāng zhōu) and are divided into three categories: ten provinces (省, shěng), one autonomous province (自治省, zìzhì shěng), and four republics (共和國, gònghéguó). The regions form the highest level administrative division of China, followed by the secondary level that consists of prefectures (府, fǔ), the tertiary level consisting of counties (縣, xiàn), and the lowest level, municipalities (including village, township, or city). The capital city Beijing is a unique prefecture-level municipality (the National Capital Region) that is directly administered by the central government of the Republic of China.

The current structure was codified into law and came into affect on March 24, 2021, following the passage of the National Administrative and Constitutional Reform Law by the Legislative Yuan, the parliament of the Chinese republic. Before that, since the dissolution of the People's Republic of China in 2000, the country was divided into 22 provinces, which itself was carried over from the previous system that existed since the 1960s under Landonism. In 2014 a 23rd province was added with the annexation of Rehe from Manchuria, which is still internationally recognized as part of Manchuria by most countries. The 2021 reform combined many of the existing provinces, reducing the number of the new regions to 15.

The provinces and the autonomous province follow a similar government structure as before the 2021 law was adopted, mainly with new rules to increase elections for offices as well as the power of local governments. Provinces are led by a governor and a provincial assembly. The republics are unique, created mainly in regions that are known for having large numbers of non-Han Chinese ethnic groups (including Mongolia, Qinghai, Tibet, and Xinjiang) and in theory are granted additional rights, while provinces mainly govern China proper. Each republic is government by a president and legislature, with the right to its own official languages, constitution, and national anthem. Many of their powers are still limited by the central government in practice, and republics are only slightly different than provincial governments.

Summary

Summary of administrative divisions of China
Primary	Secondary	Tertiary	Quaternary
10 provinces (省) 1 autonomous province (自治省) 4 republics (共和國)	354 prefectures (府)	3,182 counties (縣)	47,034 municipalities (鄉)

Overview

Federal regions of China
Flag	Region	Type	Capital	Pre-2021 provinces	Population	Map
	Guangxi	Province	Guangzhou	Guangdong, Guangxi	256,894,132
	Huguang	Province	Wuhan	Hubei, Hunan	225,237,300
	Liangjiang	Province	Shanghai	Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Anhui	296,171,200
	Min-Zhe	Province	Fuzhou	Fujian, Zhejiang	98,426,166
	Shaan-Gan	Province	Taiyuan	Shaanxi, Shanxi, Gansu	200,575,254
	Sichuan	Province	Chongqing	Sichuan	103,301,350
	Yunnan	Province	Kunming	Yunnan, Guizhou	101,938,239
	Zhili	Province	Beijing	Zhili	130,793,100
	Zhongyuan	Province	Luoyang	Henan, Shandong	203,026,891
	Xikang	Province	Xichang	eastern Tibet	7,709,505
	Rehe	Autonomous Province	Chengde	Rehe	12,552,292
	Mongolia	Republic	Urga	Inner Mongolia, Outer Mongolia	42,418,020
	Qinghai	Republic		Qinghai	18,712,111
	Tibet	Republic	Lhasa	western Tibet	2,930,065
	Xinjiang	Republic	Kashgar	Xinjiang	29,813,040