:''This article is about a type of administrative division in Inner Mongolia, China.
For other meanings of the term "banner", see
banner (disambiguation).''
A 'banner' is an
administrative division of the
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the
People's Republic of China.
Banners were first used during the
Qing Dynasty, which organized the Mongols into banners except those who belonged to the Manchu
Eight Banners. Each banner had
sumun as nominal subdivisions, which also means arrow. In
Inner Mongolia, several banners made up a
league. In the rest, including
Outer Mongolia, northern
Xinjiang and
Qinghai,
Aimag (Аймаг) was the largest administrative division. While it restricted the Mongols from crossing banner borders, the dynasty protected Mongolia from population pressure from
China proper.
Today, banners are a
county level division in the
Chinese administrative hierarchy. There are 49 banners in total.
An
autonomous banner is a special type of banner set up by the
People's Republic of China. There are 3 autonomous banners, all of which are found in northeastern
Inner Mongolia, each with a designated
ethnic minority:
★
Oroqin Autonomous Banner (鄂伦春自治旗) for the
Oroqin
★
Evenki Autonomous Banner (鄂温克族自治旗) for the
Evenks
★
Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner (莫力达瓦达斡尔族自治旗) for the
Daur
See also
★
Political divisions of China
★
League (Inner Mongolia)
★
Eight Banner system (banner system of the
Manchus)