A 'province', in the context of '
China', is a translation of ''Sheng'' (), which is an administrative division of
China. The equivalent in some
Muslim countries is a
wilayah. Together with
municipalities,
autonomous regions, and the
special administrative regions, provinces make up the first level (known as the 'province level') of administrative division in
China.
[1] Theoretically, provinces are also the first level division of the
Republic of China (ROC) on
Taiwan, though this role has been diminished.
The
People's Republic of China currently administers 22 provinces, out of a total of 33 province level divisions, and claims, but does not administer, the 23rd province of
Taiwan. The
Republic of China on Taiwan administers and controls the entirety of
Taiwan, as well as some offshore islands, including
Kinmen and
Matsu (administered under the ROC province of Fujian), very near to
Fujian province of the
People's Republic of China (
PRC), as well as the capital city of
Taipei and the municipality of
Kaohsiung.
In the
People's Republic of China (
PRC), every province has a
Communist Party of China provincial committee, headed by a secretary. The committee secretary is first-in-charge of the province, rather than the governor of the provincial government.
Alternative meanings
"Province" is also a translation of ''
Zhou'', a division of the
Han Dynasty, as well as
circuits, a division of the
Tang Dynasty and
Song Dynasty.
List and map
History
The provinces of China were first set up during the
Yuan Dynasty. There were initially 10 provinces. By the time the
Qing Dynasty was established, there were 18, all of which were in
China proper. These were:
For every province, there was a ''
Xunfu'' (governor, 巡撫), a political overseer on behalf of the emperor and a ''
tidu'' (提督), a military governor. In addition, there was a ''
zongdu'' (viceroy, 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.
Manchuria (consisting of Fengtian (now
Liaoning),
Jilin,
Heilongjiang),
Xinjiang, and
Mongolia were overseen by military leaders or
generals (將軍) and vice-''dutong'' (副都統), and civilian leaders were heads of the
leagues (盟長), a subdivision of
Mongolia.
Tibet was administratively overseen by the ''
ambans'' (驻藏大臣).
In 1878,
Xinjiang became a province, in 1909,
Fengtian,
Jilin, and
Heilongjiang were made provinces as well.
Taiwan was made a province in
1887, but it was ceded 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. 4 provinces were however lost with the establishment of the Japanese
puppet state of
Manchukuo in
Manchuria. After the defeat of Japan in
World War II, Manchuria was reincorporated as 10 provinces, and Taiwan was also returned to China. As a result, the
Republic of China had 35 provinces. Although the
Republic of China now only controls one province (
Taiwan Province) and some islands of a second province (
Fujian), it continues to claim (in theory at least) 35 provinces.
Administrative divisions of the
Republic of China. Note: this map depicts the theoretical administrative divisions of the Republic of China (ROC), which are not synchronized with the actual administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The ROC controls Taiwan and nearby islands while the PRC controls Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
The
People's Republic of China abolished many of the provinces in the
1950s and converted a number of them into
autonomous regions.
Hainan was set up as a separate province in
1988, bringing the total number of provinces to 22.
Various facts about the provinces
★ Until the ROC administration,
Hebei was known as "Zhili", or "directly-ruled".
★
Guangxi was made an autonomous region under the PRC government in 1949. Before then, it was a province like any other.
★ The largest province is
Qinghai but also has the smallest population of just over 5.3 million.
★ Eight of the provinces (excluding the
Republic of China (
Taiwan)) have a sea coast. The remaining 14 are land-locked.
★
Guangdong,
Shandong and
Liaoning all have a major
peninsula.
★ Guangdong is the only province bordering the only two
Special Administrative Region of China.
★ Separated from Guangdong and established in
1988,
Hainan is the youngest province of China.
★ Aside from Hainan (which is not physically attached to any provinces), all provinces share borders with at three or more provinces except for
Heilongjiang.
★ The Municipality of
Chongqing was carved out of
Sichuan province on June 12, 1997.
References
1. Administrative divisions of China
External links
★
Interactive China map with province and city guides.
★
table of province data
See also
★
Chinese federalism
★
Taiwan Province
★
Tiao-kuai
★
List of China administrative divisions by population
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