From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A province, in the context of China, is a translation of sheng (Chinese: 省; pinyin: shěng), which is an administrative division. 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 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. The PRC also claims, but does not administer, the 23rd province of Taiwan. The Republic of China administers Taiwan, as well as some offshore islands including Kinmen and Matsu, very near to Fujian province.

In the People's Republic of China, 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.

• 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 by area is Qinghai, which also has the smallest population of just over 5.3 million.
• Eight of the provinces (excluding Taiwan, Republic of China) 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 Regions 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.

For a larger version of this map, see here.

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 (巡撫), a political overseer on behalf of the emperor, and a tidu (提督), a military governor. In addition, there was a zongdu (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, which are not synchronized with the actual administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China. 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.

See also: History of the political divisions of China

• Interactive China map with province and city guides

• Zhou (country subdivision)
• Chinese federalism
• Taiwan Province
• Tiao-kuai
• List of China administrative divisions by population