Autonomous regions of China
The autonomous regions (Chinese: 自治区; pinyin: Zìzhìqū) are the highest-level administrative divisions of China. Like Chinese provinces, an autonomous region has its own local government, but under Chinese law, an autonomous region has more legislative rights, such as the right to "formulate self-government regulations and other separate regulations."[1] 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.
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| Autonomous regions 自治区 Zìzhìqū | |
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| Category | Unitary state |
| Location |  People's Republic of China |
| Number | 5 (Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang, and Xizang) |
| Populations | 110,879,058 Guangxi – 50,126,804 Nei Mongol – 24,049,155 Ningxia – 7,202,654 Xinjiang – 25,852,345 Xizang – 3,648,100 |
| Areas | 4,380,000 km2 (1,690,000 sq mi) Guangxi – 237,600 km2 (91,700 sq mi) Nei Mongol – 1,183,000 km2 (457,000 sq mi) Ningxia – 66,400 km2 (25,600 sq mi) Xinjiang – 1,665,000 km2 (643,000 sq mi) Xizang – 1,228,000 km2 (474,000 sq mi) |
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| This article is part of a series on |
| Administrative divisions of China |
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History: before 1912, 1912–49, 1949–present Administrative division codes |
The autonomous regions are the creations of the People's Republic of China (PRC), as they are not recognized by the Republic of China (ROC) based in Taiwan, which previously ruled Mainland China before the PRC's establishment in 1949.