The People's Republic of China has created, following Soviet nationality policy, a number of administrative divisions designated as autonomous. Since these entities were created by the PRC they are not recognised by the Republic of China on Taiwan.

Each autonomous entity is specifically associated with one or more ethnic minority, equivalent to the titular nation in Soviet practice. Autonomous administrative divisions can be found at the first (province), second (prefecture), and third (county) levels of local government. They include the following four types:

• Autonomous regions (Chinese: 自治区; pinyin: zìzhìqū), at the province level
• Autonomous prefectures (Chinese: 自治州; pinyin: zìzhìzhōu), at the prefecture level
• Autonomous counties (Chinese: 自治县; pinyin: zìzhìxiàn), at the county level
• Autonomous banners (Chinese: 自治旗; pinyin: zìzhìqí), also at the county level

As of January 2005, there are 5 autonomous regions, 30 autonomous prefectures, 117 autonomous counties and 3 autonomous banners in China.

Nomenclature

The majority of autonomous entities are named by combining the geographical name, the name of the specified ethnicity, and the entity name used for that administrative level:

Some autonomous entities have more than one specified minority, which tend to be listed in the name of the prefecture, creating rather long names. One autonomous county simply uses "Various Nationalities" in its name as a placeholder, rather than listing out all of its designated ethnicities:

A few autonomous entities break the regular nomenclature pattern, because the name of the ethnicity is already contained within the geographical name, or because there is no geographical name:

Legal basis

Autonomous regions, prefectures, counties, and banners are covered under Section 6 of Chapter 3 (Articles 111-122) of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, and with more detail under the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy of the People's Republic of China. The constitution states that the head of government of each autonomous entity must be of the ethnic group as specified by the autonomous entity (Tibetan, Uyghur, etc). The constitution also guarantees a range of rights including: independence of finance, independence of economic planning, independence of arts, science and culture, organization of local police, and use of local language. In addition, the head of government of each autonomous region is known as a "chairman", unlike provinces, where they are known as "governors".

Demographics

Of the five autonomous regions, only Tibet has an absolute majority (>50%) of the designated majority, namely, the Tibetans. Xinjiang has a relative majority (<50%) of the designated majority, the Uyghurs, though this is disputed by Uyghur independence advocates, who claim that the Han Chinese population in Xinjiang has been severely understated. The remaining 3 autonomous regions have absolute majorities of Han Chinese, the majority ethnicity of China.

History

Autonomous regions, prefectures, counties, and banners were established after communist takeover, following Soviet practice. At first, the nomenclature of these autonomous entities were somewhat confused, with autonomous regions appearing at the province, prefecture, county, and township levels. Eventually the nomenclature was standardized to the conventions used today.

The first autonomous region to be established was Inner Mongolia, created within communist-held territory in 1947, two years before the establishment of the People's Republic. Xinjiang was converted from a province to an autonomous region in 1955. Guangxi and Ningxia followed in 1957, and Tibet Autonomous Region was formally established in 1965.

Opinions

Autonomous administrative entities, as well as the various rights granted to them, are affirmed by the government as a positive example of local self-rule in ethnic areas. They have also drawn criticism from various groups. Some Han Chinese claim that autonomous regions with majority Han Chinese populations pursue discriminatory policies towards Han Chinese, who are given less preferential treatment in school admissions and government employment opportunities. They question the necessity of setting up autonomous entities in areas where the designated ethnicity is actually a minority, and contend that the existence of these autonomous entities are a danger to national unity. Conversely, some ethnic minorities claim that autonomous entities offer little or no actual autonomy, as officials are appointed from above rather than elected democratically. In addition, real power within the autonomous entity lies with the local Communist Party committee secretary (who is usually Han Chinese) rather than the head of government; the ranks of government may also become filled with Han Chinese, since only the head of government needs to be of the designated minority.

List of autonomous entities

Autonomous regions

Autonomous prefectures

Autonomous counties

Autonomous banners

All three autonomous banners are found in northeastern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The designated ethnicity is given in parentheses:

• Evenki Autonomous Banner (Evenks)
• Oroqin Autonomous Banner (Oroqin)
• Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner (Daur)