province of china

A province, in the context of China, is a translation of sheng (省 shěng), which is an administrative division of China. Together with municipalities and autonomous regions, provinces make up the first level (known as the province level) of administrative division in Mainland China. The Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau are officially considered to be province-level as well, though in reality they have much more autonomy than regular provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities. Theoretically, provinces are also the first level division of the Republic of China on Taiwan, though this role has been greatly diminished. The People's Republic of China currently administers 22 provinces, out of a total of 33 province level divisions, and claims a 23rd province, Taiwan Province. The Republic of China administers the entirety of Taiwan Province, as well as some offshore islands of Fujian province, and two municipalities (Taipei and Kaohsiung). In the 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. See History of the political divisions of China.

List and map

b>Provinces administered by the People's Republic of China
Name !! Chinese (S) !! pinyin !! Abbreviation !! Capital !! List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Anhui" title="Anhui">Anhui	安徽	Ānhuī	皖 wǎn	Hefei	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Fujian" title="Fujian">Fujian	福建	Fjin	闽 mǐn	Fuzhou	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Gansu" title="Gansu">Gansu	甘肃	Gāns	甘 gān or 陇 lǒng	Lanzhou	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Guangdong" title="Guangdong">Guangdong	广东	Guǎngdōng	粤 yu	Guangzhou	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Guizhou" title="Guizhou">Guizhou	贵州	Guzhōu	黔 qin or 贵 gu	Guiyang	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Hainan" title="Hainan">Hainan	海南	Hǎinn	琼 qing	Haikou	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Hebei" title="Hebei">Hebei	河北	Hběi	冀 j	Shijiazhuang	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Heilongjiang" title="Heilongjiang">Heilongjiang	黑龙江	Hēilngjiāng	黑 hēi	Harbin	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Henan" title="Henan">Henan	河南	Hnn	豫 y	Zhengzhou	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Hubei" title="Hubei">Hubei	湖北	Hběi	鄂	Wuhan	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Hunan" title="Hunan">Hunan	湖南	Hnn	湘 xiāng	Changsha	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Jiangsu" title="Jiangsu">Jiangsu	江苏	Jiāngsū	苏 sū	Nanjing	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Jiangxi" title="Jiangxi">Jiangxi	江西	Jiāngxī	赣 gn	Nanchang	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Jilin" title="Jilin">Jilin	吉林	Jln	吉 j	Changchun	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Liaoning" title="Liaoning">Liaoning	辽宁	Lionng	辽 lio	Shenyang	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Qinghai" title="Qinghai">Qinghai	青海	Qīnghǎi	青 qīng	Xining	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Shaanxi" title="Shaanxi">Shaanxi	陕西	Shǎnxī	陕 shǎn or 秦 qn	Xi'an	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Shandong" title="Shandong">Shandong	山东	Shāndōng	鲁 lǔ	Jinan	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Shanxi" title="Shanxi">Shanxi	山西	Shānxī	晋 jn	Taiyuan	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Sichuan" title="Sichuan">Sichuan	四川	Schuān	川 chuān or 蜀 shǔ	Chengdu	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Yunnan" title="Yunnan">Yunnan	云南	Ynnn	滇 diān or 云 yn	Kunming	List of county-level divisions
a href="/encyclopedia/Zhejiang" title="Zhejiang">Zhejiang	浙江	Zhjiāng	浙 zh	Hangzhou	List of county-level divisions

History

The provinces of China were first set up during the Yuan Dynasty. There were initially 10 provinces. By the time of the Qing Dynasty 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 emperor's behalf and a tidu (提督), a military governor. In addition, there was a zongdu (總督), a general military inspector, for every two or three provinces. Outer regions of China 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-tudong (副都統), and civilian leaders were heads of the leagues (盟長), a subdivision of Mongolia. 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. 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.