China’s
administrative units are currently based on a three-level
system dividing the nation into provinces, counties,
and townships:
—The country is divided into provinces, autonomous
regions, and municipalities directly under the Central
Government;
—A county or an autonomous county is subdivided into
townships, national minority townships, and/or towns.
Municipalities directly under the Central Government
and large cities are subdivided into districts and counties;
autonomous prefectures are subdivided into counties,
autonomous counties, and cities. Autonomous regions,
autonomous prefectures, and autonomous counties are
all autonomous national minority areas.
The Constitution specifically empowers the state to
establish special administrative regions when necessary.
A special administrative region is a local administrative
area directly under the Central Government.
At present, China was divided into 23 provinces, 5 autonomous
regions, 4 municipalities directly under the Central
Government, and 2 special administrative region (see
the following table).
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