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China's administrative units are currently based on a three-tier system. According to the Constitution of the PRC, the administrative division of China is as follows:

1.The country is divided into provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government;

2.Provinces and autonomous regions are divided into autonomous prefectures, counties, autonomous counties and cities; and

3. Counties, autonomous counties and cities are divided into townships, ethnic minority townships, and towns.

At the moment, China is divided into 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities directly under the Central Government and 2 special administrative regions (see the following table).

China's Provinces, Autonomous Regions, Centrally Administered Municipalities and Special Administrative Regions

Name	Seat of Government	Area (10,000 sq km)	Population* (10,000 persons)
Beijing Municipality	Beijing	1.68	1,492.7
Tianjin Municipality	Tianjin	1.13	1,023.67
Hebei Province	Shijiazhuang	19.00	6,808.75
Shanxi Province	Taiyuan	15.60	3,335.07
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region	Hohhot	118.30	2,384.35
Liaoning Province	Shenyang	14.57	4,217
Jilin Province	Changchun	18.70	2,708.5
Heilongjiang Province	Harbin	46.90	3,816.8
Shanghai Municipality	Shanghai	0.62	1,742.15
Jiangsu Province	Nanjing	10.26	7,432.5
Zhejiang Province	Hangzhou	10.18	4,719.57
Anhui Province	Hefei	13.90	6,228
Fujian Province	Fuzhou	12.00	3,511
Jiangxi Province	Nanchang	16.66	4,283.57
Shandong Province	Jinan	15.30	9,180.0
Henan Province	Zhengzhou	16.70	9,717
Hubei Province	Wuhan	18.74	6,016.1
Hunan Province	Changsha	21.00	6,697.7
Guangdong Province	Guangzhou	18.60	8,303.72
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region	Nanning	23.63	4,889
Hainan Province	Haikou	3.40	8,17.83
Chongqing Municipality	Chongqing	8.20	3,144.23
Sichuan Province	Chengdu	48.80	8,724.6
Guizhou Province	Guiyang	17.00	3,903.7
Yunnan Province	Kunming	39.40	4,415.2
Tibet Autonomous Region	Lhasa	122.00	2,73.68
Shaanxi Province	Xi'an	20.50	3705.2 *
Gansu Province	Lanzhou	45.00	2618.78
Qinghai Province	Xining	72.00	538.60
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region	Yinchuan	6.64	587.71
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region	Urumqi	160.00	1,963.11
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region	Hong Kong	0.1092	667(mid 2000)
Macao Special Administrative Region	Macao	0.0024	44(mid 2000)
Taiwan Province	Taipei	3.60	2,228(at the end of 2000)

*At the end of 2004;