| China
is a large country noted for its dense population and vast
territory. There are 55 minority ethnic groups in addition to the
Han who represent 92% of the population. The defining elements of
an ethnic group are language, homeland, and social values. 53
minority ethnic groups use spoken languages of their own; 23
minority ethnic groups have their own written languages.
Most
of the 7 percent of the minority ethnic groups live in the vast
areas of the West, Southwest and Northwest. The largest is the 12
million-strong Zhuang in southwestern China. Although minority
ethnic groups account for about 7% of the population, they are
distributed over some 50% of Chinese territory, mostly in the
border regions. Equality, unity and common prosperity are the
fundamental objectives of the government in handling the relations
between minority ethnic groups. China exercises a policy of
regional autonomy for various minority ethnic groups, allowing
ethnic group peoples living in compact communities to establish
self-government and direct their own affairs.
Han
Chinese
Han
Chinese makes up 93 percent of the total population. According to
the 1995 sample survey of 1 percent of China's population, there
were 1.09932 billion Han people (an increase of 56.84 million
since the Fourth National Population Census of 1990), accounting
for 91.02 percent of China's total population. Han people are
found in all parts of the country, but mainly in the middle and
lower reaches of the Yellow River (Huanghe), Yangtze River (Changjiang),
Pearl River (Zhujiang) and the Northeast Plain.
The
Han people has its own spoken and written language, known as the
Chinese language, which is commonly used throughout China and is
the working language of the United Nations. The Hui and Manchu
minority ethnic groups also use the Han (Chinese) language.
Minority
Ethnic Groups
Most
of these 7 percent live in the vast areas of the West, Southwest
and Northwest. The largest is the 12 million-strong Zhuang in
southwestern China. Although minority ethnic groups account for
about 7% of the population, they are distributed over some 50% of
Chinese-controlled territory, mostly in border regions.
Self-government
of Minority Ethnic Groups
Self-government
in ethnic group autonomous areas is affected through the local
people's congress and people's government at the particular level.
There are currently five autonomous regions in China. They are
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region founded on May 1, 1947, Ningxia
Hui Autonomous Region founded on October 25, 1958, Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region founded on October 1, 1955, Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region founded on March 5, 1958 and Tibet Autonomous
Region founded on September 9, 1965. In addition, China also has
30 autonomous prefectures and 121 autonomous counties (or in some
cases, banners). The committee of the People's Congress and the
head of the government of an autonomous region, autonomous
prefecture or autonomous county belong to the area's designated
ethnic group.
Organs
of self-government in regional autonomous areas enjoy extensive
self-government rights beyond those held by other state organs at
the same level. These include enacting regulations for
self-government and specialized regulations corresponding to local
political, economic and cultural conditions; making independent
use of local revenue, and independently arranging and managing
construction, education, science, culture, public health and other
local undertakings. The Central Government has greatly assisted in
the training of ethnic group cadres and technicians through the
establishment of institutes and cadre schools for minority ethnic
groups to supplement regular colleges and universities. It has, in
addition, supplied the ethnic group autonomous areas with large
quantities of financial aid and material resources in order to
promote their economic and cultural development.
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