China’s National Question Since 1949

Abstract

The Chinese nation is conceived as a unified state composed of 56 ethnic groups, the majority Han and 55 state-recognized ethnic minorities. In theory they are all equal, though in practice the immense population and other dominance of the Han makes that impossible (in 2010, the ethnic minorities made up only 8.41% of China’s total). There is a political system of limited autonomy in the places where the ethnic minorities are concentrated, the five main ones being equivalent in status to provinces. These are the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and the Tibet Autonomous Region.