Abstract
Interethnic marriage is a key field in ethnic relations study. A high level of interethnic marriage only occurs in a multiethnic society in which the political system, economic structure, laws, and cultural environment allow young people with different ethnic backgrounds to mingle with each other. This is why the interethnic marriage rate can be used to measure the degree of interactions among different ethnic groups. It is the most reliable indicator for a trend of long-term ethnic relations. Due to the lack of relevant data in official statistics, there are limited studies focusing on interethnic marriage at the macro level. Based on the 1990, 2000, and 2010 census data and the special volume on ethnicity edited by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, this paper attempts to determine the basic trend of interethnic marriages in China over the past three decades. It discusses some basic characteristics of interethnic marriages among different ethnic groups. How to strengthen national unity, ethnic solidarity, and improve the relationships among different ethnic groups are major challenges faced by China in the twenty-first century. Studying the interethnic marriage from sociological and demographic approaches may help us understand the basic trend of interethnic integration in today’s China.
Highlights
Interethnic marriage is a key field in ethnic relations study
Jian The Journal of Chinese Sociology (2017) 4:11 three recent population censuses, in particular, the intermarriage data jointly presented by the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, in order to understand the evolving trend of ethnic intermarriages over the past 20 years, as well as the demographic characteristics of various ethnic groups in ethnic intermarriage
The two databases were coreleased by the National Bureau of Statistics and State Ethnic Affairs Commission, which recorded the information obtained from these two censuses, such as ethnic identity for the head and spouse in households nationwide
Summary
3.857 people, dropping 15.2%, and in minority-Han mixture households, it decreased from 4.411 to 3.880 people, dropping 12%. It is clear that during this 10-year period the average size of Chinese family households has shown an overall decline trend. Because ethnic minority households previously had a larger average number of people, this decline was even more obvious. The proportion of minority-Han mixture households in total households increased from 2.44% in 1990 to 2.68% in 2000, up by 0.24% with an increase of 2.365 million households and 5.589 million people. The proportion of full ethnic minority households in the total number of households increased by 0.52%, with a gain of 10.063 million people. Total number Households of single Households of two of ethnic group ethnic groups households
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