China has the world's largest population. The fifth Na-tional Population Census, completed on November 11,2000, showed the country had a population of 1.295 billion. By 2008, it had reached 1.3 billion, or 20% of the world's total.

The country has the highest population density in the world, too. The fifth National Population Census showed it had a population density of 134 people per sq km, more than three times the world's average. The country s popula-tion is distributed unevenly. The eastern areas have a higher density, especially the southeastern coastal areas where it reaches up to 500- 600 persons per sq km. The western areas, on the other hand, have a much lower density-about 10 persons per sq km. The country's urban population was 543 million in 2005, accounting for about 41.77 percent of the to-tal, with 757 million people, or 58.23 percent, living in rural areas.

The country's population saw a rapid growth in the fifties and sixties. Statistics show the population rose from 540 mil-lion in 1949 to 800 million in 1969. But the family planning policy, implemented in the 1970s, saw the birth rate decline from 34.11 perent in 1969 to 12.29 percent in 2004. The natu-ral growth rate dropped, too, from 26.08 percent to 5.87 per-cent. The family planning policy thas helped reduce China's population by more than 300 million, based on the natural growth rate of the 1970s.

China has 56 ethnic groups, with the Han nationality be-ing the largest comprising 92 percent of the total popula-tion. The other 55 ethnic groups make up the rest of China's population and are thus referred to as minorities. Among the 55 minorities, nine-the Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uygur, Tujia, Yi, Mongolian and the Tibetan- -have a popu-lation of about 5 million each or more. The Zhuangs have by far the largest population among the minorities- more than 1,500 million. Seven ethnic minorities- the Monba, Orogen, Derung, Tatar, Hezhen, Gaoshan and Lhoba- have a popu-lation of less than 100,000 each, and are thus referred to as smaller ethnic groups.

The Han people are spread almost throughout the coun-try, but their main concentration is in the Yangtze, Yellow and Pearl river basins and the northwestern part of China. Despite their small population, the other 55 ethnic groups are distributed extensively, too, but live mainly in the In-ner Mongolia, Xinjiang Uygur, Tibet, Guangxi Zhuang and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions, and the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Yun-nan, Guizhou, Hunan and Hubei. Yunnan, with 25 minori-ties, each with a population of 5,000 or above, is home to the largest number ethnic groups.

Each ethnic group is a distinct member of the Chinese nation. China treats all ethnic groups as equal, grants each of them all the legitimate rights and interests, prohibits dis-crimination against and oppression of any ethnic group, opposes chauvinism and regionalism, and does not allow activities that harm national unity. All the ethnic groups have the freedom to use and develop their own language and characters, and are free to maintain or reform their cus-toms and practices. Under the regional autonomy system, based on China's national administrative divisions, the government has established autonomous authorities to ex-ercise autonomy in regions where ethnic minorities consti-tute a majority and made them the masters their fates. The country has five autonomous regions at the provincial level, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Ningxia and Tibet, and many autonomous areas at the district, county and town-ship levels.

A Short Table of the Administrative Divisions of the People's Republic of China

According to China's Constitution, China' s administative divisions can be divided into three parts:

(I) Provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalties un-der the direct leadership the central government;

(II) Provinces and autonomous regions are divided further into autonomous prefectures, counties, autonomous coun-ties and cities; and

(III) Counties and autonomous counties are divided into townships, ethnic townships and towns.

Municipalities under direct control of the central govern-ment and large cities are divided into districts and counties. Autonomous prefectures are divided into counties, autono-mous counties and cities. Autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties are ethnic minority autonomous areas. Towns and townships are administrative areas at the grassroots level and spread across the country.

Modern China's local organizations are basically divided into four levels: provinces, prefectures, counties and town-ships. There are 34 in the first level: 23 provinces, five au-tonomous regions, four municipalities directly under the central government and two special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macao).

Since 1978, when China began its reform and opening up, vice-provincial cities have been added between the provinc-es and prefetures, including parts of the provincial capitals and the rlatively large ities approved by the State Council, the country's cabinet.