A prefecture is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international church structures, as well as in antiquity a Roman district.
The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times, due to China's large population and geographical area. The constitution of China provides for three levels of government. However in practice, there are five levels of local government; the provincial, prefecture, county, township, and village.
The Republic of China is divided into multi-layered statutory subdivisions. Due to the complex political status of Taiwan, there is a significant difference in the de jure system set out in the original constitution and the de facto system in use today.
A prefecture-level city or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure.
An autonomous municipality or city, previously provincial city, is a de jure second-level administrative division unit in the Republic of China (Taiwan).
Prefectures are one of four types of prefecture-level divisions in China, the second-level administrative division in the country. While at one time prefectures were the most common prefecture-level division, they are in the process of being abolished and only seven formally-designated prefectures remain.
The term district, in the context of China, is used to refer to several unrelated political divisions in both ancient and modern China.
A county-level municipality, county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city, is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level cities have judicial but no legislative rights over their own local law and are usually governed by prefecture-level divisions, but a few are governed directly by province-level divisions.
A league is an administrative unit of the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia in the People's Republic of China.
Chinese autonomous administrative divisions are associated with one or more ethnic minorities that are designated as autonomous within the People's Republic of China. These areas are recognized in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and are nominally given a number of rights not accorded to other administrative divisions of China. For example, Tibetan minorities in autonomous regions are granted rights and support not given to the Han Chinese, such as fiscal and medical subsidies.
Jiuquan, formerly known as Sùzhou, is a prefecture-level city in the northwesternmost part of Gansu Province in the People's Republic of China. It is more than 600 km (370 mi) wide from east to west, occupying 191,342 km2 (73,878 sq mi), although its built-up area is mostly located in its Suzhou District.
Jining District is an urban district that serves as the administrative seat of Ulanqab, a region governed as a prefecture-level city in the mid-western part of Inner Mongolia, China. It has an area of approximately 114.2 km2 and is in the southern foothills of the Yinshan mountains.
Otog Banner is a banner of southwestern Inner Mongolia, China. It is under the administration of Ordos City, and borders Otog Front Banner to the southwest and Uxin Banner to the southeast.
A county, constitutionally known as a hsien, is a de jure second-level administrative division unit in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Under the administrative structure of Taiwan, it is with the same level of a provincial city.
Counties are found in the third level of the administrative hierarchy in provinces and autonomous regions and the second level in municipalities and Hainan, a level that is known as "county level" and also contains autonomous counties, county-level cities, banners, autonomous banners and city districts. There are 1,355 counties in mainland China out of a total of 2,851 county-level divisions.
The Tibet Area was a province-level administrative division of the Republic of China which consisted of Ü-Tsang and Ngari areas, but excluding the Amdo and Kham areas. However, the Republic of China never exercised control over the territory, which was ruled by the Ganden Phodrang government in Lhasa. The People's Republic of China, which overthrew the ROC on the mainland in 1949, invaded Chamdo in 1950 and incorporated the Dalai Lama-controlled regions in 1951. After the 1959 Tibetan rebellion, the State Council of the PRC ordered the replacement of the Tibetan Kashag government with the "Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region" (PCTAR). The current Tibet Autonomous Region was established as a province-level division of the People's Republic of China in 1965.
The administrative division codes of the People's Republic of China identify the administrative divisions of China at county level and above. They are published by the National Bureau of Statistics of China with the latest version issued on September 30, 2015.
The administrative divisions of China between 1912 and 1949 were established under the regime of the Republic of China government.
People's Republic of China 