A province, in the context of Chinese government, is a translation of sheng (), which is an administrative division. Together with municipalities, autonomous regions, and the special administrative regions, provinces make up the first level (known as the province level) of administrative division in China. Provinces are also the first level division of the Republic of China, commonly called "Taiwan", though this role has been diminished.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) currently controls 22 provinces. The PRC also claims, but does not control, Taiwan as a 23rd province. The Republic of China (ROC) controls Taiwan, as well as some offshore islands including Kinmen and Matsu, very near to Fujian province.

In the People's Republic of China, every province has a Communist Party of China provincial committee, headed by a secretary. The committee secretary is first-in-charge of the province, rather than the governor of the provincial government.

Map and list of provinces

Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China. Note: this map depicts only provinces of the People's Republic of China, which are not synchronized with the actual administrative divisions of the Republic of China. The People's Republic of China (PRC) controls mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao while the Republic of China controls Taiwan and nearby islands.



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History

The provinces of China were first set up during the Yuan Dynasty. There were initially 10 provinces. By the time the Qing Dynasty was established, there were 18, all of which were in China proper. These were:

For every province, there was a xunfu (巡撫), a political overseer on behalf of the emperor, and a tidu (提督), a military governor. In addition, there was a zongdu (總督), a general military inspector or governor general, for every two to three provinces.

Outer regions of China (those beyond China proper) were not divided into provinces. Manchuria (consisting of Fengtian (now Liaoning), Jilin, Heilongjiang), Xinjiang, and Mongolia were overseen by military leaders or generals (將軍) and vice-dutong (副都統), and civilian leaders were heads of the leagues (盟長), a subdivision of Mongolia. Tibet was administratively overseen by the ambans (驻藏大臣).

In 1878, Xinjiang became a province, in 1909, Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang were made provinces as well. Taiwan was made a province in 1887, but it was ceded to Japan in 1895. As a result, there were 22 provinces in China (Outer China and China proper) near the end of the Qing Dynasty.

The Republic of China, established in 1912, set up 4 more provinces in Inner Mongolia and 2 provinces in historic Tibet, bringing the total to 28. 4 provinces were however lost with the establishment of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in Manchuria. After the defeat of Japan in World War II, Manchuria was reincorporated as 10 provinces, and control of Taiwan was assumed by the Republic of China. As a result, the Republic of China had 35 provinces. Although the Republic of China now only controls one province (Taiwan) and some islands of a second province (Fujian), it continues to formally claim all 35 provinces.

List of defunct provinces

The People's Republic of China abolished many of the provinces in the 1950s and converted a number of them into autonomous regions. Hainan was set up as a separate province in 1988, bringing the total number of provinces under its control to 22.