China's administrative units are currently based on a three-tier system, dividing the nation into provinces, counties and townships:

The country is divided into provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government;

A province or an autonomous region is subdivided into autonomous prefectures, counties, autonomous counties and cities; 

A county or an autonomous county is subdivided into townships, ethnic townships and towns.

Municipalities directly under the Central Government and large cities are subdivided into districts and counties; autonomous prefectures are subdivided into counties, autonomous counties and cities. Autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties are all ethnic autonomous areas. The Constitution specifically empowers the state to establish special administrative regions when necessary. A special administrative region is a local administrative area directly under the Central Government.

The People's Republic of China has 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 centrally administered municipalities and 2 special administrative regions (see the following table).

China's Provinces, Autonomous Regions, Centrally Administered  Municipalities and Special Administrative Regions

Name	Seat of Government	Area(10,000 sq km)	Population* (10,000 persons)
Beijing Municipality	Beijing	1.68	1,538
Tianjin Municipality	Tianjin	1.13	1,043
Hebei Province	Shijiazhuang	19.00	6,851
Shanxi Province	Taiyuan	15.60	3,355
Inner Mongolia  Autonomous Region	Hohhot	119.75	2,386
Liaoning Province	Shenyang	14.57	4,221
Jilin Province	Changchun	18.70	2,716
Heilongjiang Province	Harbin	46.90	3,820
Shanghai Municipality	Shanghai	0.62	1,778
Jiangsu Province	Nanjing	10.26	7,475
Zhejiang Province	Hangzhou	10.18	4,898
Anhui Province	Hefei	13.90	6,120
Fujian Province	Fuzhou	12.00	3,535
Jiangxi Province	Nanchang	16.66	4,311
Shandong Province	Jinan	15.30	9,248
Henan Province	Zhengzhou	16.70	9,380
Hubei Province	Wuhan	18.74	5,710
Hunan Province	Changsha	21.00	6,326
Guangdong Province	Guangzhou	18.60	9,194
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region	Nanning	23.77	4,660
Hainan Province	Haikou	3.40	828
Chongqing Municipality	Chongqing	8.20	2,798
Sichuan Province	Chengdu	48.80	8,212
Guizhou Province	Guiyang	17.00	3,730
Yunnan Province	Kunming	39.40	4,450
Tibet Autonomous  Region	Lhasa	127.49	277
Shaanxi Province	Xi'an	20.50	3,720
Gansu Province	Lanzhou	45.00	2,594
Qinghai Province	Xining	72.00	543
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region	Yinchuan	6.28	596
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region	Urumqi	165.58	2,010
Hong Kong Special  Administrative Region	Hong Kong	0.1103	694 (in mid-2005)
Macao Special Administrative Region	Macao	0.0027	48 (in mid-2005)
Taiwan Province		3.60	2,277 (at the end of 2005)