Prefectures of China

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.

Prefecture 地区 Dìqū
Category	Second level administrative division of a unitary state
Location	China
Number	7 prefectures
Populations	95,465 (Ngari) – 3,979,362 (Kaxgar)
Areas	46,755 km2 (18,052 sq mi) (Daxing'anling) – 304,683 km2 (117,639 sq mi) (Ngari)
Government	Various, Central Government
Subdivisions	Counties

Prefecture
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	地区
Traditional Chinese	地區
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dìqū Southern Min Bbánlám Pìngyīm Tē-khu Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC dê-kṳ̆
Tibetan name
Tibetan	ས་ཁུལ།
Transcriptions Wylie sa khul Tibetan Pinyin sakü
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	Địa khu
Zhuang name
Zhuang	Dagih
Korean name
Hangul	지구
Transcriptions Revised Romanization jigu McCune–Reischauer chigu
Mongolian name
Mongolian Cyrillic	дугарг
Mongolian script	ᠲᠣᠭᠣᠷᠢᠭ
Transcriptions SASM/GNC toɣoriɣ
Uyghur name
Uyghur	ۋىلايەت‎
Transcriptions Latin Yëziqi wilayét Siril Yëziqi вилайәт
Manchu name
Manchu script	ᡳ ᠪᠠ
Möllendorff	i'ba
Kazakh name
Kazakh	ايماق аймақ aimaq
Kyrgyz name
Kyrgyz	ايماق аймак ajmaq

The term "prefecture" is also used as a translation of three unrelated types of administrative divisions that were historically in use in China: the xian, the zhou, and the fu.

Modern prefectures

Prefectures are administrative subdivisions of provincial-level divisions. The constitution of the People's Republic of China does not endorse any prefecture-level division, except for autonomous prefectures. Prefectures and leagues are not at all mentioned; provinces are explicitly stated to be divided directly into counties.

The administrative commission (Chinese: 行政公署; pinyin: xíngzhèng gōngshǔ) is an administrative branch office with the rank of a national ministerial department (司级) and dispatched by the higher-level provincial government. The leader of the prefecture government, titled as prefectural administrative commissioner (行政公署专员; xíngzhèng gōngshǔ zhūanyūan), is appointed by the provincial government. Instead of local people's congresses, the prefecture's working commission of the standing committee of the provincial people's congress is dispatched and supervises the prefecture governments but can not elect or dismiss prefecture governments. The prefecture's working committee of the provincial committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPCC) is a part of the prefecture's committee of the CPPCC. This means that the prefecture's working committee of the CPPCC is a branch of the provincial committee of the CPPCC, not an individual society entity. The same is valid for provincial CPPCCs, which are formally sections of the national CPPCC.

The term "prefecture" derives from the former circuit, which was a level between provinces and the counties during the Qing dynasty. In 1928, the government of the Republic of China abolished circuits and provinces began to administer counties directly; however, this reform was soon found unfeasible because some provinces had hundreds of counties. Consequently, in 1932, provinces were again subdivided into several prefectures, and regional administrative offices were set up.

List of prefectures

Name	Chinese	Provincial-level region	Population (2010)	Area (km2)	Prefecture seat
Daxing'anling Prefecture	大兴安岭地区	Heilongjiang	511,564	46,755	Jiagedaqi District (de facto); Mohe city (de jure)
Ngari Prefecture	阿里地区	Tibet	95,465	304,683	Sênggêzangbo town, Gar County
Altay Prefecture	阿勒泰地区	Xinjiang	603,280	117,988	Altay city
Tacheng Prefecture	塔城地区	Xinjiang	1,219,212	94,891	Tacheng city
Kashgar Prefecture	喀什地区	Xinjiang	3,979,362	112,058	Kashgar city
Aksu Prefecture	阿克苏地区	Xinjiang	2,370,887	128,099	Aksu city
Hotan Prefecture	和田地区	Xinjiang	2,014,365	248,946	Hotan city

Historical prefectures

In general the word "prefecture" is applied to xian for the period before the Sui and Tang dynasties; for the period after, xian are called "districts" or "counties", while "prefectures" refer to zhou and fu.

Xian

See also: Counties of the People's Republic of China

Xian (县/縣) were first established during the Warring States period, and have existed continuously ever since. Today, they continue to form an important part of the political divisions of China.

Xian has been translated using several English language terms. In the context of ancient history, "district" and "prefecture" are the most commonly used terms, while "county" is generally used for more contemporary contexts.

Zhou

Main article: Zhou (country subdivision)

Zhou (州) were first established during the Han dynasty, and were abolished only with the establishment of the Republic of China.

Zhou is generally translated as "province" or "region" for the period before the Sui dynasty, and "prefecture" for the period from the Sui dynasty onwards.

The People's Republic of China has revived the word zhou as part of the term "zizhizhou" (自治州), which is translated as "autonomous prefectures", as described above.

Fu

Main articles: Fu (administrative division) and List of fu prefectures of China

Fu (府) were first established during the Tang dynasty, and were also abolished with the establishment of the Republic of China.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, the term was mainly applied to prefectures with major urban centers. For this period, it is often translated as "urban prefecture" or "superior prefecture". Later, however, most first-level prefectures under provinces would become known as fu.

See also

• Administrative divisions of China
• Prefecture-level divisions of China

• Prefecture-level city
• Leagues in China
• Autonomous prefecture