China Ethnic Groups

China is a large country noted for its dense population and vast territory. There are 55 minority ethnic groups in addition to the Han who represent 92% of the population. The defining elements of an ethnic group are language, homeland, and social values. 53 minority ethnic groups use spoken languages of their own; 23 minority ethnic groups have their own written languages. Equality, unity and common prosperity are the fundamental objectives of the government in handling the relations between minority ethnic groups. China exercises a policy of regional autonomy for various minority ethnic groups, allowing minority group people living in compact communities to establish self-government and direct their own affairs.

1. The Achang ethnic group has a population of 33,936 (in 2000), gathering mainly in Longchuan, Lianghe, Luxi and Ruili counties in Dehong Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in south-western Yunnan Province.
2. The Bai ethnic group has a population of around 2 million, 90 percent of which live in the Bai Autonomous County west of Yunnan Province.
   
3. The Blang people, with a population of about 91,882 (in 2000), live mainly in the Mt. Blang, Xiding, Bada and Daluo areas of Menghai County in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in south-western Yunnan Province. 
   
4. The Bonan ethnic group is one of China's smallest ethnic groups. With a population of about 16,000, they mainly cluster in the area around Mt. Jishishan and Linxia County, southwest of Gansu Province. 
5. The Bouyei (also Buyi) people, with a population of 2,971,460 (in 2000), are mainly scattered in the Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefectures in south Guizhou and Anshun.
6.  The Dongxiang ethnic group, numbering about 380,000 in total, can be found mainly in Dongxiang Autonomous County of Gansu province with the remainder scattered in Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang provinces. 
7.  The Dulong (also known as Drung) ethnic group is one of the smallest ethnic groups in China. With a total population of about 5,816, the Dulongs mainly live in the Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County in north-western Yunnan Province. 
8.  The Ewenki ethnic group has a population of 30,505 (in the year 2000) that is sparsely distributed across seven banners (counties) in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and in Nahe County in Heilongjiang Province. 
9.  The Gelao people refer to themselves as "Ling" or "Jin". Their ancestors can be traced back to the Liao people who lived in Guizhou Province about 2000 years ago. 
10.  The Hani  ethnic group, with a population of 1,424,990, is one of the many unique tribes in Yunnan Province. 
11.  With a population of 4,640, the Hezhen people mainly live in the Tongjiang, Fuyuan and Raohe counties by the rivers of Songhua, Heilongjiang and Wusuli in China's northeastern Heilongjiang Province. 
12.  The Hui ethnic group, with a total population of about 643,238 is one of China's largest ethnic groups. The largest residential area is the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. 
13.  The Jingpo ethnic group has a population of about 132,000 (in 2000) people. They are concentrated in the Dehong Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province in southeastern China. 
14.  The Jino ethnic group, with a total population of 20,899 (in 2000), resides primarily in Jinghong County of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province.
15.  With a population of 1,250,458, the Kazak ethnic group is distributed mainly in the Xinjiang Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture, Mori and Barkol Kazak autonomous counties. 
16. The Kirgiz ethnic group, with a total population of 160,823, is scattered throughout the southwest of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. 
17. The Lahu trace their ancestry back to the ancient Qiang people, who immigrated to present day northern Yunnan from northwestern China early in the third century AD. 
18. The Li ethnic group, with a population of 1,247,814, mainly reside in Hainan Province, China's second largest island after Taiwan. 
19. The Lisu, with a population of 634,912, mainly live in concentrated communities in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province.
20.  The Manchu, with a population of 10,682,263 (in 2000), are mainly distributed in Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, of which Liaoning has the most Manchus. 
21.  The Miao ethnic group has a population of 8,940,116, mainly scattered in Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hubei and Hainan provinces. 
22.  Reputed as "pearl in the grassland", the Mongolian have kept their nomadic living style for hundreds of years. "Mongolian" originally was the name of one of the Mongolian tribes. 
23.  Naxi (also spelled Nakhi or Nahi) mainly live in concentrated communities in the Naxi Autonomous County of Lijing in Yunnan Province. 
24.  The Nu is an ancient tribe that originally lived on the banks of the Nu and Lancang Rivers.
25.  The Oroqen ethnic group is one of the ancient ethnic groups in north China. Oroqen, means "people living on the mountain" or "people using reindeer". 
26.  The name Ozbek first originated from the Ozbek Khan, one of the local rulers under the Mongol Empire in the 14th century. 
27.  The ancestors of Pumi were a nomadic tribe living in the southern part of Gansu Province and the eastern part of Qinghai Province.
28.  The Qiang ethnic group is one of the oldest tribes in China. They mostly inhabit hilly to mountainous areas of the Maowen County in the Aba_Tibetan Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in western Sichuan Province. 
29.  The Russian  in China are the offspring of immigrants from Tsarist Russia. Many of their ancestors migrated to border cities in China's northwest at the end of the 19th century.
30.  The ancestors of the Salar people were the Samarkand people who migrated from central Asia to China during the Yuan Dynasty (1271AD-1368AD). 
31.  Early in the Tang Dynasty, people of She nationality began to settle in the joint area of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces. 
32.  The Tajik  language belongs to the Iranian Austronesian, Indo-European languages Phylum. Most of the people in China speak the Sekule language whereas a few of them speak the Waihan language. 
33.  The Tatar, historically named the "Dadan", are descended from a branch of a Mongolian tribe, who used to inhabit the region near the Volga River.  
34.  Tibetan is an old nationality in China who is mainly distributed in the "Tibet Autonomous Region", Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.
35.  The Tu call themselves "Mongguer", "Chahan Mongguer", and other names. There are different versions regarding the origin of the Tus, but most people believe that the Tus evolved from the Tuguhun people in ancient times. 
36.  The Tujia  people called themselves "Bizika", which means "native dwellers". Although their name suggests that they are natives, their exact origin is still uncertain. 
37.  The Uigur have lived at the foot of Mt. Tianshan for several centuries. They used to colonize in the north and northwest region of China before migrating to the Western Regions (present Xinjiang). 
38.  The Wa people have a unique spoken language, which belongs to the Austroasiatic family. 
39.  Originating from different geographical and historical backgrounds, the Xibe people in the northeast and northwest have developed vastly.
40.  The Yao ethnic group consists of hundreds of smaller ethnic subgroups. It is estimated that are about 300 Yao subgroups living in China, with differing traditional costumes and dialects. 
41.  The ancestors of the Yi  ethnic group can be traced back to the Qiang people living in northwest China. They later migrated south and joined the local southwest aboriginal and created a new group. 
42.  The Yugur originated from the Huihe people who were nomads around the Erhui River during the Tang Dynasty. 
43.  The ancestors of the Zhuang were a branch of the ancient "Baiyue" people, who lived in south China. 
    

 

Han Ethnic Group

Han ethnic group makes up 92 percent of the total population. According to the 1995 sample survey of 1 percent of China's population, there were 1.09932 billion Han people (an increase of 56.84 million since the Fourth National Population Census of 1990), accounting for 91.96 percent of China's total population. Han people are found in all parts of the country, but mainly in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River (Huanghe), Yangtze River (Changjiang), Pearl River (Zhujiang) and the Northeast Plain.

The Han people has its own spoken and written language, known as the Chinese language, which is commonly used throughout China and is the working language of the United Nations. The Hui and Manchu minority ethnic groups also use the Han (Chinese) language.

Document: China Tour 360