China's Ethnic Minorities

China officially registers 56 ethnic groups. The ethnic Chinese, known as the Han Chinese, compose 93 percent of the population. Han Chinese speak seven languages, with Mandarin or Putonghua - which means "common speech" -- being the official and most-used. Cantonese, which is spoken in Hong Kong and in China's other southern provinces, is the second most popular. Most of the 55 other ethnic groups use their own languages.

China's minorities account for a small 7 percent of the entire population. They live along the country's borders and some of them live on both sides.

China has five Autonomous Regions for its minorities: Guangxi, Xinjiang, Tibet,Inner Mongolia and Ningxia.

Chinese has high numbers of Chinese troops stationed in Tibet, Xinjiang and along the border provinces. The Western powers have attempted many times to separate these areas from China ever since early 19th Century. The independent groups are based in USA and supported mainly by the American political parties.

China was ruled by Han most of the time in the past except in Yuen Dynasty that Mongols ruled for less than 100 years and in Qing Dynasty, Manchuria ruled for almost 300 years. China's boundary today was solidified in early Qing Dynasty in early 17th Century.

China is a multi-culture and multi-disciplined society for a few thousand years. All minorities in China today have the equal right as Han Chinese. Since minorities reside in the remote area and usually poor, Chinese government has preference policy to provide training for the minorities to progress, govern and manage. 

Chinese would like to enjoy the peaceful environment and definitely can accommodate all religions and nationalities if there is no foreign interference.

Analysis of Fertility and Mortality Data                    Chinese language and dialects 

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