China is a united multi-ethnic nation of 56 ethnic
groups. According to the fourth national census, taken in
1990, the Han people made up 91.96 percent of the
country’s total population, and the other 55 ethnic
groups, 8.04 percent. As the majority of the population is
of the Han ethnic group, China’s other ethnic groups
are customarily referred to as the national minorities.
The Han people can be found throughout the
country, though mainly on the middle and lower reaches of
the Yellow River, the Yangtze River and the Pearl River
valleys, and the Northeast Plain. The national minorities,
though fewer in number, are also scattered over a vast area
(see the attached table, and can be found in approximately
64.3 percent of China, mainly distributed in the border
regions from northeast China to north, northwest
and southwest China. Yunnan Province, home to more than 20
ethnic groups, has the greatest diversity of minority
peoples in China. In most of China’s cities and county
towns, two or more ethnic groups live together. Taking shape
over China’s long history, this circumstance of
different ethnic groups “living together in one area
while still living in individual compact communities in
special areas” continues to provide the practical
basis for political, economic and cultural intercourse
between the Han and the various minority peoples, and for
the functioning of the autonomous national minority areas
system.
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