List of ethnic groups in China explained

The Han people are the largest ethnic group in mainland China. In 2010, 91.51% of the population were classified as Han (~1.2 billion).^[1] Besides the Han Chinese majority, 55 other ethnic (minority) groups are categorized in present-day China, numbering approximately 105 million people (8%), mostly concentrated in the bordering northwest, north, northeast, south and southwest but with some in central interior areas.

The major ethnic minorities in China are the Zhuang (19.6 million), Hui (11.4 million), Uyghurs (11 million), Miao (11 million), Manchus (10.4 million), Yi (9.8 million), Tujia (9.6 million), Tibetans (7 million), Mongols (6.3 million), Buyei (3.5 million), Dong (3.5 million), Yao (3.3 million), Bai (2 million), Koreans (1.7 million), Hani (1.7 million), Li (1.6 million), Kazakhs (1.5 million), and Dai (1.2 million).^[2] At least 126,000 people from Canada, the United States, and Europe are living in mainland China.^[3] In addition, there are a number of unrecognized ethnic groups which together comprise over 730,000 people.

Officially recognized groups

Officially recognized ethnic groups receive or have received certain benefits over Han Chinese under the regional ethnic autonomy system, including affirmative action, exemptions from the one-child policy, designated seats in political organs and government support to preserve their culture. Ethnic minority autonomous areas receive additional state subsidies.^[4] ^[5] Languages of officially recognized minorities are used in official government documents.^[6]

Soon after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, 39 ethnic groups were recognized by the first national census in 1954. This further increased to 54 by the second national census in 1964, with the Lhoba group added in 1965. The last change was the addition of the Jino people in 1979, bringing the number of recognized ethnic groups to the current 56. The following are the 56 ethnic groups (listed by population) officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.^[7]

		^A
Han¹	Han	HA	Chinese: [[:zh:汉族\|汉族]]	Chinese: Hànzú	91.1098%	1,284,446,389	1,220,844,520	1,139,773,008	1,042,482,187	1954
Zhuang	Zhuang	ZH	Chinese: [[:zh:壮族\|壮族]]	Chinese: Zhuàngzú	1.3801%	19,568,546	16,926,381	16,187,163	15,489,630	1954
Uyghur	Uygur	UG	Chinese: [[:zh:维吾尔族\|维吾尔族]]	Chinese: Wéiwú'ěrzú	0.8352%	11,774,538	10,069,346	8,405,416	7,214,431	1954
Hui²	Hui	HU	Chinese: [[:zh:回族\|回族]]	Chinese: Huízú	0.8070%	11,377,914	10,586,087	9,828,126	8,602,978	1954
Miao³	Miao	MH	Chinese: [[:zh:苗族\|苗族]]	Chinese: Miáozú	0.7851%	11,067,929	9,426,007	8,945,538	7,398,035	1954
Manchu	Man	MA	Chinese: [[:zh:满族\|满族]]	Chinese: Mǎnzú	0.7394%	10,423,303	10,387,958	10,708,464	9,821,180	1954
Yi	Yi	YI	Chinese: [[:zh:彝族\|彝族]]	Chinese: Yízú	0.6973%	9,830,327	8,714,393	7,765,858	6,572,173	1954
Tujia	Tujia	TJ	Chinese: [[:zh:土家族\|土家族]]	Chinese: Tǔjiāzú	0.6801%	9,587,732	8,353,912	8,037,014	5,704,223	1964
Tibetan⁴	Zang	ZA	Chinese: [[:zh:藏族\|藏族]]	Chinese: Zàngzú	0.5008%	7,060,731	6,282,187	5,422,954	4,593,330	1954
Mongol	Mongol	MG	Chinese: [[:zh:中国蒙古族\|蒙古族]]	Chinese: Měnggǔzú	0.4461%	6,290,204	5,981,840	5,827,808	4,806,849	1954
Bouyei	Bouyei	BY	Chinese: [[:zh:布依族\|布依族]]	Chinese: Bùyīzú	0.2537%	3,576,752	2,870,034	2,973,217	2,545,059	1954
Dong⁵	Dong	DO	Chinese: [[:zh:侗族\|侗族]]	Chinese: Dòngzú	0.2480%	3,495,993	2,879,974	2,962,911	2,514,014	1954
Yao	Yao	YA	Chinese: [[:zh:瑶族\|瑶族]]	Chinese: Yáozú	0.2347%	3,309,341	2,796,003	2,638,878	2,134,013	1954
Bai	Bai	BA	Chinese: [[:zh:白族\|白族]]	Chinese: Báizú	0.1484%	2,091,543	1,933,510	1,861,895	1,594,827	1954
Hani⁶	Hani	HN	Chinese: [[:zh:哈尼族\|哈尼族]]	Chinese: Hānízú	0.1229%	1,733,166	1,660,932	1,440,029	1,253,952	1954
Korean	Chosŏn	CS	Chinese: [[:zh:中国朝鲜族\|朝鲜族]]	Chinese: Cháoxiǎnzú	0.1207%	1,702,479	1,830,929	1,929,696	1,920,597	1954
Li	Li	LI	Chinese: [[:zh:黎族\|黎族]]	Chinese: Lízú	0.1136%	1,602,104	1,463,064	1,248,022	1,110,900	1954
Kazakh	Kazak	KZ	Chinese: [[:zh:哈萨克族\|哈萨克族]]	Chinese: Hāsàkèzú	0.1108%	1,562,518	1,462,588	1,248,022	1,110,900	1954
Dai⁷	Dai	DA	Chinese: [[:zh:傣族\|傣族]]	Chinese: Dǎizú	0.0943%	1,329,985	1,261,311	1,159,231	1,025,128	1954
Lisu	Lisu	LS	Chinese: [[:zh:傈僳族\|傈僳族]]	Chinese: Lìsùzú	0.0541%	762,296	702,839	635,101	574,856	1954
She	She	SH	Chinese: [[:zh:畲族\|畲族]]	Chinese: Shēzú	0.0529%	746,385	708,651	710,039	630,378	1964
Dongxiang	Dongxiang	DX	Chinese: [[:zh:东乡族\|东乡族]]	Chinese: Dōngxiāngzú	0.0550%	774,947	621,500	513,826	373,872	1954
Gelao	Gelao	GL	Chinese: [[:zh:仡佬族\|仡佬族]]	Chinese: Gēlǎozú	0.0481%	677,521	550,746	579,744	437,997	1964
Lahu	Lahu	LH	Chinese: [[:zh:拉祜族\|拉祜族]]	Chinese: Lāhùzú	0.0354%	499,167	485,966	453,765	411,476	1954
Sui	Sui	SU	Chinese: [[:zh:水族\|水族]]	Chinese: Shuǐzú	0.0352%	495,928	411,847	407,000	345,993	1954
Wa	Wa	WA	Chinese: [[:zh:佤族\|佤族]]	Chinese: Wǎzú	0.0306%	430,997	429,709	396,709	351,974	1954
Nakhi⁸	Naxi	NX	Chinese: [[:zh:纳西族\|纳西族]]	Chinese: Nàxīzú	0.0230%	323,767	326,295	309,477	278,009	1954
Qiang	Qiang	QI	Chinese: [[:zh:羌族\|羌族]]	Chinese: Qiāngzú	0.0222%	312,981	309,576	306,476	198,252	1954
Tu	Tu	TU	Chinese: [[:zh:土族\|土族]]	Chinese: Tǔzú	0.0200%	281,928	289,565	241,593	191,624	1954
Mulao⁹	Mulao	ML	Chinese: [[:zh:仫佬族\|仫佬族]]	Chinese: Mùlǎozú	0.0197%	277,233	216,257	207,464	159,328	1964
Kyrgyz	Kirgiz	KG	Chinese: [[:zh:柯尔克孜族\|柯尔克孜族]]	Chinese: Kē'ěrkèzīzú	0.0145%	204,402	186,708	160,875	141,549	1954
Xibe	Xibe	XB	Chinese: [[:zh:锡伯族\|锡伯族]]	Chinese: Xībózú	0.0136%	191,911	190,481	189,357	172,847	1954
Salar	Salar	SL	Chinese: [[:zh:撒拉族\|撒拉族]]	Chinese: Sālāzú	0.0117%	165,159	130,607	104,521	87,697	1954
Jingpo¹⁰	Jingpo	JP	Chinese: [[:zh:景颇族\|景颇族]]	Chinese: Jǐngpōzú	0.0114%	160,471	147,828	132,158	119,209	1954
Daur	Daur	DU	Chinese: [[:zh:达斡尔族\|达斡尔族]]	Chinese: Dáwò'ěrzú	0.0094%	132,299	131,992	132,747	121,357	1964
Blang	Blang	BL	Chinese: [[:zh:布朗族\|布朗族]]	Chinese: Bùlǎngzú	0.0090%	127,345	119,639	91,891	82,280	1964
Maonan¹¹	Maonan	MN	Chinese: [[:zh:毛南族\|毛南族]]	Chinese: Máonánzú	0.0088%	124,092	101,192	107,184	71,968	1964
Tajik¹²	Tajik	TA	Chinese: [[:zh:中国塔吉克族\|塔吉克族]]	Chinese: Tǎjíkèzú	0.0036%	50,896	51,069	41,056	33,538	1954
Pumi	Pumi	PM	Chinese: [[:zh:普米族\|普米族]]	Chinese: Pǔmǐzú	0.0032%	45,012	42,861	33,628	29,657	1964
Achang	Achang	AC	Chinese: [[:zh:阿昌族\|阿昌族]]	Chinese: Āchāngzú	0.0031%	43,775	39,555	33,954	27,708	1964
Nu	Nu	NU	Chinese: [[:zh:怒族\|怒族]]	Chinese: Nùzú	0.0026%	36,575	37,523	28,770	27,123	1964
Evenki	Ewenki	EW	Chinese: [[:zh:鄂温克族\|鄂温克族]]	Chinese: Èwēnkèzú	0.0025%	34,617	30,875	30,545	26,315	1954
Vietnamese¹³	Gin	GI	Chinese: [[:zh:京族\|京族]]	Chinese: Jīngzú	0.0024%	33,112	28,199	22,584	18,915	1964
Jino	Jino	JN	Chinese: [[:zh:基诺族\|基诺族]]	Chinese: Jīnuòzú	0.0018%	26,025	23,143	20,899	18,021	1979
Bonan	Bonan	BO	Chinese: [[:zh:保安族\|保安族]]	Chinese: Bǎo'ānzú	0.0017%	24,434	20,074	16,505	12,212	1954
De'ang¹⁴	Deang	DE	Chinese: [[:zh:德昂族\|德昂族]]	Chinese: Dé'ángzú	0.0016%	22,354	20,556	17,935	15,462	1964
Russian	Russ	RS	Chinese: [[:zh:中国俄罗斯族\|俄罗斯族]]	Chinese: Éluósīzú	0.0011%	16,136	15,393	15,631	13,504	1954
Yugur	Yugur	YG	Chinese: [[:zh:裕固族\|裕固族]]	Chinese: Yùgùzú	0.0010%	14,706	14,378	13,747	12,297	1954
Uzbek	Uzbek	UZ	Chinese: [[:zh:乌孜别克族\|乌孜别克族]]	Chinese: Wūzībiékèzú	0.0009%	12,742	10,569	12,423	14,502	1954
Monba	Monba	MB	Chinese: [[:zh:门巴族\|门巴族]]	Chinese: Ménbāzú	0.0008%	11,143	10,561	8,928	7,475	1964
Oroqen	Oroqen	OR	Chinese: [[:zh:鄂伦春族\|鄂伦春族]]	Chinese: Èlúnchūnzú	0.0007%	9,168	8,659	8,216	6,965	1954
Derung	Derung	DR	Chinese: [[:zh:独龙族\|独龙族]]	Chinese: Dúlóngzú	0.0005%	7,310	6,930	7,431	5,816	1964
Hezhen¹⁵	Hezhen	HZ	Chinese: [[:zh:赫哲族\|赫哲族]]	Chinese: Hèzhézú	0.0004%	5,373	5,354	4,664	4,245	1964
Lhoba	Lhoba	LB	Chinese: [[:zh:珞巴族\|珞巴族]]	Chinese: Luòbāzú	0.0003%	4,237	3,682	2,970	2,312	1965
Tatars	Tatar	TT	Chinese: [[:zh:塔塔尔族\|塔塔尔族]]	Chinese: Tǎtǎ'ěrzú	0.0003%	3,544	3,556	4,895	4,873	1954
Gaoshan¹⁶	Gaoshan	GS	Chinese: [[:zh:高山族\|高山族]]	Chinese: Gāoshānzú	0.0002%	3,479	4,009	4,488	2,909	1954
Undistinguished	—	none	Chinese: [[:zh:中国未识别民族\|未识别民族]]	Chinese: Wèi Shìbié Mínzú	0.0593%	836,488	640,101	734,438	749,341	—
Naturalized Citizen	—	none	Chinese: 外国人加入中国籍	Chinese: Wàiguórén Jiārù Zhōngguójí	0.0012%	16,595	1,448	941	3,421	—

^AGB 3304－91 "Names of ethnicities of China in romanization with codes";^[8]
^BThe population only includes mainland China;
^CFor ethnic groups officially recognised in 1964 or earlier, this is the year of first inclusion in the national census, which were in 1954^[9] and 1964;^[10]
¹Also included are the Chuanqing;
²Also includes Utsuls of Hainan, descended from Cham refugees;
³One subset of which is also known as Hmong and other include Hmu, Xong and A-Hmao. Some of the related languages and groups of peoples are not necessarily classified under the Miao umbrella, which makes this term somewhat vague;
⁴including Amdowa and Khampa, as well as roughly half of Pumi speakers, the remainder of whom are classified as a separate Pumi ethnicity;
⁵Also known as Kam;
⁶Also included are the Sangkong;
⁷This category includes several different Tai-speaking groups historically referred to as Bai-yi. In fact, the Dai nationality consists of speakers of varieties of Shan languages. For instance, the Tai Lue and Tai Nuea peoples are actually subgroups of the Shan people. Despite this, speakers of Bumang are also included in the Dai nationality;
⁸Also included are the Mosuo;
⁹Also included are the Qago (Chinese: [[:zh:木佬人|木佬人]]);
¹⁰Known as Kachin in Myanmar;
¹¹Also included are the Then;
¹²They are not Tajik people but Pamiri people;
¹³The same group as Vietnamese or Kinh people in Sino-Vietnamese;
¹⁴Known as Palaung in Myanmar;
¹⁵The same group as Nanai on the Russian side of the border;
¹⁶A collective name for all Taiwanese aborigine groups in Taiwan. In fact, the numbers of Gaoshan in census covers only those who lives in mainland China (mainly in Fujian) and consists of Amis (autonym: Pangcah), Paiwan and Bunun peoples.

Taiwanese aborigines

The People's Republic of China government officially refers to all Taiwanese aborigines as Gaoshan, whereas the Republic of China (Taiwan) recognizes 16 groups of Taiwanese aborigines.^[11] The term Gaoshan has a different connotation in Taiwan than it does in mainland China.

Unlisted ethnic groups

See main article: Unrecognized ethnic groups in China. The following ethnic groups living in China are not recognized by the Chinese government:

Äynu people – classified as Uyghurs
Altai people – classified as Mongols^[12]
Fuyu Kyrgyz people – classified as Kyrgyz
Gejia people – classified as Miao
Bajia
Deng people
Hu people – classified as Bulang
Khmu people – classified as Bulang
Kucong
Mảng people
Ili Turk people – classified as Uzbek
Sherpa people – classified as Tibetan
Tanka people, including Fuzhou Tanka
Tebbu people
Tuvans – classified as Mongols^[13]
Waxiang people
Jewish people
Macanese people, mixed race Catholic Portuguese speakers who lived in Macau since 16th century of various ethnic origins
Utsuls – classified as Hui

During the Fifth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China held in 2000, 734,438 people on the mainland were recorded as belonging to "undistinguished ethnic groups"—of these, 97% resided in Guizhou, .^[14]

Hong Kong and Macau

Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions within China. The governments of Hong Kong and Macau do not use the official PRC ethnic classification system, nor does the PRC's official classification system take ethnic groups in Hong Kong and Macau into account. Minority groups such as Western Europeans (mainly English and Portuguese), and Southern or Southeastern Asians (mainly Filipinos, Indians, Indonesians, Nepalese, and Pakistanis) live in Hong Kong.^[15] Macau's main ethnic groups are of Chinese and Portuguese descent, but other ethnicities also live in the territory.^[16]

External links

"Chinese ethnic odyssey" - collection of articles from the People's Daily
Family album of Chinese 56 ethnic groups
nytimes.com
Map share of ethnic by county of China
Map share of dominate ethnic by county of China

Notes and References

Web site: Han Chinese proportion in China's population drops: census data . 28 April 2011 . Xinhua News (English) . 1 September 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160711022113/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-04/28/c_13849933.htm . 11 July 2016.
Web site: index . www.stats.gov.cn.
Web site: Expats in China: Nationalities and in which cities they settle.
Web site: Jarmuth . Anna . 2020-09-22 . Ethnic Minorities and the Fight against Poverty in China: The Case of Yunnan . 2023-10-19 . Institute for Security and Development Policy . en.
Web site: Lai . Hongyi . China's Ethnic Policies and Challenges .
Web site: White Paper 1999: Ethnic Minorities Policy in China . 2023-10-19 . un.china-mission.gov.cn.
胡鸿保 . 张丽梅 . zh:民族识别原则的变化与民族人口 . zh . Changes in Ethnic Identification Principles and Ethnic Population . Southwest University for Nationalities University Press . 2009 . 4 .
GB 3304－91 Names of nationalities of China in romanization with codes .
[First National Population Census of the People's Republic of China]
[Second National Population Census of the People's Republic of China]
News: Gov't officially recognizes two more aboriginal people groups. 13 December 2014. China Post. CNA. 27 June 2014. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20141111100305/http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2014/06/27/411066/Govt-officially.htm. 11 November 2014.
Encyclopedia: Olson . James S. . James S. Olson . Altai . An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of China . 9–11 . Westport, Conn . Greenwood Press . 1998 . 0-313-28853-4.
Mongush . M. V. . Tuvans of Mongolia and China . International Journal of Central Asian Studies . 225–243 . 1996 . 1.
http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/renkoupucha/2000pucha/html/t0106.htm 第五次人口普查数据(2000年). 表1—6. 省、自治区、直辖市分性别、民族的人口
Book: Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Hong Kong . 59–274. Routledge. Ethnic Minorities and Ethnicity in Hong Kong. Paul O'Connor. 9780367580605. 2018.
Web site: THE 'ETHNIC' COMPOSITION OF MACAO. João de Pina Cabral. Cultural Bureau of Macau. en. 2023-11-29.