China is divided into 23 provinces, 4 municipalities and 5 自治區. These represent the highest administrative divisions in China after that of the central government.
Autonomous regions were set up in China in the 1950s in provinces where the majority of the populations belong to a minority nationality. The government of an autonomous region must be led by a member of the most numerous nationality and the region possesses a certain amount of autonomy in matters of local administration.