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A now dated source indicates that China consisted of 35 provinces, not counting Outer Mongolia and Tibet. Presumably the number of provinces in modern China may now be different. The term "China Proper" is generally applied to the 18 densely populated ethnic Han provinces which comprise southeastern China. This
includes Taiwan which returned to Chinese control in 1945 after 50 years of Japanese occupation. Taiwan is currently governed by the democratically elected government that evolved from the Nationalist regime defeated by the Communists on the mainland (1949). The term 'Outer China' is applied to the outlying northern and western regions of China. These areas exceed the Area of China proper, but are sparsely populated--with only about 10 percent of China's total population. In addition, in many of the western provinces the ethnic Han population is a minority. These provinces include Jehol, Manchuria, Inner-Mongolia, Sinkiang, Chinhai, and Sikang. A great symbol of the Chinese cultural sphere was once the Great Wall which now is well within China's borders, extending 1,250 miles from the western Asiatic deserts to the Pacific coast. China seized control of Tibet in 1956, but this is not recognized by many other countries. Hong Kong was a small colonial remnant, one of the Treaty ports, most of which were reclaimed by the Chinese Nationalists (1920s). Hong Kong even survived the Communist Revolution--for a time. This is interesting because capitalism there was an early indication of what free markets could do for China, becoming one of the Asian Tigers. The two last European enclaves (Hong Kong and Macao) returned to Chinese rule in 1997. And today Hong Kong has a degree of democracy the CPC Communist mandarins in Beijing found find very troubling. So the CPC destroyed the last vestiges of democracy (2020). China is officially divided into 34 provincial-level administrative divisions, which include 22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, and 2 special administrative regions (SARs). Geographically, these are commonly grouped into seven distinct regions:East China: Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Shandong.North China: Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia.Northeast China: Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning.Northwest China: Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang.South China: Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macau.Southwest China: Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Tibet. Central China: Henan, Hubei, and Hunan.
East China today includes: Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Shandong. This is the location of the 'Warring Kingdoms', refering to an era of ancient Chinese history (475–221 BC) characterized by the intense conflict of seven rival states before their unification under the Qin Dynasty. These states were basiucaly ancient China.. What historians eefer to a 'modern era of the warring kingdoms', They are usually comparing that ancient dynamic to the geopolitical map of modern-day Central and East China which is shaped by the descendants of those ancient states.
Northern China today includes Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia. The northern part of Inner Mongolia used to be part of what was called Manchuria.
Northwest China today includes Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning. This is roghly what used to be called Manchuria. That term is nolonger used in China. The nothern part of present vday Inner-Mongolia also ised go be part of Manchuria. The area is considered bygeographers to be the easternmost part of the Eurasian Steppe, specifically as part of the Mongolian-Manchurian grassland (or Eastern Steppe). Manchuria is a historical region in Northeast Asia that primarily corresponds to modern-day Northeast China (comprising the provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang) and stretches into portions of the Russian Far East, most of which China claims. Tsarist Russia only achiebed control of as a result of what the Chinese claim were unequal treaties. Manchuria is historically the ancestral homeland of the Manchu people--historic enenies of the Han Chinese. Manchuria is referred to by the Dōngběi (The Northeast) Manchuria features the vast, fertile Northeast Plain enclosed by the Greater Khingan and Lesser Khingan mountains, and experiences a humid continental climate with extreme winters and short, hot summers. The vast Steppe grasslands gave rise to barbarian tribes who mastered herds of horses. Over time they raided into China which led to the construction of the Great Wall. The latest of those tribes were the Manchu. The Manchu was the origin of the Qing Dynasty which replaced the Ming (17th century). The Manchu imperial regime were a dominate power until Europan industrializatiob changed the world power dynamics. China's decline created a major geopolitical flashpoint and a battleground of imperial expansion. In the north, both Russia and Japan sought to control Manchuria, a rich and strategically vital region. Tsarist Russia seized large areas of Manchuria. Imperial Japan fought Russia (1904-05) and then invaded and seized most of Manchuria (1931). While the majority of the region is today part of China. China had to cede Outer Manchuria (the Russian Far East) to the Tsaristv Empire in (mid-19th century) through unequal treaties and includes today includes cities like Vladivostok and Khabarovsk. The border makes a huge difference Chinese Manchuria is densly populated. The Russia Far East is thinly populated. Today Manchuria includes a fertile agricultural basin producing massive yields of soybeans and corn-both foreign import crops. It is also a highly industrialized region rich in coal, iron, oil, and timber. The industrialization of the region was largely begun by the Japanese who invaded and nd established the puppet state of Manchukuo (1931-45). Manchuria like much of the restof China faces a severe water problem. The age old severe seasonal water scarcity and intense monsoonal flooding dynamic is being strained by climate change, agriculture, and industrial use. As in the rest of China. Manchuria's vital rivers and groundwater aquifers face profound management challenges. And unlike central China brining water from the south is not feasible.
Northwest China today includes Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang.
Central China today includes Henan, Hubei, and Hunan. This is the location of the 'Warring Kingdoms', referingbs to an era of ancient Chinese history (475–221 BC) characterized by the intense conflict of seven rival states before their unification under the Qin Dynasty. These states were basiucaly ancient China--what histortians refer to a 'modern era of the warring kingdoms'. They are usually comparing that ancient dynamic to the geopolitical map of modern-day Central and East East China which is shaped by the descendants of those ancient states.
South China today includes Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Southwest China today includes Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Tibet. Tibet of course was hisorically separate from China and many countries do not recogize Chinese control of Tibet.
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