A brief in Chinese Minorities

There are altogether 56 peoples in China, among which 55 are officially recognized ethnic minorities except Han. The defining elements of a minority are language, homeland, and social values. The 53 ethnic groups use the spoken languages of their own; 23 ethnic minorities have their own written languages.

All nationalities in China are equal, as stipulated by the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China. They take part in the administration of state affairs as equals, irrespective of their numbers or the size of areas they inhabit. every minority nationality is represented in the National People’s Congress, which is the highest organ of state power of the People’s Republic of China.

Equality, unity and common prosperity are the fundamental objectives of the government in handling the relations between ethnic groups. China exercises a policy of regional autonomy for various ethnic groups, allowing ethnic group sliving in compact communities to establish self-government and direct their own affairs.

In most of China’s cities and country town, 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 continued 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.