The territory of the People's Republic of China is administratively and politically divided into several levels. The highest level is composed of provinces. Below provinces are prefectures, autonomous prefectures, cities (at district and county levels), counties, autonomous counties, banners, autonomous banners, townships, and ethnic townships.
China is divided into 23 provinces, whose boundaries mostly date back to the Ming Dynasty, the four direct-controlled municipalities of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing, the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, and five autonomous regions of Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Xinjiang, and Tibet.
