Autonomous Region

(自治區). An administrative division of China, part of the first-level Provincial Level (省級行政區). Although these regions are “autonomous” in name only, they have been instituted for regions inhabited by ethnic or religious minorities. They are the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (新疆維吾爾自治區), the Tibet Autonomous Region (西藏自治區), the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (內蒙古自治區), the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (廣西壯族自治區), and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (寧夏回族自治區).