Demographics of China - Ethnic Groups

Ethnic Groups

The People's Republic of China (PRC) officially recognizes 56 distinct ethnic groups, the largest of which are Han, who constitute 91.51% of the total population in 2010. Ethnic minorities constitute 8.49% or 113.8 million of China's population in 2010. During the past decades ethnic minorities have experienced higher growth rates than the majority Han population, because they are not under the one-child policy. Their proportion of the population in China has grown from 6.1% in 1953, to 8.04% in 1990, 8.41% in 2000 and 8.49% in 2010. Large ethnic minorities (data according to the 2000 census) include the Zhuang (16 million, 1.28%), Manchu (10 million, 0.84%), Uyghur (9 million, 0.78%), Hui (9 million, 0.71%), Miao (8 million, 0.71%), Yi (7 million, 0.61%), Tujia (5.75 million, 0.63%), Mongols (5 million, 0.46%), Tibetan (5 million, 0.43%), Buyi (3 million, 0.23%), and Korean (2 million, 0.15%).

Population of China according to ethnic group 1953-2010
Ethnic
group		 Language
family		 census 1953 census 1964 census 1982 census 1990 census 2000 census 2010

Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Han Chinese 547,283,057 93.94 651,296,368 94.22 936,703,824 93.30 1,039,187,548 91.92 1,137,386,112 91.53 1,220,844,520 91.60
Minority groups 35,320,360 6.06 39,883,909 5.78 67,233,254 6.67 90,570,743 8.01 105,225,173 8.47 111,966,349 8.40
Zhuang Tai-Kadai 6,611,455 1.13 8,386,140 1.21 13,441,900 1.32 15,555,820 1.38 16,178,811 1.28 16,926,381 1.27
Hui Chinese 3,559,350 0.61 4,473,147 0.64 7,207,780 0.71 8,612,001 0.76 9,816,802 0.78 10,586,087 0.79
Manchu Tungusic 2,418,931 0.42 2,695,675 0.39 4,299,950 0.43 9,846,776 0.87 10,682,263 0.84 10,387,958 0.78
Uyghurs Altaic (Turkic) 3,640,125 0.62 3,996,311 0.58 5,917,030 0.59 7,207,024 0.64 8,399,393 0.66 10,069,346 0.76
Miao Hmong-Mien 2,511,339 0.43 2,782,088 0.40 5,017,260 0.50 7,383,622 0.65 8,940,116 0.71 9,426,007 0.71
Yi Tibeto-Burman 3,254,269 0.56 3,380,960 0.49 5,492,330 0.54 6,578,524 0.58 7,762,286 0.61 8,714,393 0.65
Tujia Tibeto-Burman 284,900 0.03 5,725,049 0.51 8,028,133 0.63 8,353,912 0.63
Tibetans Tibeto-Burman 2,775,622 0.48 2,501,174 0.36 3,821,950 0.38 4,593,072 0.41 5,416,021 0.43 6,282,187 0.47
Mongols Altaic (Mongolic) 1,462,956 0.25 1,965,766 0.28 3,402,200 0.34 4,802,407 0.42 5,813,947 0.46 5,981,840 0.45
Buyei Tai-Kadai 1,247,883 0.21 1,348,055 0.19 2,103,150 0.21 2,548,294 0.22 2,971,460 0.23 2,870,034 0.22
Korean Korean 1,120,405 0.19 1,339,569 0.19 1,783,150 0.18 1,923,361 0.17 1,923,842 0.15 1,830,929 0.14
Dong Tai-Kadai 1,446,190 0.14 2,508,624 0.22 2,960,293 0.24 2,879,974 0.22
Yao Miao-Yao 1,414,870 0.14 2,137,033 0.19 2,637,421 0.21 2,796,003 0.21
Bai Sino-Tibetan 1,147,360 0.11 1,598,052 0.14 1,858,063 0.15 1,933,510 0.15
Hani Tibeto-Burman 1,063,300 0.11 1,254,800 0.11 1,439,673 0.12 1,660,932 0.12
Kazakh Altaic (Turkic) 878,570 0.09 1,110,758 0.10 1,250,458 0.10 1,462,588 0.11
Li Tai-Kadai 882,030 0.09 1,112,498 0.10 1,247,814 0.10 1,463,064 0.11
Dai Tai-Kadai 864,340 0.09 1,025,402 0.09 1,158,989 0.09 1,261,311 0.09
She Miao-Yao 379,080 0.04 634,700 0.06 709,592 0.06 708,651 0.05
Lisu Tibeto-Burman 466,760 0.05 574,589 0.05 634,912 0.05 702,839 0.05
Gelao Tai-Kadai 59,810 0.01 438,192 0.04 579,357 0.05 550,746 0.04
Dongxiang Altaic (Mongolic) - - 373,669 0.03 513,805 0.04 621,500 0.05
Gaoshan Austronesion 1,750 0.00 2,877 0.00 4,461 0.00 4,009 0.00
Lahu Tibeto-Burman 320,350 0.03 411,545 0.04 453,705 0.04 485,966 0.04
Sui Tai-Kadai 300,690 0.03 347,116 0.03 406,902 0.03 411,847 0.03
Va Mon-Khmer 271,050 0.03 351,980 0.03 396,610 0.03 429,709 0.03
Nakhi Tibeto-Burman 248,650 0.02 277,750 0.02 308,839 0.02 326,295 0.02
Qiang Tibeto-Burman 109,760 0.01 198,303 0.02 306,072 0.02 309,576 0.02
Tu Altaic (Mongolic) 148,760 0.01 192,568 0.02 241,198 0.02 289,565 0.02
Mulao Tai-Kadai 91,790 0.01 160,648 0.01 207,352 0.02 216,257 0.02
Xibe Tungusic 77,560 0.01 172,932 0.02 188,824 0.02 190,481 0.01
Kyrgyz Altaic (Turkic) 108,790 0.01 143,537 0.01 160,823 0.01 186,708 0.01
Daur Altaic (Mongolic) - - 121,463 0.01 132,143 0.01 131,992 0.01
Jingpo Tibeto-Burman 100,180 0.01 119,276 0.01 132,143 0.01 147,828 0.01
Maonan Tai-Kadai 37,450 0.00 72,370 0.01 107,106 0.01 101,192 0.01
Sal Altaic (Turkic) 68,030 0.01 82,398 0.01 104,503 0.01 130,607 0.01
Blang Mon-Khmer - - 87,546 0.01 91,882 0.01 119,639 0.01
Tajik Indo-European (Iranian) 27,430 0.00 33,223 0.00 41,028 0.00 51,069 0.00
Achang Tibeto-Burman 31,490 0.00 27,718 0.00 33,936 0.00 39,555 0.00
Pumi Tibeto-Burman 18,860 0.00 29,721 0.00 33,600 0.00 42,861 0.00
Ewenki Tungusic 19,440 0.00 26,379 0.00 30,505 0.00 30,875 0.00
Nu Tibeto-Burman 25,980 0.00 27,190 0.00 28,759 0.00 37,523 0.00
Gin (Vietnamese) Mon-Khmer 12,140 0.00 18,749 0.00 22,517 0.00 28,199 0.00
Jino Tibeto-Burman 11,260 0.00 18,022 0.00 20,899 0.00 23,143 0.00
De'ang Mon-Khmer - - 15,461 0.00 17,935 0.00 20,556 0.00
Bonan Altaic (Mongolic) 6,620 0.00 11,683 0.00 16,505 0.00 20,074 0.00
Russian Indo-European (Slavic) 2,830 0.00 13,500 0.00 15,609 0.00 15,393 0.00
Yugur Altaic (Turkic) 7,670 0.00 12,293 0.00 13,719 0.00 14,378 0.00
Uzbek Altaic (Turkic) 13,810 0.00 14,763 0.00 13,370 0.00 10,569 0.00
Monba Tibeto-Burman 1,040 0.00 7,498 0.00 8,923 0.00 10,561 0.00
Oroqen Tungusic 2,280 0.00 7,004 0.00 8,196 0.00 8,659 0.00
Derung Tibeto-Burman 4,250 0.00 5,825 0.00 7,426 0.00 6,930 0.00
Chinese Tatars Altaic (Turkic) 7,510 0.00 5,064 0.00 4,890 0.00 3,556 0.00
Hezhen Tungusic 670 0.00 4,254 0.00 4,640 0.00 5,354 0.00
Lhoba Tibeto-Burman 1,030 0.00 2,322 0.00 2,965 0.00 3,682 0.00
Unrecognized ethnic groups in China 3,370,880 0.33 3,498 0.00 734,379 0.06 640,101 0.05
Unknown 4,720 0.00 752,347 0.07 735,379 0.06 - -
Foreigners - - - - 941 0.00 1,448 0.00
Total mainland China 582,603,417 694,581,759 1,008,175,288 1,133,682,501 1,242,612,226 1,332,810,869

Neither Hong Kong nor Macau recognizes the official ethnic classifications maintained by the central government. In Macau the largest substantial ethnic groups of non-Chinese descent are the Macanese, of mixed Chinese and Portuguese descent (Eurasians), as well as migrants from the Philippines and Thailand. Overseas Filipinas working as domestic workers comprise the largest non-Han Chinese ethnic group in Hong Kong.

Read more about this topic:  Demographics Of China

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