Village (China)


Villages, formally village-level divisions in China, serve as a fundamental organizational unit for its rural population. Basic local divisions like neighborhoods and communities are not informal, but have defined boundaries and designated heads. In 2000, China's densely populated villages had a population greater than 500 million and covered more than 2 million square kilometers, or more than 20% of China's total area. By 2020, all incorporated villages had road access, the last village to be connected being a remote village in Sichuan province's Butuo County.

Types of villages

Urban

Residential community

Rural

Administrative village or Village Hamlet or Band Gacha only for Inner Mongolia. Ranch only for Qinghai.Ethnic village only for village populated by Ethnic minority.

Natural village

Natural villages are residential communities as a social concept, which are often described as a village. They do not have formally defined boundaries, although during the late Qing dynasty and Republic of [China (1912–1949)|Republic of China era], rules defined who was a resident of a particular natural village. They are often named as cun, tun, ying, zhaizi, zhuang, wanzi, or bang, depending on the region. An estimated 2 million of these villages exist in China, with their number decreasing rapidly at a rate of over 100 a day due to urbanisation and consolidation.

Lists of village-level divisions

;Villages
List of villages in China
;Provinces
; Autonomous areas
;Municipalities