Changes in China’s Ethnic Minorities

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China is a Han-dominant multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural nation. China’s present government recognizes 56 official ethnic groups. Han is the majority group. The rest of the 55 are minorities, which are eligible for special policies such as subsidies for certain food, special consideration in national college entrance exams, and much more lenient birth control policies.

According to the latest state census in 2010, 91.51% of the population was of the Han nationality, down slightly from 94% in 1953. Ethnic minorities accounted 8.49% of the population in China, up from 6% in 1953. The growth of ethnic minorities both in numbers and in proportion to the Han majority is largely due to the favorable birth control policies. Many minorities are allowed to have two or three children, while a Han couple is only allowed to have one child, occasionally two children.

Population of China according to ethnic group 1953-2010[4] Ethnic

group census 1953 census 1982 census 2000 census 2010

Number % Number % Number % Number %

Han 547,283,057 93.9 936,703,824 93.3 1,159,400,000 91.59 1,225,932,641 91.51

Minority groups 35,320,360 6.06 67,233,254 6.7 106,430,000 8.41 113,792,211 8.49

Zhuang 6,611,455 1.13 16,178,811 1.28

Manchu 2,418,931 0.42 10,682,263 0.84

Hui 3,559,350 0.61 9,816,802 0.78

Miao 2,511,339 0.43 8,940,116 0.71

Uyghurs 3,640,125 0.62 8,399,393 0.66

Tujia 8,028,133 0.63

Yi 3,254,269 0.56 7,762,286 0.61

Mongols 1,462,956 0.25 5,813,947 0.46

Tibetans 2,775,622 0.48 5,416,021 0.43

Buyi 1,247,883 0.21 2,971,460 0.23

Korean 1,120,405 0.19 1,923,842 0.15

Others 6,718,025 1.15 20,496,926 1.62

Total mainland China 582,603,417 ...

... middle of paper ...

...ilingual education is implemented in many mainstream schools with no particular ethnic backgrounds.

This new bilingual education model also serves Chinese government well because it will produce students who are proficient not only in Mandarin language but also Mandarin culture. This bilingual education will make China a more integrated society. A more integrated society means more political stability.

Bibliography

• Dillion, Michael, 2009, Contemporary China- An Introduction, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group

• Patten, A and Will Kymlicka, 2003, “Introduction: Language Rights and Political Theory: Context, Issues, and Approaches”, Patten, A and Will Kymlicka, eds. Language Rights and Political Theory, Oxford University Press, pp. 1-52.

• National Bureau of Statistics of China

• Urio, Paolo, Deng’s Strategy of Economic Development, Routledge, 2010

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