traditional Chinese: 村級行政區; simplified Chinese: 村级行政区; pinyin: Cūn Jí Xíngzhèngqū

Villages (simplified Chinese: 村), formally village-level divisions (simplified Chinese: 村级行政区) in China, serve as a fundamental organizational unit for its rural population (census, mail system). Basic local divisions like neighborhoods and communities are not informal, but have defined boundaries and designated heads (one per area). In 2000, China's densely populated villages (>100 persons/square km) had a population greater than 500 million and covered more than 2 million square kilometers, or more than 20% of China's total area.[1] By 2020, all incorporated villages (with proper conditions making it possible) had road access, the last village to be connected being a remote village in Sichuan province's Butuo County.[2]

Types of villages

Urban

  • Residential community (traditional Chinese: 社區; simplified Chinese: 社区; pinyin: shèqū)
    • Residents' committee (traditional Chinese: 居民委員會; simplified Chinese: 居民委员会; pinyin: jūmín wěiyuánhuì)
      • Residential groups (traditional Chinese: 居民小組; simplified Chinese: 居民小组; pinyin: jūmín xiǎozǔ
Note
Urban village (Chinese: 城中村; pinyin: chéngzhōngcūn) one that spontaneously and naturally exists within urban area, which is not an administrative division.

Rural

  • Administrative village or Village (Chinese: 行政村 or 村; pinyin: xíngzhèngcūn or cūn)
  • Hamlet or Band (Chinese: 屯; pinyin: tún)
  • Gacha (Chinese: 嘎查; pinyin: gāchá) only for Inner Mongolia.
  • Ranch (Chinese: 牧委会; pinyin: mùwěihuì) only for Qinghai.
  • Ethnic village (Chinese: 民族村; pinyin: mínzúcūn) only for village populated by Ethnic minority.
    • Village committees (traditional Chinese: 村民委員會; simplified Chinese: 村民委员会; pinyin: cūnmín wěiyuánhuì)
      • Villager groups (traditional Chinese: 村民小組; simplified Chinese: 村民小组; pinyin: cūnmín xiǎozǔ)

Natural village

Natural villages (Chinese: 自然村; pinyin: zìráncūn) 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 era, rules defined who was a resident of a particular natural village. They are often named as cun (村), tun (屯), ying (营), zhaizi (寨子), zhuang (庄), wanzi (湾子), or bang (浜), 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.[3][4]

Lists of village-level divisions

Villages (村)

List of villages in China

Provinces
Autonomous areas
Municipalities

See also

References

  1. ^ Ellis 2004.
  2. ^ "Paved road links China's "last village" with outside world - Xinhua | English.news.cn". Archived from the original on July 5, 2020.
  3. ^ L, Aaron (2014-07-28). "Bounded Collectivism: Approaching Rural Land Rights and Labor Through “Natural Villages” in Southwest China 限定的集産主義 中国南西部の「自然村」を通じて農村地帯の土地所有権と労働を考察する". Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  4. ^ "中国每天消失百个自然村 传统村落急需保护(图)-中新网". www.chinanews.com. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
Bibliography