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Greater administrative areas (大行政区 Pinyin: Dàxíngzhèngqū) were early top-level administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China that directly governed provinces and municipalities. These were the largest-ever political divisions of China and were controlled by the Central People's Government. They were dissolved between June and November 1954. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... For other province-level divisions, see Political divisions of China. ... Direct-controlled municipalities are the highest-level cities in China, with status equal to that of the provinces. ... Due to Chinas large population and area, the political divisions of China have always consisted of several levels since ancient times. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with State Council of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The greater administrative areas originated from the districts governed by governors-general (總督轄區) established during the late Qing dynasty. The six greater administrative areas were: A governor general or viceroy (Chinese: zongdu) governed one or more provinces of Qing-dynasty China. ... The Qing Dynasty (Manchu: daicing gurun; Chinese: 清朝; pinyin: qīng cháo; Wade-Giles: ching chao), sometimes known as the Manchu Dynasty, was founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro, in what is today northeast China expanded into China proper and the surrounding territories of...

North China Area was the first to be abandoned on October 31, 1949 when New China's capital was established in Beijing. The provinces it governed were thenceforth directly controlled by the North China Branch (事務部) of the Government Administration Council of the Central People's Government instead. In May 1952, control was again transferred, this time to the North China Administrative Council (行政委員會) of the Government Administration Council. Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... Hebei (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-pei; Postal System Pinyin: Hopeh) is a northern province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Shanxi (Chinese: 山西; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Shan-hsi; Postal System Pinyin: Shansi) is a province in the northern part of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Chakhar is a group of the Mongols. ... Pingyuan can refer to: Pingyuan County, a county in Shandong province, China Pingyuan County, a county in north east Guangdong province, China Pingyuan (province), a former province of China Pingyuan is also the Chinese word for plains. This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages... Suíyuǎn (綏遠) was a historical province of China. ... Beijing (Chinese: 北京; pinyin: BÄ›ijÄ«ng; Wade-Giles: Peiching or Pei-ching; IPA: ; literally Northern capital;  ), a metropolis in northern China, is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ...   (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Tientsin) is one of the four municipalities of China. ... Songjiang (松江; pinyin: Sōngjiāng; Wade-Giles: Sungkiang) can refer to: Songjiang District, a county-level division of Shanghai, China Before the forming of Shanghai city, Shanghai was called Songjiang county, a part of Suzhou city Songjiang, a former province of China, with capital at Harbin. ...   (Chinese: ; Pinyin: Jílín; Wade-Giles: Chi-lin; Postal System Pinyin: Kirin; Manchu: Girin ula), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. ... Heilongjiang (Simplified Chinese: 黑龙江省; Traditional Chinese: 黑龍江省; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Postal System Pinyin: Heilungkiang) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. ... The Liaodong Peninsula (sim. ... Rehe (Simplified Chinese: 热河; Traditional Chinese: 熱河; pinyin: Rèhé; lit. ... Location within China Lüshun city or Lüshunkou or (literally) Lüshun Port (Simplified Chinese: 旅顺口; Traditional Chinese: 旅順口; pinyin: , formerly in historic references both Port Arthur and Ryojun)), is a town in the southernmost administrative district of Dalian of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Dalian (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Japanese: Dairen; Russian: Далянь, Dalian or Дальний, Dalny) is the governing sub-provincial city in the eastern Liaoning Province of Northeast China. ... This article is about a city. ... Benxi (Chinese: 本溪; Hanyu Pinyin: BÄ›nxÄ«) is a prefecture-level city located in the Liaoning province of China, south-southeast of Shenyang. ... Anshan (Chinese: ; pinyin: Ä€nshān; lit. ... Location within China Fushun (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a city in Liaoning, China, about 45 km from Shenyang, with a population about 1. ... Gao Gang Gao Gang (Wades-Giles: Kao Kang) (1905-1954) was a Chinese Communist political figure. ... This article is about a city. ... Jiangsu (Simplified Chinese: 江苏; Traditional Chinese: 江蘇; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chiang-su; Postal System Pinyin: Kiangsu) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. ... Zhejiang (also spelled Chehkiang or Chekiang) is an eastern coastal province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Anhui (Chinese: 安徽; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: An-hui; Postal System Pinyin: Ngan-hui, Anhwei or An-hwei) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal map spelling: Fukien, Foukien; local transliteration Hokkien from Min Nan Hok-kiàn) is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ...   (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Shan-tung) is a coastal province of eastern Peoples Republic of China. ... For other uses, see Shanghai (disambiguation). ... “Nanking” redirects here. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... For other uses, see Shanghai (disambiguation). ... Hubei (Chinese: 湖北; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hu-pei; Postal System Pinyin: Hupeh) is a central province of the Peoples Republic of China. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a province of China, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting (hence the name Hunan, meaning south of the lake). Hunan is sometimes called 湘 (pinyin: Xiāng) for short, after the Xiang River which runs through the province. ... Henan (Chinese: 河南; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-nan), is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. ... Jiangxi (Chinese: 江西; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chiang-hsi; Postal System Pinyin: Kiangsi) is a southern province of the Peoples Republic of China, spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south. ... Guangdong, often spelt as Kwangtung, is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Guangdong, often spelt as Kwangtung, is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Hankou (漢口; pinyin: Hànkǒu; Wade-Giles: Hankow) is one of the three towns, together with Wuchang and Hanyang, which are included in modern day Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province, in China. ... An artistic rendition of Mao Zedong and Lin Biao as his heir apparent in the style of socialist realism in the prime of the Cultural Revolution. ... Hankou (漢口; pinyin: Hànkǒu; Wade-Giles: Hankow) is one of the three towns, together with Wuchang and Hanyang, which are included in modern day Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province, in China. ...   (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ShÇŽnxÄ«; Wade-Giles: Shan-hsi; Postal map spelling: Shensi) is a north-central province of the Peoples Republic of China, and includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River as well as the Qinling Mountains across the... Gansu (Simplified Chinese: 甘肃; Traditional Chinese: 甘肅; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kan-su, Kansu, or Kan-suh) is a province located in the northwest of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Ningxia (Simplified Chinese: 宁夏; Traditional Chinese: 寧夏; Pinyin: Níngxià; Wade-Giles: Ning-hsia; Postal Pinyin: Ningsia), full name Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (Simplified Chinese: 宁夏回族自治区; Traditional Chinese: 寧夏回族自治區; Pinyin: Níngxià Huízú ZìzhìqÅ«), is a Hui autonomous region of the Peoples Republic of China, located on the northwest Loess... Qinghai (Chinese: 青海; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ching-hai; Postal System Pinyin: Tsinghai; Tibetan: མཚོ་སྔོན་ mtsho-sngon; Mongolian: Köke Naγur; Manchu: Huhu Noor) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, named after the enormous Qinghai Lake. ... For the county in Shanxi province, see Xinjiang County. ... Xian (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hsi-An; Postal System Pinyin: Sian), is the capital of Shaanxi province in China and a sub-provincial city. ... Peng Dehuai . Péng Déhuái (T. Chinese: 彭德懷, S. Chinese: 彭德怀, Wade-Giles: Peng Te-huai) (October 24, 1898 - November 29, 1974) was a prominent Chinese Communist military leader. ... Xian (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hsi-An; Postal System Pinyin: Sian), is the capital of Shaanxi province in China and a sub-provincial city. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: SzÅ­4-chuan1; Postal map spelling: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in the central-western China with its capital at Chengdu. ... (Simplified Chinese: 贵州; Traditional Chinese: è²´å·ž; pinyin: Gùizhōu; Wade-Giles: Kuei-chou; also spelled Kweichow) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. ... Yunan redirects here. ... Kham (Tibetan: ཁམས, Simplified Chinese: 康, Pinyin: Kāng) province is one of three ancient provinces comprising traditional Tibet (the other two being Amdo and U-Tsang). ... Chongqing (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Chungching, also Chungking) is the largest and most populous of the Peoples Republic of Chinas four provincial-level municipalities, and the only one in the less densely populated western half of China. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Chongqing (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Chungching, also Chungking) is the largest and most populous of the Peoples Republic of Chinas four provincial-level municipalities, and the only one in the less densely populated western half of China. ... is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... Beijing (Chinese: 北京; pinyin: BÄ›ijÄ«ng; Wade-Giles: Peiching or Pei-ching; IPA: ; literally Northern capital;  ), a metropolis in northern China, is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with State Council of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

Several other large-scale entities governed parts of China's territory during this time and were equivalent to greater administrative areas:

• Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region: never belonged to a greater administrative area
• The Executive Committee of Qiongyai Minority Nationality Autonomous Region (瓊崖少數民族自治區行政委員會) from 1949, later assigned to Central and South China Area; the predecessor of Hainan
• Local Xizang Government (西藏地方政府) of the Tibetan region from 1951, later belonged to Southwest Area

Except the Northeast, which was governed by a People's Government, the areas' highest government bodies were Military and Administrative Committees (軍政委員會), which were replaced by administrative councils in November 1952. Inner Mongolia (Mongolian: ᠥᠪᠦᠷ ᠮᠣᠨᠺᠤᠯᠤᠨ ᠥᠪᠡᠷᠲᠡᠺᠡᠨ ᠵᠠᠰᠠᠬᠤ ᠣᠷᠤᠨ Öbür Mongghul-un Öbertegen Jasaqu Orun; Chinese: 内蒙古自治区; Hanyu Pinyin... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Xizang (西藏) is the Chinese name for either historic Tibet or the Tibet Autonomous Region. ...

The highest officials of the greater administrative areas were known as chairmen (主席). (From this historical origin derives the term still used today for the top officials of China's autonomous regions.) A chairperson is the presiding officer of a meeting, organization, committee, or other deliberative body. ... An autonomous region or autonomous district is a subnational region with special powers of self-rule. ...

Several domains in China today retain the same structure of geographic divisions as the GAAs. Military administrative regions, the divisions of some major banks, and civilian aviation districts are still divided in the same form as the greater administrative areas. Military districts are territorial entities used for the purposes of military planning and strategizing. ... For other uses, see Bank (disambiguation). ...

See also

• History of the political divisions of China