自治州

zìzhìzhōu
noun #81,027

Meanings

  1. 1 autonomous prefecture (ethnic minority administrative division)

Examples

Yúnnán Shěng yǒu bā ge zìzhìzhōu.
Yunnan Province has eight autonomous prefectures.
Tā láizì Xīnjiāng Yīlí Hāsàkè zìzhìzhōu.
He's from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang.

Tips

culture
A 自治州 is a prefecture-level ethnic minority self-governed region, sitting between 自治区 (province-level autonomous region) and 自治县 (county-level). China has about 30 of them — mostly in Yunnan, Guizhou, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Sichuan, Jilin, and Hunan. Local ethnic languages and customs receive special legal protection.
usage
Autonomous divisions form a three-tier hierarchy: 自治区 (qū) > 自治州 (zhōu) > 自治县 (xiàn). The name usually includes the dominant ethnicity: 延边朝鲜自治州 (Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture).

Stroke Order

zhì
zhōu