CTAmap Version 1.11
This is a major version update. The update contents are as follows:
(1) The administrative divisions of each year have been checked one by one against the records of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
(2) The former-name and remarks attributes have been updated extensively.
(3) The boundaries of some regions have been changed, and the topology errors of some regions have been corrected.
The workload of this update is large, and the changes are substantial. Readers using the province/city/county data are advised to download the latest version of the data.
Data download address: shengshixian.com
Or Baidu Netdisk: Link: https://pan.baidu.com/s/1qMvjIMfJy5MTllWwf6_sgA?pwd=4444 Extraction code: 4444
# Former-Name Attribute Update
# County-Level Former Names
The previous data did not record the former-name information updated during 2019–2022. This information has been updated in this version.
# Former-Name and Remarks Attribute Update for Prefecture-Level Data
The former-name and remarks attributes of the prefecture-level data existed in the very first version. Considering that there are relatively few renamings of prefecture-level administrative divisions, these attributes were once removed. When producing the 2015–2018 data, several prefecture-level administrative-division changes were encountered, so the attributes were added back.
# Remarks Attribute Update
This part of the work has a very large workload. With reference to the administrative-division change information over the years, about 200 items in total have been added, and more than 700 vector features have been updated in attributes since 2015.
# Province/City/County Count Correction
For each year of this dataset, the administrative divisions are based on the changes up to December 31 of the previous year. For example, the early 2023 division data has an actual statistical cut-off date of December 31, 2022, and can also be referred to as the end-of-2022 division data.
On the basis of making this clear, the counts of provinces, cities, and counties are referenced against the Ministry of Civil Affairs' Administrative-Division Statistics Table (http://xzqh.mca.gov.cn/statistics/2018.html), which is produced on December 31 of each year. With reference to this table, the counts in the early-2015 to early-2019 division data have been checked, deleted, and modified.
(1) In the early-2019 administrative-division data,
| Original administrative unit | Affiliated higher-level unit | Date of change | Type of change | New administrative establishment | Approval document |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laicheng District of Laiwu City, Gangcheng District of Laiwu City | Shandong Province | December 26, 2018, approved by the State Council of the People's Republic of China; published by the Shandong Provincial People's Government on January 6 | Abolish Laiwu City and place its jurisdiction under the administration of Jinan City; establish Laiwu District of Jinan City, with the former administrative area of Laicheng District of Laiwu City as the administrative area of Laiwu District; establish Gangcheng District of Jinan City, with the former administrative area of Gangcheng District of Laiwu City as the administrative area of Gangcheng District | Laiwu District of Jinan City, Gangcheng District of Jinan City | State Council Letter [2018] No. 163 |
In this year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs removed Laiwu City from the statistics table of December 31, 2018. However, in my early-2019 data, only the publication date of January 6 by Shandong Province was taken into account, and I have already separated Laiwu City from Jinan City.
(2) 2015–2018 division data
Nancha County of Heilongjiang Province is the only administrative unit in recent years to be downgraded from a district to a county. The area was called Nancha District before 2019.
Nancha District was missed in the early-2019 administrative-division data. Relevant modifications have been made to the 2015–2019 early data.
In response to similar phenomena, the counts of provinces, cities, and counties are checked year by year, and corresponding adjustments and modifications are made. The county category of Linzhi County in 2015, the county category of An County in Mianyang in 2015, and the county category of Fanchang District in Anhui Province in the early 2021 data, among others, have also been modified. As a result, the annual administrative-division category statistics tables are as follows:
| Data | Prefecture-level count | County-level count | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early 2023 administrative-division data | 293 Prefecture-level Cities 7 Prefectures 30 Autonomous Prefectures 3 Leagues | 977 Districts 394 County-level Cities 1301 Counties 117 Autonomous Counties 49 Banners 3 Autonomous Banners 1 Special District 1 Forestry Area | As of 2022.12.31 |
| Early 2022 administrative-division data | 293 Prefecture-level Cities 7 Prefectures 30 Autonomous Prefectures 3 Leagues | 977 Districts 394 County-level Cities 1301 Counties 117 Autonomous Counties 49 Banners 3 Autonomous Banners 1 Special District 1 Forestry Area | As of 2021.12.31 |
| Early 2021 administrative-division data | 293 Prefecture-level Cities 7 Prefectures 30 Autonomous Prefectures 3 Leagues | 973 Districts 388 County-level Cities 1312 Counties 117 Autonomous Counties 49 Banners 3 Autonomous Banners 1 Special District 1 Forestry Area | As of 2020.12.31 |
| Early 2020 administrative-division data | 293 Prefecture-level Cities 7 Prefectures 30 Autonomous Prefectures 3 Leagues | 965 Districts 387 County-level Cities 1323 Counties 117 Autonomous Counties 49 Banners 3 Autonomous Banners 1 Special District 1 Forestry Area | As of 2019.12.31 |
| Early 2019 administrative-division data | 293 Prefecture-level Cities 7 Prefectures 30 Autonomous Prefectures 3 Leagues | 970 Districts 375 County-level Cities 1335 Counties 117 Autonomous Counties 49 Banners 3 Autonomous Banners 1 Special District 1 Forestry Area | As of 2018.12.31 |
| Early 2018 administrative-division data | 294 Prefecture-level Cities 7 Prefectures 30 Autonomous Prefectures 3 Leagues | 962 Districts 363 County-level Cities 1355 Counties 117 Autonomous Counties 49 Banners 3 Autonomous Banners 1 Special District 1 Forestry Area | As of 2017.12.31 |
| Early 2017 administrative-division data | 293 Prefecture-level Cities 8 Prefectures 30 Autonomous Prefectures 3 Leagues | 954 Districts 360 County-level Cities 1366 Counties 117 Autonomous Counties 49 Banners 3 Autonomous Banners 1 Special District 1 Forestry Area | As of 2016.12.31 |
| Early 2016 administrative-division data | 291 Prefecture-level Cities 10 Prefectures 30 Autonomous Prefectures 3 Leagues | 921 Districts 361 County-level Cities 1397 Counties 117 Autonomous Counties 49 Banners 3 Autonomous Banners 1 Special District 1 Forestry Area | As of 2015.12.31 |
| Early 2015 administrative-division data | 288 Prefecture-level Cities 12 Prefectures 30 Autonomous Prefectures 3 Leagues | 897 Districts 361 County-level Cities 1425 Counties 117 Autonomous Counties 49 Banners 3 Autonomous Banners 1 Special District 1 Forestry Area | As of 2014.12.31 |
# Administrative-Division Boundary Changes
# (1) Handan County, Hebei Province, 2016
The 2016 administrative-division data missed the abolishment of Handan County. In this version, the 2015 and 2016 data have been updated.
# (2) Yeji District, Anhui Province, 2015
On October 13, 2015, the "State Council Approval on Adjusting the Administrative Divisions of Parts of Tongling City, Lu'an City, and Anqing City, Anhui Province" (State Council Letter [2015] No. 181) was issued, agreeing to adjust the administrative divisions of parts of Anqing City, Tongling City, Lu'an City, and Huainan City, and to establish Yeji District of Lu'an City. Yejizhen, Sanyuan Town, and Sungang Township of Huoqiu County are transferred to the jurisdiction of Yeji District, and Yeji is converted from a functional area to an administrative area. In August 2016, the Anhui Provincial Civil Affairs Department's "Letter on Agreeing to the Adjustment of Parts of the Administrative Divisions between Yeji District and Huoqiu County, Lu'an City" and the Lu'an Municipal Government's "Implementation Opinions on the Transfer of Yaoli Town and Hongji Town of Huoqiu County to the Jurisdiction of Yeji District" agreed to transfer Yaoli Town and Hongji Town of Huoqiu County to the jurisdiction of Yeji District.
In the previous 2016–2023 administrative-division data, Yaoli Town and Hongji Town were missed in Yeji District. The data has been modified in this version.
# (3) Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, early 2016
| Original administrative unit | Affiliated province/city | Date of change | Type of change | New administrative establishment | Approval document |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xuanhua District Xuanhua County | Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province | Approved by the State Council on January 7; Announced at the Mobilization Meeting for the Adjustment of Part of the Administrative Divisions of Zhangjiakou City on January 27 | Abolish Xuanhua District and Xuanhua County of Zhangjiakou City, and establish the new Xuanhua District of Zhangjiakou City; Transfer the Dakuogaizhen and Dongwangshan Township of the former Xuanhua County to the jurisdiction of Qiaodong District, Zhangjiakou City; Transfer the Dakuogaizhen and Dongwangshan Township of the former Xuanhua County to the jurisdiction of Qiaoxi District, Zhangjiakou City | Xuanhua District | State Council Letter [2016] No. 5 |
In the previous 2016 administrative-division data, Dakuogaizhen, Dongwangshan Township, Dakuogaizhen, and Dongwangshan Township were missed in Xuanhua County. In this version, the administrative-division boundary of this area from early 2015 to early 2016 has been modified.
# Topology Error Correction
In updating the data for each year, operations such as splitting, clipping, and merging were used, and a few areas have dangles, voids, etc.
Previously, a netizen reported that the data had topology errors. I could not find them using ArcGIS and ignored them, which actually caused significant data quality issues.
This time, I used the topology check tool of QGIS to uniformly correct the topology errors in the existing 2000–2023 data set.
# Data Name Change
For each year of this dataset, the administrative divisions are based on the changes up to December 31 of the previous year. For example, the early 2023 division data has an actual statistical cut-off date of December 31, 2022, and can also be referred to as the end-of-2022 division data.
| Current name | Original name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 administrative-division data | Live data, will be updated in line with the latest division news Data will be updated | |
| 2022 administrative-division data | Early 2023 administrative-division data | As of the Ministry of Civil Affairs statistics of 2022.12.31 |
| 2021 administrative-division data | Early 2022 administrative-division data | As of the Ministry of Civil Affairs statistics of 2021.12.31 |
| 2020 administrative-division data | Early 2021 administrative-division data | As of the Ministry of Civil Affairs statistics of 2020.12.31 |
| 2019 administrative-division data | Early 2020 administrative-division data | As of the Ministry of Civil Affairs statistics of 2019.12.31 |
| 2018 administrative-division data | Early 2019 administrative-division data | As of the Ministry of Civil Affairs statistics of 2018.12.31 |
| 2017 administrative-division data | Early 2018 administrative-division data | As of the Ministry of Civil Affairs statistics of 2017.12.31 |
| 2016 administrative-division data | Early 2017 administrative-division data | As of the Ministry of Civil Affairs statistics of 2016.12.31 |
| 2015 administrative-division data | Early 2016 administrative-division data | As of the Ministry of Civil Affairs statistics of 2015.12.31 |
| 2014 administrative-division data | Early 2015 administrative-division data | As of the Ministry of Civil Affairs statistics of 2014.12.31 |
The year attribute of each year's county-level, prefecture-level, and province-level data has been updated accordingly.
# 2023 Administrative-Division Change
After a gap of 15 months, China finally ushered in the first adjustment of administrative divisions at or above the county level. The adjusted area is the Ninth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
The Ninth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps has jurisdiction over the 161st Regiment, 162nd Regiment, 164th Regiment, 165th Regiment, 166th Regiment, 167th Regiment, 168th Regiment (including the 169th Regiment), 170th Regiment, and Tuanjie Farm.
Baiyang City was established on January 20, 2023, evolved from the former Ninth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. The name comes from the Xiaobaiyang Sentinel Post under its jurisdiction. It is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The division's headquarters is located in Emin County, actually within the scope of Tacheng City, Xinjiang, adjacent to the urban area of Tacheng City and the Kazakhstan Bakhty Port of China.
The county-level Baiyang City newly established in 2023 has 3 administrative areas in total, all distributed along the national border, as follows:
Parts of the administrative area of Tacheng City (the defined areas of the 163rd Regiment and 164th Regiment) are transferred to the jurisdiction of the proposed county-level Baiyang City.
Parts of the administrative area of Emin County (the defined area of the 165th Regiment) are transferred to the jurisdiction of the proposed county-level Baiyang City.
Parts of the administrative area of Yumin County (the defined area of the 161st Regiment) are transferred to the jurisdiction of the proposed county-level Baiyang City.
The administrative area of the proposed county-level Baiyang City covers 2034.45 square kilometers, of which 289.08 square kilometers are transferred from Tacheng City involving the 163rd Regiment and 164th Regiment, 599.64 square kilometers are transferred from Emin County involving the 165th Regiment, and 1145.73 square kilometers are transferred from Yumin County involving the 161st Regiment. The Ninth Division has signed land title confirmation agreements with Tacheng City, Emin County, and Yumin County for the above areas.
The spatial positions of the 161st Regiment, 163rd Regiment, 164th Regiment, and 165th Regiment are shown below:
It is currently unclear whether there are administrative-division adjustments for the areas of the 161st Regiment, 166th Regiment, and others of the Ninth Division. If there are adjustments, I will update the administrative-division vector data of these areas in time.
The administrative-division changes of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps are shown in the table below:
| County-level city | Affiliated division | Establishment date | Former prefecture-level administrative region | Former county-level administrative region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shihezi City | 8th Division | January 2, 1976 | Tacheng Prefecture of Yili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture | Shawan County |
| Alar City | 1st Division | September 17, 2002 | Aksu Prefecture | Aksu City |
| Tumxuk City | 3rd Division | September 17, 2002 | Kashgar (Kashi) Prefecture | Bachu County |
| Wujiaqu City | 6th Division | September 17, 2002 | Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture | Miquan City, Changji City |
| Beitun City | 10th Division | December 20, 2011 | Altay Prefecture of Yili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture | Altay City, Fuhai County |
| Tiemenguan City | 2nd Division | December 17, 2012 | Bayingol Mongol Autonomous Prefecture | Korla City |
| Shuanghe City | 5th Division | January 25, 2014 | Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture | Bole City |
| Kokdala City | 4th Division | March 16, 2015 | Directly governed by Yili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture | Huocheng County |
| Kunyu City | 14th Division | January 7, 2016 | Hotan Prefecture | Moyu County |
| Huyanghe City | 7th Division | November 6, 2019 | Directly governed by Yili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture | Kuytun City |
| Xinxing City | 13th Division | January 12, 2021 | Hami City | Yizhou District |
| Baiyang City | 9th Division | January 20, 2023 | Tacheng Prefecture | Tacheng City |
# Replies to Questions
(1) A netizen reported that some regions have no administrative-division data.
Answer: Huzhong District and Xinlin District are under the Forestry Bureau of the Daxinganling Forestry Group Company of the State Forestry Administration. They are part of a government-enterprise integrated system and have not formally entered the administrative divisions of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. This data is updated based on the divisions of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Most forest farms, agricultural farms, development zones, high-tech zones, management committees, industrial parks, industrial zones, management areas, etc. are not in the administrative divisions of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. They are non-formal administrative divisions and are not included in the scope of consideration. They will not be updated in the future either. If some regions are assigned to the formal administrative divisions of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in the future, I will update them in the data.
(2) Netizens hope that some village-level data can be provided.
Answer: I have village-level data for a few provinces, but considering that data at this level involves classified information, I will not share it.
# Next Steps
Through this data collation, many problems were found. The process of solving the problems also gradually improved my way of thinking in building a complete set of data. For subsequent data versions, I will update the data in accordance with the mature workflow I have conceived.
A netizen asked whether I can update the data before 2015:
This update is intended to eliminate the cumulative errors in the data as much as possible, laying the groundwork for the subsequent production of the 2000–2015 data. I will try my best to improve the dataset without affecting my own work, study, and life. Thank you for using it.