Administrative division is the regional division implemented by the state for hierarchical management. Engels said that one of the functions of the state is to divide its citizens by region. Administrative divisions are created along with the establishment of the state. The demarcation of administrative regions must take into account various factors such as politics, economy, ethnicity, population, national defense, and historical traditions. Once formed, it will have an important impact on the governance and development within and outside the region. There are two effects: "spatial division" and "spatial overlap". The former emphasizes the impact of rigid regional division on the flow of factors, and the latter pays more attention to the overlapping of interests between multiple levels of authority in the same region. The changes in administrative divisions also contain the development trend of human society. Therefore, the relevant research on administrative divisions covers multiple disciplines, including geography, history, political science, public administration, economics, sociology, and culture.

  According to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, China's administrative divisions are divided into three levels: provincial administrative divisions (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government), county administrative divisions (autonomous counties, cities), and township administrative divisions (ethnic townships, towns). However, in economically developed areas, in order to promote the integration of urban and rural areas and the integration of workers and farmers, break the division of blocks, and give full play to the enthusiasm of both urban and rural areas, the administrative system of city-county management is implemented, that is, one level of administrative division is added between provinces and counties, and a four-level system is implemented. There are also some autonomous regions, which have autonomous prefectures under their jurisdiction, and counties below the prefectures, which are also a four-level system. This has formed a system of three and four levels coexisting in China's current administrative divisions and local administrative system levels.

  The CnOpenData data team launched the China Administrative Division Database, which is divided into three sub-tables: administrative division information above the county level over the years, administrative division change information below the county level over the years, and administrative divisions of provinces, cities, counties, towns, streets and neighborhood committees over the years. The table of administrative divisions above the county level over the years includes fields such as year, region code, province, prefecture-level city, county and county level. In addition to the above basic information, the table of administrative division changes below the county level over the years also includes fields such as township names and codes before and after the change, reasons for change, and approval documents.

Data characteristics

• Not only does it count administrative divisions above the county level and their change information, but it also provides detailed change information at the street and neighborhood committee levels over the years.
• The urban and rural types of each area are distinguished in detail, including: 111 represents the main urban area, 112 represents the urban-rural combination area, 121 represents the town center area, 122 represents the town-town combination area, 123 represents the special area, 210 represents the town center area, and 220 represents the village.

Time interval

Administrative divisions above the county level over the years: 1981-2020
Changes in administrative divisions below the county level over the years: 2014-2020
Administrative divisions of provinces, cities, counties, towns, streets and neighborhood committees over the years: 2009-2021

Field display

Administrative divisions above the county level over the years

Changes in administrative divisions below the county level over the years

Administrative divisions of provinces, cities, counties, towns, streets and neighborhood committees over the years

Sample data

Administrative divisions above county level in previous years

Changes in administrative divisions below the county level over the years

Administrative divisions of provinces, cities, counties, towns, streets and neighborhood committees over the years

Related literature

• Yu Huayi, Hou Yujuan, Hong Yongmiao, 2021: "Regional integration effect of urban district mergers - evidence from real estate micro data and urban district economic data", "China Industrial Economy", No. 4.
• Wang Xianbin, Nie Haifeng, 2010: "Administrative Division Adjustment and Economic Growth", "Management World", No. 4.

Data update frequency

Annual update

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