Provinces of China
Provincial-level administrative divisions () or first-level administrative divisions (), are the highest-level Chinese administrative divisions. There are 34 such divisions, classified as 23 provinces (), four municipalities, five autonomous regions, and two Special Administrative Regions. All but Taiwan Province and a small fraction of Fujian Province (currently administered by the Republic of China) are controlled by the People's Republic of China.
Zhou (country subdivision)
The Han dynasty was the first to formalize the "zhou" into actual administrative divisions by establishing 13 "zhou" all across China. Because these "zhou" were the largest divisions of the China at the time, they are usually translated as "provinces". After the Han Dynasty, however, the number of "zhou" began to increase. By the time of the Sui dynasty, there were over a hundred "zhou" all across China.