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.
Sixteen Prefectures
The historian Frederick W. Mote writes that there were actually 19 prefectures but does not specify them. Chinese historians do not consider Yíngzhou (营州; modern Qian'an, Hebei) and Pingzhou (平州; modern Lulong, Hebei) to be part of the Sixteen Prefectures because they had already been occupied by the Khitans during the Later Tang, prior to Shi Jingtang’s cession. Yizhou (易州; modern Yi County, Hebei), which fell to the Khitans after the cession, is also excluded from the count of 16. The Liao created two new prefectures, Jingzhou (景州, modern Zunhua, Hebei) from Jizhou and Luanzhou (滦州; Luan County, Hebei) from Pingzhou, which have not been included in the original sixteen.