PEOPLE
Around
1.3 billion people-almost a fifth of the planet's population-live
in China, and on only one-fifth of the country's land
area.
The Chinese consider themselves descendants of the
Hand  dynasty, which was a pivotal period in Chinese
history. Although over 90 percent of Chinese are ethnically
Han, the distinction between Han and other racial
groups is not clear-cut. The notion of being Chinese
- Han Chinese - is to some degree a cultural concept,
an acceptance of Chinese values. The Han Chinese are,
of course, derived from a distinctive racial background,
but over the many centuries, the Han have absorbed
numerous racial minorities.
The Han Chinese have traditionally
populated the eastern part of the country, leaving
the empty west and north to the minority ethnic groups.
But overpopulation in the east, coupled with the government's
desire to bring minority areas in line with the rest
of the country, has encouraged ever increasing numbers
of Han migrants, offered financial incentives to move
to places like Xinjiang and Tibet. Within China, only
in Tibet does the indigenous group remain in the majority.
Minority Groups
There are over 50 officially recognized minority groups living in China today, including those in Tibet and Xinjiang. Most of these minority groups live along China 's strategic, sometimes troubled and usually sparsely populated international borders. Thus, when one of the minority groups needles Beijing , such as happens with Tibetan and Uighurs, the central government takes such deviations quite seriously. The minorities have often maintained close relationships with those of their group living on the other side of those borders. As a result, the central government cannot retain absolute control over some frontier peoples.
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