What are China's minorities like? Most people hear China and think of the "Han" people and the various Chinese languages written with Chinese characters. Well, in such a huge country, there are innumerable ethnic minorities. Here is a run down of three minorities that once had an independent state.


Note: Borders of original states shown, the borders of independent Tibet are shown on this map, not just the "Tibetan Autonomous Region." Some borders are approximate.

Here are the facts (Note: statistics such as religion and language/script reflect the native people of the region):
English Name/ Variations

Tibet

East / Eastern
Turkestan

Southern / Inner
Mongolia

Flag
Native
Name in
Native
Script
p?(bod)
sherqi turkestan
?? mongol
Chinese Name
Land Area2.5 million km2
0.97 million mi2		1.6 million km2
0.62 million mi2		1.28 million km2
0.49 million mi2
CapitalLhasaUrumchiHohhot
Popultaion6 million Tibetans
7.5 million enthnic Chinese
1.2 million Tibetans killed as direct result of Chinese Occupation		7.2 million Uighurs
6 million ethnic Chinese
2.8 million others		5 million Mongols
28 million ethnic Chinese
150,000 Mongols killed as direct result of Chinese occupation
Major ReligionTibetan Buddhism (Lamaism)IslamTibetan Buddhism (Lamaism)
LanguageTibetan, Tibeto-Burmese familyUighur Turkic & many other Turkic languages, Altaic FamilyMongolian, Altaic Family
Modern ScriptU-chen (headed) & U-m?(headless) TibetanUighur-ArabicClassical Mongolian script & Cyrillic

Indian Scripts/Main Page Tibetan Script and Language 350+ Links about Tibet! 19 Brahmi-descended scripts!
Scripts of Chian, Japan, & Korea Scripts of South East Asia The Persian Alphabet