中国的民族 

　　中国是一个统一的多民族国家，中华民族是中国各民族的总称。中国有56个民族，其中汉族人口约占全国总人口的91.59%，其余为55个少数民族。 在全国的少数民族中，壮族、回族、维吾尔族、彝族、苗族、满族、藏族、蒙古族、土家族、布依族、朝鲜族、侗族、瑶族、白族、哈尼族、哈萨克族、傣族和黎族的人口超过了100万；僳族、田族、拉祜族、佤族、水族、东乡族、纳西族、土族、柯尔克孜族、羌族、达斡尔族、景颇族、佬族、锡伯族、仡佬族、高山族的人口超过了10万；撒拉族、布朗族、毛南族、塔吉克族、普米族、怒族、阿昌族、鄂温克族、基诺族、德昂族、乌孜别克族、京族、裕固族、保安族、俄罗斯族的人口在1万以上；门巴族、独龙族、鄂伦春族、塔塔尔族、珞巴族、赫哲族人口不足1万。 中国的少数民族人数少，分布区域广，居住相对集中。广西、内蒙古、新疆、西藏、宁夏5个民族自治区分别是壮、蒙古、维吾尔、藏、回几个较大的少数民族集中居住的地区。云南、青海、贵州、甘肃、四川等省份也有大量少数民族聚居。其中云南省内就有20多个少数民族，是中国少数民族聚居最集中的省份。除此以外，吉林省有朝鲜族聚居区，湖南湘西有土家族和苗族聚居区，海南省有黎族和苗族聚居区，台湾省有高山族聚居区等等。很多少数民族居住在中国的边疆地区，那里多是山区、高原、森林和草原，自然资源丰富。 在长期的历史发展过程中，少数民族大都形成了自己特有的风俗习惯和宗教信仰，除了回族、满族一般使用汉语外，其它少数民族都有自己的语言，有的还有自己的文字。中国的少数民族大都能歌善舞，具有自己民族优秀的文化艺术传统、独特的民族乐器、优美的民族歌舞、丰富多彩的神话、诗歌和源远流长的历史传说。在少数民族中，还涌现了一大批科学家，他们为科学技术的进步作出了贡献。

　　Chinese Ethnic Groups  

　　China has 56 ethnic groups, among which the Han ethnic group accounts for 91.59% of the total population, with the remainder broken up into 55 ethnic minorities. Among them, the population of the Zhuang, Hui, Uygur, Yi, Miao, Manchu, Tibetan, Mongolian, Tujia, Bouyei, Korean, Dong, Yao, Bai, Hani, Kazakh, Dai and Li nationalities is more than a million; that of the Lisu, She, Lahu, Wa, Shui, Dongxiang, Naxi, Tu, Kyrgyz, Qiang, Daur, Jingpo, Mulam, Xibe, Gelao, and Gaoshan nationalities exceeds 100,000; that of the Salar, Blang, Maonan, Tajik, Primi, Nu, Achang, Ewenki, Jino, De'ang, Uzbek, Jing, Yugur, Bao'an, and Russian nationalities is over 10,000; and that of the Monba, Drung, Oroqen, Tatar, Lhoba, and Hezhen nationalities is less than 10,000. China's ethnic minorities are scattered over a vast area, but live in relatively compact communities. The five national autonomous regions of Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, Ningxia are compact communities inhabited by five comparably populous minority groups ?Zhuang, Mongolian, Uygur, Tibetan, and Hui respectively. And in Yunnan, Qinghai, Guizhou, Gansu, and Sichuan, there also live a great number of minority people. Yunnan Province is an area where minority groups are most concentrated with more than 20 represented. There is also a region in Jilin Province inhabited by the Korean people, one in the western part of Hunan Province, inhabited by the Tujia and Miao nationalities, one in Hainan Province inhabited by the Li and Miao nationalities, and one in Taiwan Province inhabited by the Gaoshan people. Many ethnic minorities live in China's frontier areas, which mostly comprise mountains, plateaus, forests and plains with rich natural resources. In the long process of historical development, most ethnic minorities have formed their own special traditions, customs and religious beliefs. Except for the Hui and Manchu, who use the Chinese language, other minority groups have their own spoken languages, and some even have written characters. Almost all the ethnic minorities of China are good at singing and dancing, and have their own splendid cultural and artistic traditions, unique national musical instruments, beautiful national songs and dances, rich and varied fairy tales and poems and historical legends of longstanding.