Counties of China

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County 县 Xiàn
Also known as: County-level divisions
Category	Third level administrative division of a unitary state
Location	People's Republic of China
Found in	Prefectures, Provinces
Number	1,319 (1,307 controlled, 11 claimed) (as of 2023)
Government	Various, Central Government
Subdivisions	Town, Township

Counties (simplified Chinese: 县; traditional Chinese: 縣; pinyin: Xiàn) are found in the third level of the administrative hierarchy in provinces and autonomous regions and the second level in municipalities and Hainan, a level that is known as "county level" and also contains autonomous counties, county-level cities, banners, autonomous banners and city districts. There are 1,355 counties in mainland China out of a total of 2,851 county-level divisions.

The term xian is sometimes translated as "district" or "prefecture" when put in the context of Chinese history.