大学共同利用機関法人 人間文化研究機構　国立民族学博物館

In China, there are 56 ethnic groups: the Han people and 55 minority peoples. The minority peoples mainly inhabit marginal areas in the northeast, northwest, north, and southwest China. As is known from the expression “large area, two or more ethnic groups live together; small area, only one ethnic group lives,” those peoples do not necessarily live in the same area, and numbers of different peoples often share the same locality. Chinese “ethnic groups” were designated by the Chinese government after 1949, according to amended Stalinist principles. Designation as an ethnic group requires an examination by the government.