Autonomous prefecture

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Autonomous Prefecture 自治州 Zìzhìzhōu
Current autonomous prefectures (yellow)
Category	Second-level administrative division of a unitary state
Location	China
Number	30 (as of 1983)

Autonomous prefectures (Chinese: 自治州; pinyin: zìzhìzhōu) are one type of autonomous administrative divisions of China, existing at the prefectural level, with either ethnic minorities forming over 50% of the population or being the historic home of significant minorities, although the latter situation is most common. The official name of an autonomous prefecture includes the most significant minority in that region, sometimes two, rarely three. For example, a Kazakh (Kazak in official naming system) prefecture may be called Kazak Zizhizhou. Like all other prefectural level divisions, autonomous prefectures are divided into county level divisions. There is one exception: Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture contains two prefectures of its own. Under the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, autonomous prefectures cannot be abolished.^{[citation needed]}