Manchus

Manchu
ᠮᠠᠨᠵᡠ
Total population
10,430,000 (worldwide) 10,410,585 0.77% of China's population (estimate)
Regions with significant populations
People's Republic of China	10,410,585
Republic of China (Taiwan)	12,000
Languages
almost all Mandarin Chinese, very few Manchu
Religion
Mostly non-religious. Manchu shamanism, Buddhism, Chinese folk religion, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Evenks, Nanai, Oroqen, Udege, Xibe and other Tungusic peoples

The Manchu (Manchu: ᠮᠠᠨᠵᡠ; Möllendorff: manju; Abkai: manju; simplified Chinese: 满族; traditional Chinese: 滿族; pinyin: Mǎnzú; Wade–Giles: Man³-tsu²) are an ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. They are sometimes called "red-tasseled Manchus", a reference to the ornamentation on traditional Manchu hats. The Manchus, are descended from the Jurchen people who earlier established the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in China and later established Later Jin (1616-1636), Qing dynasty (1636–1912).

Manchus form the largest branch of the Tungusic peoples and are distributed throughout China, forming the fourth largest ethnic group in that country. They can be found in 31 Chinese provincial regions. They also form the largest minority group in China without an autonomous region. Among them, Liaoning has the largest population and Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Inner Mongolia and Beijing have over 100,000 Manchu residents. About half of the population live in Liaoning province and one-fifth in Hebei province. There are a number of Manchu autonomous counties in China, such as Xinbin, Xiuyan, Qinglong, Fengning, Yitong, Qingyuan, Weichang, Kuancheng, Benxi, Kuandian, Huanren, Fengcheng, Beizhen and over 300 Manchu towns and townships.