In terms of its area, China is the third largest country in the world but it is the world's largest based on population. Because it is so large, China is divided into 23 provinces, 22 of the provinces are controlled by the People's Republic of China (PRC). The 23rd province, Taiwan, is claimed by the PRC but it is not controlled by the PRC and is thus a de facto independent country.
The following is a list of China's provinces ordered by land area. Capital cities of the provinces have also been included for reference.
1) Qinghai
• Area: 278,457 square miles (721,200 sq km)
• Capital: Xining
2) Sichuan
• Area: 187,260 square miles (485,000 sq km)
• Capital: Chengdu
3) Gansu
• Area: 175,406 square miles (454,300 sq km)
• Capital: Lanzhou
4) Heilongjiang
• Area: 175,290 square miles (454,000 sq km)
• Capital: Harbin
5) Yunnan
• Area: 154,124 square miles (394,000 sq km)
• Capital: Kunming
6) Hunan
• Area: 81,081 square miles (210,000 sq km)
• Capital: Changsha
7) Shaanxi
• Area: 79,382 square miles (205,600 sq km)
• Capital: Xi'an
8) Hebei
• Area: 72,471 square miles (187,700 sq km)
• Capital: Shijiazhuang
9) Jilin
• Area: 72,355 square miles (187,400 sq km)
• Capital: Changchun
10) Hubei
• Area: 71,776 square miles (185,900 sq km)
• Capital: Wuhan
11) Guangdong
• Area: 69,498 square miles (180,000 sq km)
• Capital: Guangzhou
12) Guizhou
• Area: 67,953 square miles (176,000 sq km)
• Capital: Guiyang
13) Jiangxi
• Area: 64,479 square miles (167,000 sq km)
• Capital: Nanchang
14) Henan
• Area: 64,479 square miles (167,000 sq km)
• Capital: Zhengzhou
15) Shanxi
• Area: 60,347 square miles (156,300 sq km)
• Capital: Taiyuan
16) Shandong
• Area: 59,382 square miles (153,800 sq km)
• Capital: Jinan
17) Liaoning
• Area: 56,332 square miles (145,900 sq km)
• Capital: Shenyang
18) Anhui
• Area: 53,938 square miles (139,700 sq km)
• Capital: Hefei
19) Fujian
• Area: 46,834 square miles (121,300 sq km)
• Capital: Fuzhou
20) Jiangsu
• Area: 39,614 square miles (102,600 sq km)
• Capital: Nanjing
21) Zhejiang
• Area: 39,382 square miles (102,000 sq km)
• Capital: Nanjing
22) Taiwan
• Area: 13,738 square miles (35,581 sq km)
• Capital: Taipei
23) Hainan
• Area: 13,127 square miles (34,000 sq km)
• Capital: Haikou
Reference
Wikipedia. (3 June 2010). Province (China) - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_%28China%29