ABSTRACT
China has been urbanizing more rapidly than India. By late 2012, the percentage of China's urban population had surpassed 50 percent. Urbanization is important for several reasons. First, it represents the government's commitment to socioeconomic modernization and industrialization and all that these efforts entail, including lower fertility rates and higher standards of living. Policies designed to limit population growth go back several decades in both India and China, but the Chinese policies have generated far more political controversy. Debates about the significance of the country's population size have also colored Western perceptions of China for at least two centuries. The recognition of the Han-speaking Muslims as an official minority raises questions about the intertwining of religion, ethnicity, and political status in China. The diversity of peoples living in China and India represents a political challenge for both states as they define the policies and political structures for accommodating or assimilating their minority populations.
