Yunnan

Yunnan 云南
Province
Name transcription(s)
• Chinese	云南省 (Yúnnán Shěng)
• Nuosu	ꒊꆈ or ꒊꆈꌜ (Yypnuo or Yypnuose)
• Standard Zhuang	Yinznanz
• Abbreviation	YN / 滇 (Diān) or 云 (Yún)
(clockwise from top) Meili Snow Mountains Stone Forest Old Town of Lijiang The Three Pagodas of Dali City Honghe Hani Rice Terraces
Map showing the location of Yunnan Province
Coordinates: 25°02′58″N 102°42′32″E / 25.04944°N 102.70889°E / 25.04944; 102.70889
Country	China
Kingdom of Nanzhao	738
Dachanghe	902
Conquered by the Ming Empire	1381–1382
Yunnan clique	1915–1945
Takeover by the People's Liberation Army	1951
Capital (and largest city)	Kunming
Divisions	16 prefectures, 129 counties, 1565 townships
Government
• Type	Province
• Body	Yunnan Provincial People's Congress
• CCP Secretary	Wang Ning
• Congress chairman	Wang Ning
• Governor	Wang Yubo
• CPPCC chairman	Liu Xiaokai
• National People's Congress Representation	90 deputies
Area [1]
• Total	394,000 km2 (152,000 sq mi)
• Rank	8th
Highest elevation (Kawagarbo)	6,740 m (22,110 ft)
Population  (2020)[2]
• Total	47,209,277
• Rank	12th
• Density	120/km2 (310/sq mi)
• Rank	24th
Demographics
• Ethnic composition	Han: 67% Yi: 11% Bai: 3.6% Hani: 3.4% Zhuang: 2.7% Dai: 2.7% Miao: 2.5% Hui: 1.5% Tibetan: 0.3% De'ang (Ta'ang): 0.19%
• Languages and dialects	Southwestern Mandarin 25 ethnic minority languages
GDP[3]
• Total	CN¥ 2.714 trillion US$ 420 billion
• Per capita	CN¥ 57,882 US$ 8,970
ISO 3166 code	CN-YN
HDI (2019)	0.691[4] medium · 27th
Website	www.yn.gov.cn

Yunnan
"Yunnan" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	云南
Traditional Chinese	雲南
Literal meaning	"South of the colorful clouds"（彩雲之南 / 彩云之南）[note 1]
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yúnnán Bopomofo ㄩㄣˊ   ㄋㄢˊ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Yunnan Wade–Giles Yün2-nan2 IPA [y̌n.nǎn] ⓘ Wu Romanization Yiuin平-noe平 Hakka Romanization Yùn-nàm Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Wàhn-nàahm Jyutping Wan4-naam4 IPA [wɐn˩.naːm˩] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Hûn-lâm
Yi name
Yi	ꒊꆈ yyp nuo
Tai Lue name
Tai Lue	ᦍᦲᧃᧉᦓᦱᧃᧉ jin naan
Lisu name
Lisu	ꓬꓱ-ꓠ ye na
Tibetan name
Tibetan	ཡུན་ནན་ yun nan
Northern Thai name
Northern Thai	ᩅᩥᩮᨴᩉᩁᩣ᩠ᨩ Witheharat

Yunnan^[a] is an inland province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately 394,000 km² (152,000 sq mi) and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan, autonomous regions of Guangxi and Tibet, as well as Southeast Asian countries Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. Yunnan is China's fourth least developed province based on disposable income per capita in 2014.^[7]

Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with high elevations in the Northwest and low elevations in the Southeast. Most of the population lives in the eastern part of the province. In the west, the altitude can vary from the mountain peaks to river valleys as much as 3,000 m (9,800 ft). Yunnan is rich in natural resources and has the largest diversity of plant life in China. Of the approximately 30,000 species of higher plants in China, Yunnan has perhaps 17,000 or more.^[8] Yunnan's reserves of aluminium, lead, zinc and tin are the largest in China, and there are also major reserves of copper and nickel. Historically, the southwestern Silk Road to Bhitargarh in Bangladesh passed through modern Yunnan.

Parts of Yunnan formed the Dian Kingdom during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. The Han dynasty conquered the Dian Kingdom in the late 2nd century BC, establishing the Yizhou Commandery in its place. During the chaos of the Three Kingdoms period, imperial Chinese authority in Yunnan got weakened, and much of the region came under the control of the Cuanman. The area was later ruled by the Sino-Tibetan-speaking kingdom of Nanzhao from (738–937), followed by the Bai-ruled Dali Kingdom (937–1253). After the Mongol conquest of the region in the 13th century, Yunnan was conquered and ruled by the Ming dynasty.

From the Yuan dynasty onward, the area was part of a central-government sponsored population movement towards the southwestern frontier, with two major waves of migrants arriving from Han-majority areas in northern and southeast China.^[9] As with other parts of China's southwest, Japanese occupation in the north during World War II forced another migration of Han people into the region. These two waves of migration contributed to Yunnan being one of the most ethnically diverse provinces of China, with ethnic minorities accounting for about 34 percent of its total population.^[10] Major ethnic groups include Yi, Bai, Hani, Zhuang, Dai, and Miao.^[11] Yunnan has also been identified as "the birthplace of tea ... the first area where humans figured out that eating tea leaves or brewing a cup could be pleasant",^[12] and as the region of origin of the plant genus Cannabis.^[13]

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