Yunnan Province

Yunnan Province 云南省
Province
Name transcription(s)
• Chinese	云南省 (Yúnnán Shěng)
• Abbreviation	(Diān) Also: / (Yún)
Map showing the location of Yunnan Province
Coordinates: 25°03′N 101°52′E / 25.050°N 101.867°E / 25.050; 101.867Coordinates: 25°03′N 101°52′E / 25.050°N 101.867°E / 25.050; 101.867
Capital	Kunming
Largest city	Kunming
Divisions	16 prefectures, 129 counties, 1565 townships
Government
• Secretary	Chen Hao
• Governor	Ruan Chengfa
Area
• Total	394,000 km2 (152,000 sq mi)
Area rank	8th
Population (2010)
• Total	45,966,239
• Rank	12th
• Density	120/km2 (300/sq mi)
• Density 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
ISO 3166 code	CN-53
GDP (2013)	CNY 1.2 trillion USD 191 billion (24th)
• per capita	CNY 25,500 USD 4,000 (30th)
HDI (2010)	0.609 (medium) (29th)
Website	www.yn.gov.cn

Yunnan
"Yunnan" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese	云南
Traditional Chinese	雲南
Literal meaning	"South of the Yun[ling Mountains]"
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 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Hûn-lâm

Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country. It spans approximately 394,000 square kilometres (152,000 sq mi) and has a population of 45.7 million in 2009. The capital of the province is Kunming, formerly also known as Yunnan. The province borders Vietnam, Laos, and Burma.

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 metres (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. Yunnan's reserves of aluminium, lead, zinc and tin are the largest in China, and there are also major reserves of copper and nickel.

The Han Empire first recorded diplomatic relations with the province at the end of the 2nd century BC. It became the seat of a Sino-Tibetan-speaking kingdom of Nanzhao in the 8th centuryAD. Nanzhao was multi-ethnic, but the elite most-likely spoke a northern dialect of Yi. The Mongols conquered the region in the 13th century, with local control exercised by warlords until the 1930s. From the Yuan dynasty onward, the area was part of a central-government sponsored population movement towards the Southwestern frontier, with 2 major waves of migrants arriving from Han-majority areas in northern and southeast China. As with other parts of China's southwest, Japanese occupation in the north during World War II forced another migration of majority Han people into the region. These two wave 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. Major ethnic groups include Yi, Bai, Hani, Zhuang, Dai and Miao.