Chapter 1 An Overview of Ethnic Minorities in Yunn...
Yunnan Province, abbreviated as “Dian” or “Yun”, is located at the frontier of Southwest China, with the Tropic of Cancer running through its southern part. The capital of the province is Kunming. The province spans approximately 394,100 square kilometers,ranking 8th in China. The province borders the Chinese provinces of Guangxi and Guizhou in the east, Sichuan in the north, and Tibet Autonomous Region in the northwest. It also shares borders with Myanmar in the west, Laos and Vietnam in the south. Yunnan is one of the longest border provinces in China, with 25 border counties in 8 states (cities) bordering Burma, Laos and Vietnam respectively. Yunnan is situated on a mountainous plateau,with high elevations in the northwest and low elevations in the southeast. The landscape descends from north to south, with rivers and lakes. Much of the province is influenced by the subtropical plateau monsoon climate, with remarkable three-dimensional climate characteristics: small annual temperature differences, large daily temperature differences,distinct dry and wet seasons, and unusual vertical changes in temperature with the change of the altitude . Due to the diversity of climate, biology, geology, and topography, Yunnan is rich in soil, flora, fauna, minerals, and energy resources. It also boasts for its natural beautywith unique highland scenery, tropical and subtropical frontier scenery and colorful trible culture. A number of tourist attractions featuring high mountain valleys, modern glaciers, highland lakes, stone forests, karst caves, volcanic geothermal, virginforests,gardening, cultural relics, and ethnic minority culture have been built and attracted large number ofvisitors home and abroad.