Yunnan Province, referred to as "Yun" or "Dian", is located in the southwest border of China and is a low-latitude inland area with a total area of 394,100 square kilometers. It is adjacent to Guizhou Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the east, and Sichuan Province in the north. It faces the province across the river, borders Myanmar in the west, and Laos and Vietnam in the south. As of 2023, Yunnan Province has jurisdiction over 8 prefecture-level cities and 8 autonomous prefectures, and the provincial capital city is Kunming. The ethnic minority language families are divided into the Tibetan-Burman, Zhuang-Dong and Miao-Yao languages of the Sino-Tibetan family, and the Monon and Khmer languages of the South Asian family. As of the end of 2024, the permanent population of Yunnan Province is 46.55 million.
Yunnan Province belongs to a mountainous plateau terrain, its climate belongs to a subtropical plateau monsoon type, and its rivers belong to six major water systems, including the Yangtze River, Pearl River, and Red River. The ancient Dian Kingdom appeared before the Qin Dynasty. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Central Dynasty implemented the prefecture and county system in Yunnan. During the Western Jin Dynasty, Yunnan was renamed Ningzhou, one of the ten nine states in the country. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, local regimes such as Nanzhao State and Dali State were established. In 1276, the Yuan Dynasty established the Ministry of Commerce in Yunnan, and "Yunnan" officially became the name of the national provincial administrative division. On February 24, 1950, Yunnan was completely liberated.
Yunnan Province is an important channel and frontier for China to open to South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean Rim region approved by the State Council, and shoulders major responsibility for maintaining regional ecological security. It is an important hub for China to carry out economic, cultural and political exchanges with foreign countries. It is also an important protected area of global biodiversity. It has been selected into the National Free Trade Pilot Zone, is an important part of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and a popular tourist destination in the country. and a major province of culture and tourism.
