View source for Yunnan

{{Short description|Province in Southwest China}}
{{Other uses|Yunan (disambiguation)}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2025}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Yunnan
| native_name        = {{lang|zh-Hans|云南}}
| settlement_type    = [[Provinces of China|Province]]
| translit_lang1     = Name
| translit_lang1_type = {{nobold|Chinese}}
| translit_lang1_info = {{lang|zh-Hans|云南省}} ({{Transliteration|zh|Yúnnán Shěng}})
| translit_lang1_type1 = {{nobold|[[Nuosu language|Nuosu]]}}
| translit_lang1_info1 = {{lang|ii|ꒊꆈ}} or {{lang|ii|ꒊꆈꌜ}} ({{Transliteration|ii|Yypnuo}} or {{Transliteration|ii|Yypnuose}})
| translit_lang1_type2 = {{nobold|[[Standard Zhuang]]}}
| translit_lang1_info2 = {{lang|za|Yinznanz}}
| translit_lang1_type3 = {{nobold|Abbreviation}}
| translit_lang1_info3 = YN{{\}}{{linktext|lang=zh|滇}} ({{Transliteration|zh|Diān}}) or {{linktext|lang=zh-Hans|云}} ({{Transliteration|zh|Yún}})
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image
| border       = infobox
| total_width  = 290
| image_style  = border:1
| perrow       = 1/2/2
| image1 = Lijiang Yunnan China Jade-Dragon-Snow-Mountain-01.jpg
| caption1 = [[Jade Dragon Snow Mountain]]
| image2 = 55936-Lijiang (27941831943).jpg
| caption2 = [[Old Town of Lijiang]]
| image3 = Shilin, Yunnan 24740.jpg
| caption3 = [[Stone Forest]]
| image4 = Dali 2007 171.jpg
| caption4 = The [[Three Pagodas]] of [[Dali City]]
| image5 = 多依樹日出20191224221513 01.jpg 
| caption5 = [[Honghe Hani Rice Terraces]]
}}
| image_map          = Yunnan in China (+all claims hatched).svg
| mapsize            = 265px
| map_caption        = Location of Yunnan in China
| coordinates        = {{coord|25|02|58|N|102|42|32|E|type:adm1st_region:CN-53|display=it}}
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = China
| established_title  = [[Kingdom of Nanzhao]]
| established_date   = 738
| established_title2 = [[Dachanghe]]
| established_date2  = 902
| established_title3 = [[Ming conquest of Yunnan]]
| established_date3  = 1381–1382
| established_title4 = [[Yunnan clique]]
| established_date4  = 1915–1945
| established_title5 = Takeover by the [[People's Liberation Army]]
| established_date5  = 1951
| seat_type          = Capital {{nwr|{{nobold|(and largest city)}}}}
| seat               = [[Kunming]]
| parts_type         = Divisions
| parts_style        = para
| p1                 = 16 [[Prefectures of China|prefectures]]
| p2                 = 129 [[Counties of China|counties]]
| p3                 = 1565 [[Townships of China|townships]]
| government_type    = [[Provinces of China|Province]]
| governing_body     = [[Yunnan Provincial People's Congress]]
| leader_title       = [[Party Secretary of Yunnan|Party Secretary]]
| leader_name        = [[Wang Ning (politician, born 1961)|Wang Ning]]
| leader_title1      = [[Yunnan Provincial People's Congress|Congress]] chairman
| leader_name1       = Wang Ning
| leader_title2      = [[Governor (China)|Governor]]
| leader_name2       = [[Wang Yubo]]
| leader_title3      = [[Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference|CPPCC]] chairman
| leader_name3       = [[Liu Xiaokai]]
| leader_title4      = [[National People's Congress]] Representation
| leader_name4       = [[Yunnan delegation to the National People's Congress|91 deputies]]
| area_footnotes     = <ref name=mofcom>{{cite web |title=Doing Business in Yunnan Province of China |url=http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/aroundchina/yunnan.shtml |publisher=Ministry of Commerce, People's Republic Of China |access-date=5 August 2013 |archive-date=7 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107084214/http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/aroundchina/yunnan.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref>
| area_total_km2     = 394000
| area_rank          = [[List of Chinese administrative divisions by area|8th]]
| elevation_max_m    = 6740
| elevation_max_point = [[Kawagarbo]]
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web |date=11 May 2021 |title=Communiqué of the Seventh National Population Census (No. 3) |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202105/t20210510_1817188.html |access-date=11 May 2021 |publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]] |archive-date=11 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511104847/http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202105/t20210510_1817188.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
| population_total   = 47,209,277
| population_as_of   = 2020
| population_rank    = [[List of Chinese administrative divisions by population|12th]]
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_density_rank = [[Provinces of China#List of provincial level divisions|24th]]
| demographics_type1 = Demographics
| demographics1_title1 = Ethnic groups
| demographics1_info1 = {{Plainlist|
*[[Han Chinese|Han]]: 67%
*[[Yi people|Yi]]: 11%
*[[Bai people|Bai]]: 3.6%
*[[Hani people|Hani]]: 3.4%
*[[Zhuang people|Zhuang]]: 2.7%
*[[Dai people|Dai]]: 2.7%
*[[Miao people|Miao]]: 2.5%
*[[Hui people|Hui]]: 1.5%
*[[Tibetan people|Tibetan]]: 0.3%
*[[Palaung people|De'ang]]: 0.19%
}}
| demographics1_title2 = Languages and dialects
| demographics1_info2 = {{ubl|[[Southwestern Mandarin]]|25 [[#Languages|minority languages]]}}
| demographics_type2 = [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] {{normal|(2023)}}<ref name="GDPdata">{{cite web|url=https://data.stats.gov.cn/english/easyquery.htm?cn=E0103|title=National Data|publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China|China NBS]]|date=March 2024|access-date=June 22, 2024}} see also {{cite web|url=https://www.yn.gov.cn/sjfb/tjgb/202403/t20240329_297393.html |script-title=zh: 2023年云南省国民经济和社会发展统计公报 |publisher=yunnan.gov.cn|language=zh |date=March 29, 2024|access-date=June 22, 2024}}</ref>
| demographics2_title1 = Total
| demographics2_info1 = [[CN¥]]3,002 billion {{nwr|(US$426 billion;}} [[List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP|18th]])
| demographics2_title2 = Per capita
| demographics2_info2 = CN¥64,107 {{nwr|(US$9,097;}} [[List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP per capita|23rd]])
| iso_code           = CN-YN
| blank4_name_sec2   = [[Human Development Index|HDI]] (2022)
| blank4_info_sec2   = 0.729<ref name="SHDI">{{cite web |title=Human Development Indices (8.0)- China |url=https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/table/shdi/CHN/?levels=1+4&years=2022&interpolation=0&extrapolation=0 |access-date=23 September 2024 |website=Global Data Lab}}</ref> ([[List of Chinese administrative divisions by HDI|27th]]) – {{color|#090|high}}
| website            = {{URL|https://www.yn.gov.cn}}
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| pic = Yunnan (Chinese characters).svg
| piccap = "Yunnan" in simplified (top) and traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
| picupright = 0.5
| s = 云南
| t = 雲南
| p = Yúnnán
| gr = Yunnan
| bpmf = {{bpmfsp|ㄩㄣˊ|ㄋㄢˊ}}
| w = {{tonesup|Yün2-nan2}}
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|AUD|zh-Yunnan.ogg|yun|2|.|n|an|2}}
| y = Wàhn-nàahm
| j = Wan4-naam4
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|w|an|4|.|n|aam|4}}
| wuu = Yiuin<sup>平</sup>-noe<sup>平</sup>
| poj = Hûn-lâm
| h = Yùn-nàm
| l = "South of the colorful clouds"（彩雲之南 / 彩云之南）{{NoteTag|This is a common interpretation of "Yunnan", but the original etymology is uncertain.}}
| order = st
| othername = 
| lang1 = [[Nuosu language|Yi]]
| lang1_content = ꒊꆈ<br />''yyp nuo''
| lang2 = [[Tai Lue language|Tai Lue]]
| lang2_content = ᦍᦲᧃᧉᦓᦱᧃᧉ<br />''jin naan''
| lang3 = [[Lisu language|Lisu]]
| lang3_content = ꓬꓱ-ꓠ <br />''ye na''
| lang4 = [[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]]
| lang4_content = ཡུན་ནན་ <br />''yun nan''
| lang5 = [[Northern Thai language|Northern Thai]]
| lang5_content = ᩅᩥᩮᨵᩉᩁᩣ᩠ᨩ <br />''Witheharat''
| lang6 = [[Thai language|Thai]]
| lang6_content = ยูนนาน <br />''Yunnan''
| lang7 = [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]
| lang7_content = Vân Nam <br />雲南
| lang8 = [[Lao language|Lao]]
| lang8_content = ຢຸນນານ <br />''yun nān''
| lang9 = [[Burmese language|Burmese]]
| lang9_content = ယူနန်ပြည်နယ် <br />''yunanpranynai''
| lang10 = [[Shan language|Shan]]
| lang10_content = ယူႇၼၢၼ်ႇ၊ မိူင်း <br />''yū⸒nān⸒, möṅː''
}}

'''Yunnan'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|UK|j|uː|ˈ|n|æ|n}},<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Yunnan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518052810/https://www.lexico.com/definition/Yunnan |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 18, 2021 |title=Yunnan |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|US|ˌ|j|uː|ˈ|n|ɑː|n}};<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Yunnan}}</ref> <!-- details in infobox -->{{lang-zh|c=云南|p=Yúnnán}}; {{Small|Mandarin pronunciation:}} {{IPAc-cmn|AUD|Yunnan.ogg|yun|2|n|an|2}}}} is an inland [[Provinces of China|province]] in [[Southwestern China]], spanning approximately {{cvt|394,000|km2|sqmi}} and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is [[Kunming]]. The province borders the Chinese provinces of [[Guizhou]], [[Sichuan]], [[Autonomous regions of China|autonomous regions]] of [[Guangxi]] and [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]], as well as Southeast Asian countries [[Myanmar]] (Burma), [[Vietnam]], and [[Laos]]. Yunnan is China's fourth least developed province based on disposable income per capita in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=Yunnan |work=Illuminating China's Provinces, Municipalities and Autonomous Regions |url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/43609.htm |publisher=PRC Central Government Official Website |access-date=17 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140618065844/http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/43609.htm |archive-date=18 June 2014 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

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 {{cvt|3000|m}}. Yunnan is rich in natural resources and has the largest diversity of plant life in China. Of the approximately 30,000 species of [[Vascular plant|higher plants]] in China, Yunnan has perhaps 17,000 or more.<ref name = Paterson/> 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]] [[Han conquest of Dian|conquered the Dian Kingdom]] in the late 2nd century BC, establishing the Yizhou Commandery in its place. During the chaos of the [[Three Kingdoms|Three Kingdoms period]], imperial Chinese authority in Yunnan weakened, and much of the region came under the control of the [[Cuanman]]. The area was later ruled by the [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]]-speaking kingdom of [[Nanzhao]] from (738–937), followed by the [[Bai people|Bai]]-ruled [[Dali Kingdom]] (937–1253). After the [[Yuan dynasty|Mongol]] conquest of the region in the 13th century, Yunnan was [[Ming conquest of Yunnan|conquered]] and [[Yunnan under Ming rule|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 Chinese|Han]]-majority areas in northern and southeast China.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lee |first=James |year=1982 |title=The Legacy of Immigration in Southwest China, 1250–1850 |journal=Annals de Démographie Historique |volume=1982 |pages=279–304 |doi=10.3406/adh.1982.1543|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/adh_0066-2062_1982_num_1982_1_1543 |doi-access=free |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231119144027/https://www.persee.fr/doc/adh_0066-2062_1982_num_1982_1_1543 |archive-date= Nov 19, 2023 }}</ref> As with other parts of China's southwest, [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] occupation in the north during [[Second Sino-Japanese War|World War II]] forced another migration of [[Han Chinese|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.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z0EGDAAAQBAJ&q=yunnan+demographic&pg=PA11 |title=Pains and Gains of Ethnic Multilingual Learners in China: An Ethnographic Case Study |last=Wang |first=Ge |date=2016-04-18 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9789811006616 |pages=11 |access-date=2020-10-18 |archive-date=2021-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420033149/https://books.google.com/books?id=z0EGDAAAQBAJ&q=yunnan+demographic&pg=PA11 |url-status=live }}</ref> Major ethnic groups include [[Yi people|Yi]], [[Bai people|Bai]], [[Hani people|Hani]], [[Zhuang people|Zhuang]], [[Dai people|Dai]], and [[Miao people|Miao]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Genetic, linguistic and archaeological perspectives on human diversity in Southeast Asia |author1=Jin Li| author2=Mark Seielstad|author3= Xiao Chunjie |date=2001 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=9789810247843 |page=57 |oclc=897003738}}</ref> Yunnan has also been identified as the birthplace of [[tea]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Thomas |last=Fuller |title=A Tea From the Jungle Enriches a Placid Village |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/world/asia/21tea.html |work=The New York Times |location=New York |page=A8 |date=2008-04-21 |access-date=2020-02-13 |archive-date=2017-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214133259/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/world/asia/21tea.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and as the region of origin of the plant genus ''[[Cannabis]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Osterberger |first1=Elisabeth |last2=Lohwasser |first2=Ulrike |last3=Jovanovic |first3=Dijana |last4=Ruzicka |first4=Joana |last5=Novak |first5=Johannes |date=2022-04-01 |title=The origin of the genus Cannabis |journal=Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution |language=en |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=1439–1449 |doi=10.1007/s10722-021-01309-y |bibcode=2022GRCEv..69.1439O |s2cid=245589100 |issn=1573-5109 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Etymology ==

The name "Yunnan" first referred to a place when the [[Han dynasty]] created Yunnan County near modern [[Xiangyun County|Xiangyun]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=杨跃生 |author2=云南省祥云县志编纂委员会 |script-title=zh:祥云县志 |location=Beijing |publisher=[[Zhonghua Book Company]] |date=1996 |isbn=7-101-01548-4 |page=7}}</ref> During the [[Tang dynasty]], [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang|Emperor Xuanzong]] gave [[Piluoge]], the chief of [[Nanzhao]], the title of "King of Yunnan",<ref name="尤中">{{cite book |author=尤中 |script-title=zh:云南地方沿革史 |location=[[Kunming]] |publisher=[[Yunnan People's Publishing House]] |date=1990 |pages=3–5}}</ref> because Nanzhao originated from Yunnan county.<ref name="吴光泛">{{cite book |author1=吴光泛 |author2=云南省地名委员会办公室 |script-title=zh:云南地名探源 |location=[[Kunming]] |publisher=[[Yunnan People's Publishing House]] |date=1988 |isbn=7-222-00203-0 |page=8,78–80}}</ref> Gradually the king of Yunnan controlled more and more territory, and "Yunnan" became the common name of this area.<ref name="谭其骧">{{cite journal |author1=[[Tan Qixiang|谭其骧]] |author2=王天良 |author3=邹逸麟 |author4=郑宝恒 |author5=胡菊兴 |date=1980 |script-title=zh:我国省区名称的来源 |journal=Fudan Journal (Social Science Edition) |issue=S1 |page=128}}</ref> Therefore, the [[Yuan dynasty]] created Yunnan Province after it occupied the [[Dali Kingdom]].<ref name="尤中"/>

Han dynasty literature did not record the etymology of "Yunnan", and there are many theories about its origin. One common theory states that the name means "south of colorful clouds" ({{lang-zh|labels=no|s=彩云之南|p=cǎiyún zhī nán}}). Some annals in the [[Ming dynasty]], for example ''Dian Lüe'' ({{lang-zh|labels=no|c=滇略}}) and ''Yunnan General Annals'' ({{lang-zh|labels=no|s=云南通志}}), support this.<ref name="吴光泛" /> However, modern historian [[Tan Qixiang]] states that this theory is a superficial explanation of the literal meaning.<ref name="谭其骧" /> Another common theory is that the name means "south of [[Yun Range]]" ({{lang-zh|labels=no|s=云岭之南}}) However, this has been disproven because the name "Yunling Mountains" first appeared in Tang dynasty (618–907) literature, but the name "Yunnan" first appeared during the Han dynasty (202&nbsp;BC – 220&nbsp;AD).<ref name="吴光泛"/> Modern research gives more conjectures. You Zhong said "Yunnan" means "south of the mountain (referring to the [[Cang Mountain]]) with clouds".<ref name="尤中"/> Wu Guangfan said "Yunnan" might be a [[Loloish languages|Loloish]] or [[Bai language|Bai]] name.<ref name="吴光泛"/>

== History ==
{{main|History of Yunnan}}{{More citations needed section|date=October 2019}}

=== Prehistory ===

The [[Yuanmou Man]], a ''[[Homo erectus]]'' fossil unearthed by railway engineers in the 1960s, has been determined to be the oldest-known hominid fossil in China. By the [[Neolithic]] period, there were human settlements in the area of [[Lake Dian]]. These people used stone tools and constructed simple wooden structures.

=== Dian Kingdom ===
[[Image:DianScuplture1.jpg|thumb|Bronze sculpture of the [[Dian Kingdom]], 3rd century BC|alt=|left]]

Around the 3rd century BC, the central area of Yunnan around present day [[Kunming]] was known as [[Dian Kingdom|Dian]]. The [[Chu (state)|Chu]] general {{ill|Zhuang Qiao|zh|庄蹻}} ({{lang|zh-Hant|庄蹻}}) entered the region from the upper [[Yangtze River]]<ref>{{Cite conference |title=Conference on Ancient China and Social Science Generalizations, June 21–26, 1986, Airlie House, Virginia |date=1986 |oclc=66895315}} {{full citation needed | date=May 2024 | reason= which paper?}}</ref> and set himself up as "King of Dian".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Studies in Chinese archaeology and art |last=Watson | first= William |date=1998|volume =2|publisher=Pindar Press |isbn=9780907132943|oclc=38530016}}</ref> He and his followers brought into Yunnan an influx of Chinese influence,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Yunnanese and Kunming Chinese : a study of the language communities, the phonological systems, and the phonological developments |author=Gui Mingchao |date=2001 |publisher=Lincom Europa |place= Munich |oclc=702443006}}</ref> the start of a long history of migration and cultural expansion.

=== Qin and Han dynasties ===
In 221 BC, [[Qin Shi Huang]] unified China and extended his authority south. Commanderies and counties were established in Yunnan. An existing road in [[Sichuan]]&nbsp;– the "Five Foot Way"&nbsp;– was extended south to around present day [[Qujing]], in eastern Yunnan. In 109 BC, the [[Han dynasty]] [[Han conquest of Dian|conquered Dian]] during its [[Southward expansion of the Han dynasty|southern expeditions]]. Under orders from [[Emperor Wu of Han|Emperor Wu]], General {{ill|Guo Chang|zh|郭昌}} ({{lang|zh|郭昌}}) was sent south to Yunnan, eventually establishing the [[Yizhou commandery]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=The Making of a Maritime Power : China's Challenges and Policy Responses |author=Kong Zhiguo |isbn=9789811017865 |oclc=965039831 |date=2016-10-25|publisher=Springer }}</ref> By this time, agricultural technology in Yunnan had improved markedly. The local people used bronze tools, plows and kept a variety of livestock, including cattle, horses, sheep, goats, pigs and dogs. Anthropologists have determined that these people were related to the people now known as the [[Tai peoples|Tai]]. They lived in tribal congregations, sometimes led by exiled Chinese.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}}

During the [[Three Kingdoms]], the territory of present-day Yunnan, western [[Guizhou]] and southern Sichuan was collectively called [[Nanzhong]]. The dissolution of Chinese central authority led to increased autonomy for Yunnan and more power for the local tribal structures. In AD&nbsp;225, the famed statesman [[Zhuge Liang]] led three columns into Yunnan to pacify the tribes. His seven captures of [[Meng Huo]], a local magnate, is mythologized in the [[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Three kingdoms and Chinese culture |url=https://archive.org/details/threekingdomschi00besi |url-access=registration |date=2007 |publisher=State University of New York Press |editor1-last=Besio |editor1-first=Kimberly Ann |editor2-last=Tung |editor2-first=Constantine |isbn=9781429498142 |location=Albany |pages=[https://archive.org/details/threekingdomschi00besi/page/n82 56] |oclc=172980809}}</ref>

=== Cuan Kingdom ===
{{main|Cuanman}} 
In the 4th century, northern China was largely overrun by nomadic tribes from the north. In the 320s, the Cuan ({{lang|zh|爨}}) clan migrated into Yunnan. [[Cuan Chen]] ({{lang|zh|爨琛}}) named himself king and held authority from [[Lake Dian]], then known as [[Kunchuan]]. Henceforth the Cuan clan ruled eastern Yunnan for over four hundred years.

International trade flowed through Yunnan.<ref>{{cite book |last=Yang |first=Bin | author-mask = Yang Bin |date=2008 |title=Between Winds and Clouds The Making of Yunnan Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE |chapter=Chapter 2 The Southwest Silk Road: Yunnan in a Global Context |chapter-url=http://www.gutenberg-e.org/yang/pdf/yang-chapter2.pdf |publisher=Columbia University Press |access-date=2016-07-11 |archive-date=2018-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928122045/http://www.gutenberg-e.org/yang/pdf/yang-chapter2.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> An ancient overland pre-[[Tang dynasty|Tang]] trade route from Yunnan Province passed through [[Ayeyarwady Region|Irrawaddy]] in Burma to reach [[Bengal]]. Yunnan was inhabited by so-called barbarians not fully under the control of the Tang government and the route, though ancient, was not used much in pre-Tang times, and Chinese attempts to control the route were disrupted by the rise of [[Nanzhao]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schafer |first1=Edward H. |title=The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of Tang Exotics |date=1963 |publisher=University of California Press |page=14 |isbn=978-0-520-05462-2}}</ref>

=== Nanzhao period ===
{{main|Nanzhao}}
Yunnan was settled by several local tribes, clans, and cultures before the 8th century. Around [[Lake Erhai]], namely, the [[Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture|Dali]] area, there emerged six ''zhao'': Mengzi ({{lang|zh|蒙巂}}), Yuexi ({{lang|zh|越析}}), Langqiong ({{lang|zh|浪穹}}), Dengdan ({{lang|zh|邆赕}}), Shilling ({{lang|zh|施浪}}), and Mengshe ({{lang|zh|蒙舍}}). ''Zhao'' ({{lang|zh|诏}}) was an indigenous non-Chinese language term meaning "king" or "kingdom." Among the six regimes Mengshe was located south of the other five; therefore given the new, larger context, it was called Nanzhao (Southern Kingdom).<ref>{{Cite book |title=Treatises of the supervisor and guardian of the Cinnamon Sea (Guihai yuheng zhi) |last=Fan |first=Chengda| author-mask = Fan Chengda |date=2010 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=9780295990798 |pages=224 |oclc=812405203}}</ref>

By the 730s Nanzhao had succeeded in bringing the Erhai Lake–area under its authority. In 738, the western Yunnan was united by [[Piluoge]], the fourth king of Nanzhao, who was confirmed by the imperial court of the [[Tang dynasty]] as [[Chinese nobility|king]] of Yunnan.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Study and teaching guide for the history of the medieval world |last=Kaziewicz |first=Julia |isbn=9781933339788 |oclc=907173612 |date=2016-01-11|publisher=National Geographic Books }}</ref> Ruling from [[Dali City|Dali]], the thirteen kings of Nanzhao ruled over more than two centuries and played a vital role in the dynamic relationship between the Tang dynasty and the [[Tibetan Empire]] as a [[buffer state]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of the peoples of Asia and Oceania |last=West |first=Barbara A. |date=2009 |publisher=Facts On File |isbn=9781438119137 |pages=79 |oclc=370717954}}</ref>

By the 750s, Nanzhao had conquered Yunnan and became a potential rival to Tang China. The following period saw several conflicts between Tang China and Nanzhao. In 750, Nanzhao attacked and captured Yaozhou, the largest Tang settlement in Yunnan. In 751, Xianyu Zhongtong ({{lang|zh|鮮于仲通}}), the regional commander of Jiannan (present-day [[Sichuan]]), led a Tang campaign against Nanzhao. The king of Nanzhao, Geluofeng, regarded the previous incident as a personal affair and wrote to Xianyu to seek peace. However, Xianyu Zhongtong detained the Nanzhao envoys and turned down the appeal. Confronted with Tang armies, Nanzhao immediately turned its allegiance to the [[Tibetan Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Teachings of Master Wuzhu : Zen and religion of no-religion |last=Adamek |first=Wendi L. |date=2011 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231150224 |oclc=756338604}}</ref> The Tubo and Nanzhao agreed to be "fraternal states"; Geluofeng was given the titles zanpuzhong ("younger brother"). The Nanzhao-Tubo alliance ensured a disastrous defeat for Xianyu's expedition, with the Tang general's army of 80,000 men being reduced to a quarter of its original size.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Medieval Chinese warfare, 300–900 |last=Graff |first=David Andrew |date=2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415239554 |oclc=978432516}}</ref>

Tang China did not give up after one failure. In 753, another expedition was prepared, but this was also defeated by Nanzhao. In 754, the Tang organized an army of more than 100,000 troops that advanced to the Dali plain, resulting in only another slaughter. By the end of the eighth century, Tang was no longer a major threat to Nanzhao.

[[File:大理崇圣寺千寻塔出土-银背光金阿嵯耶观音立像-大理国-云南省博物馆 2025-09-18.jpg|thumb|upright|A gold statue of Acharya Lokeshvara ([[Guanyin]]), recovered from the [[Three Pagodas|Qianxun Pagoda]], [[Dali Kingdom]]<ref>{{Cite book |title= |publisher=[[Yunnan People's Publishing House]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-7-222-05365-6 |editor-last=云南省博物馆 |editor-link=Yunnan Provincial Museum |pages=116 |language=zh |script-title=zh:云南省博物馆馆藏精品全集：国宝集萃 |trans-title=Excellent Collection of Yunnan Provincial Museum: National Treasure}}</ref>]]

Nanzhao's expansion lasted for several decades. In 829, Nanzhao suddenly plundered [[Sichuan]] and entered [[Chengdu]]. When it retreated, hundreds of Sichuan people, including skilled artisans, were taken to Yunnan. In 832, the Nanzhao army captured the capital of the [[Pyu city-states|Pyu kingdom]] in modern upper [[Burma]]. Nanzhao also attacked the [[Khmer people]]s of [[Chenla|Zhenla]]. Generally speaking, Nanzhao was then the most powerful kingdom in mainland Southeast Asia, and played an extremely active role in multistate interactions.
In 859, Nanzhao captured [[Zunyi|Bozhou]], and this event exacerbated the Nanzhao-Tang clashes. When the Tang governor of [[Vietnam|Annam]] took Bozhou back in the following year, Nanzhao, with the help of native peoples, occupied Hanoi as the Tang army moved to Bozhou. When the Tang forces returned, Nanzhao troops retreated from [[Hanoi]] but attacked and plundered [[Nanning|Yongzhou]]. In the winter of 862, Nanzhao, allying with local groups, led an army of over 50,000 men to invade Annam again. It is reported that the Tang forces lost over 150,000 soldiers (either killed or captured by
Nanzhao) in the two Annam battles. The autumn of 866 saw Tang victory in Hanoi and soon all of the Nanzhao forces were driven away. But Tang China had lost its ability to attack Nanzhao.

While Nanzhao was being defeated in Annam, it still occasionally attacked Sichuan. In 869, Shilong ({{lang|zh|世隆}}), the eighth king and the first empire of Nanzhao, invaded Sichuan. In 874, Nanzhao attacked Sichuan again.

In 902, Zheng Maisi, the ''Qingpingguan'' ({{lang|zh|清平官}},"Prime Minister") of Nanzhao, murdered the infant king of Nanzhao, and established a new kingdom called [[Dachanghe]]. Nanzhao, a once-powerful empire, disappeared. In 928, Yang Ganzhen (楊干貞) usurped the Dachanghe king and established Zhao Shanzheng, a ''qingpingguan'' as emperor of Datianxing (大天興). In 929, Yang Qianzhen abolished Zhao Shanzheng and established himself as Emperor of Dayining (大義寧).

=== Dali Kingdom and Yuan dynasty ===
[[File:Dalisanta.jpg|thumb|The [[Three Pagodas]] of Dali|alt=Refer to caption|left]]

In 937, [[Duan Siping]] overthrew the Dayining Kingdom and established the [[Dali Kingdom]]. The kingdom was conquered by the [[Mongol Empire]] in 1253 after Dali King Duan Xingzhi defected to the Mongols. The Duans were incorporated into the Mongol administration as [[Maharaja]]s of the new province. The Mongolian prince sent to administer the region with them was killed. In 1273, [[Kublai Khan]] reformed the province and appointed the [[semu]] [[Ajall Shams al-Din Omar]] as its governor.<ref>John Man, ''Kublai Khan'', p.80</ref> Yunnan Province during the [[Yuan dynasty]] included significant portions of [[Upper Burma]] after the [[First Mongol invasion of Burma]] in the 1270s and 1280s. The withdrawal of garrison troops from Burma in 1303 gave local leaders the freedom to expand their own power bases, eventually leading to the rapid rise and rebellion of [[Möng Mao]] in the 1340s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Daniels |first=Christian |date=2018-11-28 |title=The Mongol-Yuan in Yunnan and ProtoTai/Tai Polities during the 13th-14th Centuries |url=https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/pub_jss/article/view/157701 |journal=The Journal of the Siam Society |language=en |volume=106 |pages=201–243 |issn=2651-1851}}</ref> With the fall of the Yuan dynasty in 1368, the Ming dynasty destroyed the Yuan loyalists led by [[Basalawarmi]] and the remnants of the House of Duan in the [[Ming conquest of Yunnan]] by the early 1380s.<ref>{{citation |last=Robinson |first=David M. |title=Delimiting the Realm under the Ming Dynasty |url=http://mongol.huji.ac.il/sites/default/files/Robinson_Delimiting%20the%20Realm%20under%20the%20Ming%20Dynasty.pdf |page=15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629181742/http://mongol.huji.ac.il/sites/default/files/Robinson_Delimiting%20the%20Realm%20under%20the%20Ming%20Dynasty.pdf |archive-date=2016-06-29}}</ref><ref name="Dardess2012">{{cite book |last=Dardess |first=John W. |title=Ming China, 1368–1644: A Concise History of a Resilient Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0vLn_IZZVMUC&pg=PA18 |year=2012 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-0490-4 |page=18 |access-date=2016-07-11 |archive-date=2022-08-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220827084205/https://books.google.com/books?id=0vLn_IZZVMUC&pg=PA18 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Ming and Qing dynasties ===
The Ming installed [[Mu Ying]] and his family as hereditary aristocrats in Yunnan.

[[File:Attack on the rebel nest Beiqing and Balin.jpg|thumb|A scene of the Qing campaign against the [[Miao people]] in 1795.]]
During the [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] and [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] dynasties, large areas of Yunnan were administered under the [[native chieftain system]]. Under the Qing dynasty a [[Sino-Burmese War (1765–1769)|war with Burma]] also occurred in the 1760s due to the attempted consolidation of borderlands under local chiefs by both China and Burma.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

Yunnan was a destination for Han Chinese during Yuan rule.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Smith |editor1-first=Paul Jakov |editor2-last=von Glahn |editor2-first=Richard |last=Dardess |first=John W. |date=2003 |title=The Song –Yuan-Ming Transition in Chinese History |chapter=Chapter 3: Did the Mongols Matter? Territory, Power, and the Intelligentsia in China from the Northern Song to the Early Ming |chapter-url=https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/13656/Dardess%20Mongols.pdf?sequence=1 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center |page=111 |isbn=9780674010963 |access-date=2016-07-11 |archive-date=2016-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816183525/https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/13656/Dardess%20Mongols.pdf?sequence=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> Migrants moved into the area during Ming and Qing rule.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lee |first=James |date=1982 |title=The legacy of immigration in Southwest China, 1250–1850 |journal=Annales de démographie historique |volume=1982 |number=1 |pages=279–304 |doi=10.3406/adh.1982.1543 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/adh_0066-2062_1982_num_1982_1_1543 }}</ref> During the Ming dynasty, 3 million Han Chinese mostly from [[Nanjing]] (the original Nanjing population was later largely replaced by Wu-speakers), and some from Shanxi and Hebei, settled in Yunnan.

Although largely forgotten, the bloody [[Panthay Rebellion]] of the [[Islam in China|Muslim]] [[Hui people]] and other local minorities against the [[Manchus|Manchu]] rulers of the [[Qing dynasty]] caused the deaths of up to a million people in Yunnan.<ref name=chineseciv>{{cite book | last=Gernet | first= Jacques | author-link= Jacques Gernet| title=A History of Chinese Civilization| volume=2|place =New York | publisher =Cambridge University Press| date= 1996| isbn= 0-521-49712-4}}</ref> The Manchu official Shuxing'a started an anti-Muslim massacre, which led to the rebellion. Shuxing'a developed a deep hatred of Muslims after an incident in which he was stripped naked and nearly lynched by a mob of Muslims. He ordered several Muslim rebels to be [[Lingchi|slowly sliced to death]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Atwill |first1=David G. |title=The Chinese Sultanate: Islam, Ethnicity, and the Panthay Rebellion in Southwest China, 1856–1873 |date=2005 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0804751595 |page=89 |edition=illustrated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Da2M_viEclEC&pg=PA89 |access-date=2019-05-10 |archive-date=2019-12-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224132210/https://books.google.com/books?id=Da2M_viEclEC&pg=PA89 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Wellman |editor1-first=James K. Jr. |title=Belief and Bloodshed: Religion and Violence across Time and Tradition |date=2007 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield  |isbn=978-0742571341 |page=121 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CfweAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA121 |access-date=2019-05-10 |archive-date=2019-12-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228011704/https://books.google.com/books?id=CfweAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA121 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Tariq Ali]] wrote about the real incident in one of his novels and claimed the Muslims who had nearly lynched Shuxing'a were not Hui but belonged to another ethnicity. Nevertheless, the Manchu official blamed all Muslims for the incident.<ref>{{multiref2|{{cite book |last1=Ali |first1=Tariq | author-link= Tariq Ali|title=The Islam Quintet: Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, The Book of Saladin, The Stone Woman, A Sultan in Palermo, and Night of the Golden Butterfly |date=2014 |publisher=Open Road Media |isbn=978-1480448582 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iS8XAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT1637 |access-date=2019-05-10 |archive-date=2020-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809102205/https://books.google.com/books?id=iS8XAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT1637 |url-status=live }}|{{cite book |last1=Ali |first1=Tariq |title=Night of the Golden Butterfly (Vol. 5) (The Islam Quintet) |date=2010 |publisher=Verso Books |isbn=978-1844676118 |page=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2NUmoF9KvjQC&pg=PA90 |access-date=2019-05-10 |archive-date=2020-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613052253/https://books.google.com/books?id=2NUmoF9KvjQC&pg=PA90 |url-status=live }}}}</ref> A British officer testified that the Muslims did not rebel for religious reasons and that the Chinese were tolerant of different religions and were unlikely to have caused the revolt by interfering with the practice of Islam.<ref name="fytche_301">{{harvnb|Fytche|1878|p=301}}</ref> Loyalist Muslim forces helped Qing forces crush the rebel Muslims. The Qing armies massacred only Muslims who had rebelled or supported the rebels and spared Muslims who took no part in the uprising.<ref name="dillon_77">{{harvnb|Dillon|1999|p=77}}</ref>

In 1894, [[George Ernest Morrison]], an [[Australia]]n correspondent for ''[[The Times]]'', traveled from [[Beijing]] to British-occupied [[Burma]] via Yunnan. His book, ''An Australian in China'',<ref>G. E. Morrison, [http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks05/0500681h.html ''An Australian in China''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230224023/http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks05/0500681h.html |date=2016-12-30 }}, 1895</ref> details his experiences.

[[File:Kunming Street 4.jpg|thumb|left|Kunming Street]]
The [[1905 Tibetan Rebellion]] in which Tibetan Buddhist Lamas attacked and killed French Catholic missionaries spread to Yunnan.

=== Post-Imperial ===
{{see also|Yunnan Province, Republic of China}}
Yunnan was transformed by the events of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], which caused many east coast refugees and industrial establishments to relocate to the province. It assumed strategic significance, particularly as the [[Burma Road]] from [[Lashio]], in [[Burma]] to [[Kunming]] was a fought over supply line of vital importance to China's war effort.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/burma-road-is-reopened |title=Burma Road is reopened |website=History Channel |access-date=2019-06-05 |archive-date=2019-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604194343/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/burma-road-is-reopened |url-status=live }}</ref>

University faculty and students in the east had originally decamped to [[Changsha]], capital of [[Hunan]]. But as Japanese forces were gaining more territory they eventually bombed Changsha in February 1938. The 800 faculty and students who were left had to flee and made the 1,000 mile journey to [[Kunming]], capital of Yunnan in China's mountainous southwest. It was here that the [[National Southwest Associated University]] (commonly known as Lianda University) was established. For eight years, staff, professors and students had to survive and operate in makeshift quarters that were subject to sporadic bombing campaigns by the Japanese.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Lianda: a Chinese university in war and revolution |last=Israel |first=John |date=1998 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0804729298 |oclc=39108542}}</ref> There were dire shortages of food, equipment, books, clothing and other essential needs, but they managed to conduct the running of a modern [[university]]. Over those eight years of war (1937–1945), Lianda became famous nationwide for having and producing many, if not most, of China's most prominent academics, scholars, scientists and intellectuals. Both of China's only [[Nobel laureates in physics]] [[Yang Chen-Ning]] and [[Tsung-Dao Lee]] studied at Lianda in Kunming.

=== Naturalists ===
[[File:Lijiang-noria-l01.jpg|thumb|Lijiang]]
Thousands of plant, insect and mammal species were described in the 19th century by scientists of the [[National Museum of Natural History (France)|French National Museum of Natural History]], Paris, in connection with permanent settlements of missionaries of the {{lang|fr|[[Paris Foreign Missions Society|Missions étrangères de Paris]]}} in north-west Yunnan, among them noticeably [[Jean-André Soulié]] and [[Felix Biet]]. From 1916 to 1917, [[Roy Chapman Andrews]] and [[Yvette Borup Andrews]] led the Asiatic Zoological Expedition of the [[American Museum of Natural History]] through much of western and southern Yunnan, as well as other provinces of China. The book, ''[[Camps and Trails in China]]'', records their experiences. Other notable explorers include [[Heinrich Handel-Mazzetti]]; [[George Forrest (botanist)|George Forrest]]; [[Joseph Francis Charles Rock]], who from 1922 to 1949 spent most of his time studying the flora, peoples and languages of southwest China, mainly in Yunnan; and [[Peter Goullart]], a [[White émigré|White Russian]] who studied [[Nakhi people|Naxi]] culture and lived in [[Lijiang, Yunnan|Lijiang]] from 1940 to 1949.

== Geography ==
[[File:Terrace field yunnan china.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Honghe Hani Rice Terraces]] in Yunnan|alt=|left]]
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Luoping Yunnan.jpg|thumb|Fields of [[canola]] in [[Luoping County|Luoping]].]] -->Yunnan is the most southwestern province in China, with the [[Tropic of Cancer]] running through its southern part. The province has an area of {{cvt|394100|km2}}, 4.1% of the nation's total. The northern part of the province forms part of the [[Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau]]. The province borders [[Guangxi]] and [[Guizhou]] in the east, [[Sichuan]] in the north, and the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]] in the northwest. It shares a border of {{cvt|4060|km}} with [[Myanmar]] ([[Kachin State|Kachin]] and [[Shan State]]s) in the west, [[Laos]] ([[Luang Namtha Province|Luang Namtha]], [[Oudomxay Province|Oudomxay]], and [[Phongsaly Province]]s) in the south and [[Vietnam]] ([[Hà Giang Province|Hà Giang]], [[Lào Cai Province|Lào Cai]], [[Lai Châu Province|Lai Châu]], and [[Điện Biên Province]]s) in the southeast.
For practical purposes, all of Yunnan province falls within the [[Zomia (region)|Zomia]] region of Asia.

=== Geology ===
[[File:Diqing, Yunnan, China.jpg|thumb|Snowy mountains in [[Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture|Dêqên]], northwestern Yunnan|alt=]]
Yunnan is at the far eastern edge of the [[Geology of the Himalaya|Himalayan uplift]], and was pushed up in the [[Pleistocene]], primarily in the [[Middle Pleistocene]], although the uplift continues into the present. The eastern part of the province is a [[limestone]] [[plateau]] with [[karst]] topography and unnavigable rivers flowing through deep mountain gorges. The main surface formations of the plateau are the [[Lower Permian]] Maokou Formation, characterized by thick limestone deposits, the Lower Permian Qixia Formation, characterised by dolomitic limestones and [[Dolomite (rock)|dolomite]]s, the [[Upper Permian]] [[basalt]]s of the Ermeishan Formation (formerly Omeishan plateau basalts), and the red [[sandstone]]s, [[mudstone]]s, [[siltstone]]s, and [[conglomerate (geology)|conglomerate]]s of the [[Mesozoic]]&ndash;[[Paleogene]], including the Lufeng Formation and the Lunan Group (Lumeiyi, Xiaotun, and Caijiacong formations). In this area is the noted [[Stone Forest]] or Shilin, eroded vertical pinnacles of limestone (Maokou Formation). In the eastern part the rivers generally run eastwards. The western half is characterized by mountain ranges and rivers running north and south.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Yunnan Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources |year=1990 |title=Regional Geology of Yunnan Province |series=Geological Memoirs of the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources of the People's Republic of China: Regional Geology, no.21 |language=zh-hans |location=Beijing |publisher=Geological Publishing House |page=10 |isbn=978-7-116-00567-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hzFPAQAAIAAJ}}</ref>

=== Paleontology ===
{{see also|Maotianshan Shales}}
*[[Yunnanozoon]] – [[Cambrian|Lower Cambrian]] possible [[chordate]]
*[[Jingshanosaurus]] – [[Jurassic|Early Jurassic]] long-neck [[prosauropod]] [[dinosaur]]

=== Climate ===
[[File:Koppen-Geiger Map v2 CHN Yunnan 1991–2020.svg|alt=Köppen–Geiger climate classification map for Yunnan|thumb|Köppen climate classification map of Yunnan]]
Yunnan has a generally mild climate with pleasant and fair weather because of the province's location on south-facing mountain slopes, receiving the influence of both the Pacific and Indian oceans, and although the growing period is long, the rugged terrain provides little [[arable land]]. See ''[[#Agriculture|Agriculture in Yunnan]]''. Under the [[Köppen climate classification]], much of the province lies within the [[subtropical highland]] (Köppen ''Cwb'') or [[humid subtropical]] zone (''Cwa''), with cool to warm winters, and temperate summers, except in the truly tropical south, where temperatures regularly exceed {{cvt|30|°C}} in the warmer half of the year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nmc.cn/publish/forecast/AYN/jinghong.html |script-title=zh:中央气象台>> 全国 >> 云南省 >> 景洪天气预报 |publisher=National Meteorological Centre of the China Meteorological Administration |language=zh-hans |access-date=2012-06-26 |archive-date=2017-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214203714/http://www.nmc.gov.cn/publish/forecast/AYN/jinghong.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''In general'', January average temperatures range from {{cvt|8|to|17|°C|°F}}; July averages vary from {{cvt|21|to|27|°C|°F}}. Average annual rainfall ranges from {{cvt|600|to|2300|mm|in}}, with over half the rain occurring between June and August. The [[Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau|plateau region]] has moderate temperatures. The western canyon region is hot at the valley bottoms, but there are freezing winds at the mountaintops.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Yunnan|website=Britannica|title=Yunnan|date=27 January 2025|access-date=8 February 2025|first1=Ping-chia|last1=Kuo|first2=Robert Lee|last2=Suettinger|quote=In the western canyon region the high mountains and deep valleys create vertical climatic zones. Sultry heat with high humidity dominates the bottom of the valleys, a temperate zone prevails at 6,000 to 11,000 feet (1,830 to 3,350 metres), and freezing winds envelop the tops of the mountains.}}</ref>

===Topography===
[[File:梅里雪山.jpg|thumb|220px|Meili Snow Mountains|alt=]]
The terrain is largely mountainous, especially in the north and west. A series of high mountain chains spreads across the province. There is a distinct [[canyon]] region to the west and a [[Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau|plateau]] region to the east. Yunnan's major rivers flow through the deep valleys between the mountains.

The average elevation is {{cvt|1980|m}}. The mountains are highest in the north where they reach more than {{cvt|5000|m}}; in the south they rise no higher than {{cvt|3000|m}}. The highest point in the north is the [[Kawagebo|Kawagebo Peak]] in [[Deqin County]] on the [[Diqing Plateau]], which is about {{cvt|6740|m}}; and the lowest is in the [[Red River (Asia)|Red River]] Valley in [[Hekou County]], near the Vietnamese border, with an elevation of {{cvt|76.4|m}}.

The eastern half of the province is a limestone plateau with karst scenery and unnavigable rivers flowing through deep mountain gorges; the western half is characterised by mountain ranges and rivers running north and south. These include the Nu Jiang ([[Salween]]), the Lancang ([[Mekong]]), and the Jinsha ([[Yangtze]]), which flow in close proximity in the [[Three Parallel Rivers]] protected area. The rugged, vertical terrain produces a wide range of flora and fauna, and the province has been called a natural zoological and botanical garden.

=== Borders ===
Bordering Chinese provincial-level divisions are [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]], [[Sichuan]], [[Guizhou]] and [[Guangxi]]. Starting from the east and working clockwise, bordering countries are [[Vietnam]] ([[Hà Giang Province|Hà Giang]], [[Lào Cai Province|Lào Cai]], [[Lai Châu Province|Lai Châu]] and [[Điện Biên Province|Điện Biên]] provinces), [[Laos]] ([[Phongsaly Province|Phongsaly]], [[Oudomxay Province|Oudomxay]] and [[Luang Namtha Province|Luang Namtha]] provinces), [[Myanmar]] (states of [[Shan State|Shan]] and [[Kachin State|Kachin]]). The main border crossings are:

*[[Hekou Yao Autonomous County|Hekou]]–[[Lào Cai]], by road and rail, is the only Sino-Vietnamese land border crossing open to non-Chinese/non-Vietnamese.
*Sino-Laotian at [[Boten]]
*[[Ruili]]–[[Muse, Burma|Muse]] is the only Sino-Burmese border crossing open to non-Chinese/non-Burmese.

=== Lakes ===
[[Image:LuguLake.jpg|thumb|[[Lugu Lake]]|alt=View of a lake from high up on one of its surrounding hills]]
[[File:Dianchi Lake.jpg|thumb|Dianchi Lake|alt=A concrete wharf on a lake, hills visible on the far shore, with many birds flying about]]
[[File:Erhai lake, Yunnan, China.jpg|thumb|[[Erhai Lake]], [[Dali City|Dali]], Yunnan|alt=On a lake with hills in the background a man in a pole boat pulls up a fishing net. There are water plants on the surface. People stand in shallows by by another boat in the background.]]
There are several major lakes in Yunnan. The province has nine lakes with areas of over {{cvt|30|km2}}. They include:
*[[Dianchi Lake]], near [[Kunming]]
*[[Fuxian Lake]], in [[Yuxi]], the second deepest lake in China
*[[Xingyun Lake]], directly south of Fuxian Lake and connected with it by a short river
*[[Qilu Lake]], south of Fuxian and Xingyun Lakes, separated from them by mountains, in [[Tonghai County]]
*[[Erhai Lake]], near [[Dali City]]
*[[Lugu Lake]], in [[Ninglang]] near the border with Sichuan
*[[Yangzong Lake]], in Yiliang County
*[[Yilong Lake]]
*[[Green Lake (Kunming)|Green Lake]], in [[Kunming]]

=== Rivers ===
[[File:Yangzi River - by Peter Morgan.jpg|thumb|The [[Yangtze River]] near the [[Tiger Leaping Gorge]]|alt=|left|203x203px]]Yunnan is the source of two rivers, the [[Xi River]] (there known as the [[Nanpan River|Nanpan]] and [[Hongshui River|Hongshui]]) and the [[Red River (Asia)|Yuan River]]. The Hongshui is a principal source stream of the Xi River. Rising as the Nanpan in eastern Yunnan province, it flows south and east to form part of the boundary between [[Guizhou]] province and [[Guangxi]] autonomous region. Flowing for {{cvt|345|km}}, it unites with the [[Yu River (Guangxi)|Yu River]] at [[Guiping]] to form what eventually becomes the [[Xi River]].

The province is drained by six major river systems:
*the [[Yangtze River]], here known as the [[Jinsha Jiang]] (River of Golden Sands), drains the province's north.
*the [[Pearl River (China)|Pearl River]], with its source near [[Qujing]], collects the waters from the east.
*the [[Mekong]] (Lancang), which flows from [[Tibet]] into the [[South China Sea]] forming the boundaries between [[Laos]] and [[Burma]], between Laos and [[Thailand]] and through Laos, [[Cambodia]] and [[Vietnam]]
*the [[Red River (Asia)|Red River]] (Yuan or Honghe) has its source in the mountains south of [[Dali, Yunnan|Dali]] and enters the South China Sea through [[Hanoi]], Vietnam
*the [[Salween]] (Nujiang), which flows into the [[Gulf of Martaban]] and the [[Andaman Sea]] through Burma
*the [[Irrawaddy River|Irrawaddy]], which arises from the confluence of two rivers in [[Kachin State]] in [[Burma]], has a few small tributaries in Yunnan's far west, such as the [[Dulongjiang]] and [[Taping River]], and rivers in the prefecture of Dehong.

=== Biodiversity ===
[[File:Lincang-mountains.jpg|thumb|Lincang mountains|alt=]]
[[File:Girl On Yak In Yunnan Province China.jpg|alt=Smiling young woman dressed in colourful clothes riding a yak, with coloured tassels on its horns, across a ford|thumb|Girl riding a yak in Yunnan]]
Yunnan is China's most diverse province, biologically as well as culturally.<ref name='Bio'>{{cite web |author=Liang, Louhui |url=https://unu.edu/publications/articles/biodiversity-in-chinas-yunnan-province.html |title=Biodiversity in China's Yunnan province |publisher=United Nations University |date=26 April 2011 |access-date=15 September 2020 |archive-date=16 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916060051/https://unu.edu/publications/articles/biodiversity-in-chinas-yunnan-province.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The province contains snow-capped mountains and true tropical environments, thus supporting an unusually full spectrum of species and vegetation types. The Yunnan camellia (''[[Camellia reticulata]]'') is the provincial emblem.<ref name='Camelia'>{{cite web |author=McDowall, Carolyn |url=https://www.thecultureconcept.com/the-camellia-is-a-star-in-a-garden-or-grove-in-australia |title=Camellia – Star on Star in a Garden or Grove in Australia |work=The Culture Concept Circle |publisher=The Cultural Concept |date=27 March 2014 |access-date=15 September 2020 |archive-date=16 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916221742/https://www.thecultureconcept.com/the-camellia-is-a-star-in-a-garden-or-grove-in-australia |url-status=live }}</ref>

During summer, the [[Great Plateau of Tibet]] acts as a barrier to monsoon winds, trapping moisture in the province. This gives the [[alpine plant|alpine flora]] in particular what one source has called a "lushness found nowhere else".

This topographic range combined with a [[tropical]] moisture sustains extremely high [[biodiversity]] and high degrees of [[endemism]], probably the richest botanically in the world's temperate regions.<ref name='Bio' /> Perhaps 17,000 [[species]] of higher plants, of which an estimated 2,500 are endemic, can be found in the province. The province is said to have "as much flowering plant diversity as the rest of the Northern Hemisphere put together".<ref name = Paterson>David Paterson, Kunming Institute of Botany's honorary senior horticulturalist and former director of the [[Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh|Royal Botanic Garden]] in [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]].</ref>{{full citation needed|reason=This is not a source! Where and when did he say this?|date=January 2022}}

Yunnan has less than 4% of the land of China, yet the province harbors around 42.6% of all protected plant species and 72.5% of all protected wild animals in the country, of which 15% are strictly endemic to Yunnan.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Yuming |last2=Tian |first2=Kun |last3=Hao |first3=Jiming |last4=Pei |first4=Shengji |last5=Yang |first5=Yongxing |date=2004-04-01 |title=Biodiversity and biodiversity conservation in Yunnan, China |journal=Biodiversity & Conservation |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=813–826 |doi=10.1023/B:BIOC.0000011728.46362.3c |bibcode=2004BiCon..13..813Y |s2cid=27394328 |issn=1572-9710}}</ref> Accordingly, Yunnan has been referred to as the "Kingdom of Plants" ({{lang|zh-Hant|植物王国}}) in China.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zhou |first=Zhekun |last2=Chen |first2=Linlin |date=2021 |title=Plant diversity in Yunnan province |url=https://www.nature.shu.edu.cn/EN/abstract/article/0253-9608/18622 |journal=Chinese Journal of Nature |volume=43 |issue=6 |pages=459–466}}</ref> Yunnan is home to, most notably, the southeast Asian [[gaur]], a giant forest-dwelling [[Bovinae|bovine]], the [[Indochinese tiger]] and the [[Asian elephant]].<ref name=Smith2008>Smith, A. T.; and Xie, Y. (2008). ''A Guide to the Mammals of China.'' New Jersey: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-691-09984-2}}.</ref> Other extremely rare species are the [[Yunnan box turtle]]<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Blanck | first1 = Zhou | last2 = McCord | first2 =  | year = 2006 | title = The Yunnan box turtle, ''Cuora yunnanensis'' (Boulenger 1906); historical background and an update on the morphology, distribution and vulnerabilities of the only known living specimens | url = | journal = Sacalia | volume = 13 | issue = 4| pages = 14–35 }}</ref> and the [[Yunnan snub-nosed monkey]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://gdri-ehede.univ-fcomte.fr/spip.php?article12 |title=Yunnan snub-nosed monkey, China |website=IRNEHEDE |publisher=University of Franche-Comté |access-date=2019-04-07 |archive-date=2020-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613055422/https://gdri-ehede.univ-fcomte.fr/spip.php?article12 |url-status=live }}</ref> It is feared that the [[Yunnan lar gibbon]], another moribund species, has already gone extinct.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1007/s10764-009-9360-3 |pmid=19644553 |pmc=2715875 |title=Are Hylobates lar Extirpated from China? |year=2009 |last1=Grueter |first1=Cyril C. |last2=Jiang |first2=Xuelong |last3=Konrad |first3=Roger |last4=Fan |first4=Pengfei |last5=Guan |first5=Zhenhua |last6=Geissmann |first6=Thomas |journal=International Journal of Primatology |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=553–567}}</ref> Yunnan province has 11 national and regional nature reserves. In total, the covered protected area in China is about 510,000 hectares.<ref name="ECNS">{{cite web |url=http://www.ecns.cn/news/2020-09-03/detail-ifzzucuv5909166.shtml |title=Solving a dilemma caused by elephants |author=Feng Shuang |website=Ecns |date=3 September 2020 |access-date=6 September 2020 |archive-date=13 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113042735/http://www.ecns.cn/news/2020-09-03/detail-ifzzucuv5909166.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

The freshwater fish fauna is highly diverse with about 620 species, including more than 580 natives (the remaining are [[Introduced species|introduced]]).<ref name=Chen2013>{{Cite journal |pmid=23913883 |year=2013 |last1=Chen |first1=X. Y. |title=Checklist of fishes of Yunnan |journal=Dong Wu Xue Yan Jiu |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=281–343 |doi=10.11813/j.issn.0254-5853.2013.4.0281}}</ref> This equals almost 40% of the freshwater fish species in China. Of the Yunnan natives, more than 250 are endemic to the province and many of these are threatened.<ref name=Chen2013/> Several species that are restricted to single lakes (notably [[Dian Lake|Dian]], [[Erhai Lake|Erhai]], [[Fuxian Lake|Fuxian]] and [[Yilong Lake|Yilong]]) are likely already are extinct.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1007/s10531-013-0579-0 |title=Six decades of changes in vascular hydrophyte and fish species in three plateau lakes in Yunnan, China |year=2013 |last1=Wang |first1=Sihai |last2=Wang |first2=Juan |last3=Li |first3=Maobiao |last4=Du |first4=Fan |last5=Yang |first5=Yuming |last6=Lassoie |first6=James P. |last7=Hassan |first7=Mohd Z. |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=22 |issue=13–14 |pages=3197–3221 |bibcode=2013BiCon..22.3197W |s2cid=18819902}}</ref> By far, the most diverse order in Yunnan are [[Cypriniformes]], both in total species number and number of endemics.<ref name=Chen2013/>

The unique ''[[Sinopyrophorus]]'' bioluminescent beetles were described from Yunnan in 2019.<ref name="Bi He Chen Kundrata pp. 79–97">{{cite journal |last1=Bi |first1=Wen-Xuan |last2=He |first2=Jin-Wu |last3=Chen |first3=Chang-Chin |last4=Kundrata |first4=Robin |last5=Li |first5=Xue-Yan |title=Sinopyrophorinae, a new subfamily of Elateridae (Coleoptera, Elateroidea) with the first record of a luminous click beetle in Asia and evidence for multiple origins of bioluminescence in Elateridae |journal=ZooKeys |publisher=Pensoft Publishers |issue=864 |date=2019-07-17 |issn=1313-2970 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.864.26689 |pmid=31363346 |pmc=6656784 |pages=79–97 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2019ZooK..864...79B }}</ref>

=== Designation ===
Yunnan has been designated:
*"Center of Plant Diversity" (IUCN/WWF: Davis et al. 1995)
*"Global 200 List Priority Ecoregion" for biodiversity conservation (WWF: Olsen and Dinerstein 1998)
*"Endemic Bird Area" (Birdlife International: Bibby, C. et al. 1992) and
*"Global Biodiversity Hotspot", as a part of the Hengduan Mountain Ecosystem (Conservation International: Mittermeier and Mittermeier 1997)

=== Natural resources ===
A main source of wealth lies in its vast [[mineral resources]]; indeed, mining is the leading industry in Yunnan. Yunnan has proven deposits of 86 kinds of minerals in 2,700 places. Some 13% of the proved deposits of minerals are the largest of their kind in China, and two-thirds of the deposits are among the largest of their kind in the Yangtze River valley and in south China. Yunnan ranks first in the country in deposits of [[zinc]], [[lead]], [[tin]], [[cadmium]], [[indium]], [[thallium]] and [[crocidolite]]. Other deposits include [[iron]], [[coal]], [[copper]], [[gold]], [[mercury (element)|mercury]], [[silver]], [[antimony]] and [[sulfur]]. More than 150 kinds of minerals have been discovered in the province. The potential value of the proven deposits in Yunnan is 3 trillion [[Chinese yuan|yuan]], 40% of which come from fuel minerals, 7.3% from metallic minerals and 52.7% from nonmetallic minerals.

Yunnan has sufficient rainfall and many rivers and lakes. The annual water flow originating in the province is 200 cubic kilometres, three times that of the [[Yellow River]]. The rivers flowing into the province from outside add 160 cubic kilometres, which means there are more than ten thousand cubic metres of water for each person in the province. This is four times the average in the country. The rich water resources offer abundant hydro-energy. China is constructing a series of dams on the Mekong to develop it as a waterway and source of power; the first was completed at [[Manwan Dam|Manwan]] in 1993.

== Scenic areas ==

=== National parks ===
{{see also|List of national parks in China}}
*[[Pudacuo National Park]], opened in 2007, in [[Shangri-La County]]
*[[Laojunshan National Park]] ({{lang|zh-hans|老君山国家公园}}), in [[Lijiang, Yunnan|Lijiang]], ''pending approval''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kunming.org.cn/index/content/2009-01/09/content_1700783.htm |title=Lijiang is to build Laojunshan National Park |publisher=Kunming |date=2009-01-09 |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2009-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302090240/http://www.kunming.org.cn/index/content/2009-01/09/content_1700783.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== UNESCO World Heritage Sites ===
*[[Old Town of Lijiang]], accepted in 1997 as a cultural site
*[[Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas]], accepted in 2003 as a natural site
*[[South China Karst]], accepted in 2007 as a natural site<ref>{{cite web |author=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1248 |title=South China Karst – UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=Whc.unesco.org |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2018-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707202020/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1248 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Maotianshan Shales]], accepted in 2012 as a natural site 
*[[Yuanyang County, Yunnan|Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces]], accepted in 2013 as a cultural site

== Politics and government ==

=== Administrative divisions ===
{{main|List of administrative divisions of Yunnan|List of township-level divisions of Yunnan}}
Yunnan consists of sixteen [[Administrative divisions of China#Prefectural level|prefecture-level divisions]]: eight [[Prefecture-level city|prefecture-level cities]] and eight [[autonomous prefecture]]s:
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center"
|+Administrative divisions of Yunnan
|-
| colspan="9" style="font-size:larger" | <div style="position: relative" class="center">
{{Image label begin|image=Administrative Division Yunnan.svg|width=600|link=|font-size=85%}} 
{{Image label|x=580|y=500|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Kunming]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=710|y=460|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Qujing]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=530|y=645|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Yuxi]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=165|y=555|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Baoshan, Yunnan|Baoshan]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=720|y=200|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Zhaotong]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=330|y=305|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Lijiang]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=360|y=760|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Pu'er City|Pu'er]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=230|y=680|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Lincang]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=420|y=500|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture|Chuxiong<br />Yi AP]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=570|y=730|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture|Honghe<br />Hani and Yi AP]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=770|y=700|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture|Wenshan<br />Zhuang and Miao AP]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=320|y=905|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture|Xishuangbanna<br />Dai AP]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=240|y=450|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture|Dali<br />Bai AP]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=5|y=600|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture|Dehong<br />Dai and Jingpo AP]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=170|y=320|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture|Nujiang<br />Lisu AP]]'''}}
{{Image label|x=170|y=175|scale=600/1000|text='''[[Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture|Dêqên (Diqing)<br />Tibetan AP]]'''}}
{{Image label end}}
</div>
|-
!! scope="col" rowspan="2" | [[Administrative division codes of the People's Republic of China|Division code]]<ref>{{cite web |language=zh-hans |url=http://files2.mca.gov.cn/cws/201502/20150225163817214.html |script-title=zh:中华人民共和国县以上行政区划代码 |publisher=[[Ministry of Civil Affairs]] |access-date=2015-12-11 |archive-date=2015-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402113603/http://files2.mca.gov.cn/cws/201502/20150225163817214.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
!! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Division
!! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Area in km<sup>2</sup><ref name="nj2013">{{lang-zh}}{{cite book |language=zh-hans |author=Shenzhen Bureau of Statistics |publisher=[[:zh:中国统计出版社|China Statistics Print]]|script-title=zh:《深圳统计年鉴2014》 |url=http://www.sztj.gov.cn/nj2014/indexce.htm |access-date=2015-05-29 |archive-date=2015-05-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512184740/http://www.sztj.gov.cn/nj2014/indexce.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>
!! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Population 2020<ref>{{cite book |author1=Census Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China |author2=Population and Employment Statistics Division of the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China | script-title=zh:中国2010人口普查分乡、镇、街道资料 |date=2012 |publisher=[[:zh:中国统计出版社|China Statistics Print]] |location=Beijing |isbn=978-7-5037-6660-2 |edition=1}}</ref>
!! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Seat
!! scope="col" colspan="4" | Divisions<ref>{{cite book |language=zh-hans |author=Ministry of Civil Affairs |script-title=zh:《中国民政统计年鉴2014》 |date=August 2014 |publisher=[[:zh:中国统计出版社|China Statistics Print]] |isbn=978-7-5037-7130-9 |author-link=Ministry of Civil Affairs}}</ref>
|-
!! scope="col" width="45" | [[District (China)|Districts]]
!! scope="col" width="45" | [[Counties of the People's Republic of China|Counties]]
!! scope="col" width="45" | [[Autonomous counties of the People's Republic of China|Aut. counties]]
!! scope="col" width="45" | [[County-level city|CL cities]]
|- style="font-weight: bold"
! 530000 !! Yunnan Province
| 394,000.00 || 47,209,277 || [[Kunming]] city || 17 || 65 || 29 || 18
|-
! 530100 !! [[Kunming]] city
| 21,001.28 || 8,460,088 || [[Chenggong District]] || 7 || 3 || 3 || 1
|-
! 530300 !! [[Qujing]] city
| 28,939.41 || 5,765,775 || [[Qilin District]] || 3 || 5 ||bgcolor="grey"| || 1
|-
! 530400 !! [[Yuxi]] city
| 14,941.53 || 2,249,502 || [[Hongta District]] || 2 || 4 || 3 ||bgcolor="grey"| 
|-
! 530500 !! [[Baoshan, Yunnan|Baoshan]] city
| 19,064.60 || 2,431,211 || [[Longyang District]] || 1 || 3 ||bgcolor="grey"| || 1
|-
! 530600 !! [[Zhaotong]] city
| 22,439.76 || 5,092,611 || [[Zhaoyang District]] || 1 || 9 ||bgcolor="grey"| || 1
|-
! 530700 !! [[Lijiang]] city
| 20,557.25 || 1,253,878 || [[Gucheng District]] || 1 || 2 || 2 ||bgcolor="grey"| 
|-
! 530800 !! [[Pu'er City|Pu'er]] city
| 44,264.79 || 2,404,954 || [[Simao District]] || 1 ||bgcolor="grey"| || 9 ||bgcolor="grey"| 
|-
! 530900 !! [[Lincang]] city
| 23,620.72 || 2,257,991 || [[Linxiang District]] || 1 || 4 || 3 ||bgcolor="grey"| 
|-
! 532300 !! [[Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture]]
| 28,436.87 || 2,416,747 || [[Chuxiong City|Chuxiong]] city ||bgcolor="grey"| || 8 ||bgcolor="grey"| || 2
|-
! 532500 !! [[Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture]]
| 32,167.67 || 4,478,422 || [[Mengzi City|Mengzi]] city ||bgcolor="grey"| || 6 || 3 || 4
|-
! 532600 !! [[Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture]]
| 31,409.12 || 3,503,218 || [[Wenshan City|Wenshan]] city ||bgcolor="grey"| || 7 ||bgcolor="grey"| || 1
|-
! 532800 !! [[Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture]]
| 19,107.05 || 1,301,407 || [[Jinghong]] city ||bgcolor="grey"| || 2 ||bgcolor="grey"| || 1
|-
! 532900 !! [[Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture]]
| 28,299.43 || 3,337,559 || [[Dali City|Dali]] city ||bgcolor="grey"| || 8 || 3 || 1
|-
! 533100 !! [[Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture]]
| 11,171.41 || 1,315,709 || [[Mangshi|Mang]] city ||bgcolor="grey"| || 3 ||bgcolor="grey"| || 2
|-
! 533300 !! [[Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture]]
| 14,588.92 || 552,694 || [[Lushui]] city ||bgcolor="grey"| || 1 || 2 || 1 
|-
! 533400 !! [[Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture]]
| 23,185.59 || 387,511 || [[Shangri-La, Yunnan|Shangri-La]] city ||bgcolor="grey"| || 1 || 1 || 1
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed" style="text-font:90%; width:auto; text-align:center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"
|+Administrative divisions in Chinese and varieties of romanizations
|-
! English !! Chinese !! Pinyin
|-
| '''Yunnan Province''' || {{lang|zh|云南省}} || '''Yúnnán Shěng'''
|-
| [[Kunming]] city || {{lang|zh|昆明市}} || Kūnmíng Shì
|-
| [[Qujing]] city || {{lang|zh|曲靖市}} || Qǔjìng Shì
|-
| [[Yuxi]] city || {{lang|zh|玉溪市}} || Yùxī Shì
|-
| [[Baoshan, Yunnan|Baoshan]] city || {{lang|zh|保山市}} || Bǎoshān Shì
|-
| [[Zhaotong]] city || {{lang|zh|昭通市}} || Zhāotōng Shì
|-
| [[Lijiang]] city || {{lang|zh|丽江市}} || Lìjiāng Shì
|-
| [[Pu'er City|Pu'er]] city || {{lang|zh|普洱市}} || Pǔ'ěr Shì
|-
| [[Lincang]] city || {{lang|zh|临沧市}} || Líncāng Shì
|-
| [[Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture]] || {{lang|zh|楚雄彝族自治州}} || Chǔxióng Yízú Zìzhìzhōu
|-
| [[Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture]] || {{lang|zh|红河哈尼族彝族自治州}} || Hónghé Hānízú Yízú Zìzhìzhōu
|-
| [[Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture]] || {{lang|zh|文山壮族苗族自治州}} || Wénshān Zhuàngzú Miáozú Zìzhìzhōu
|-
| [[Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture]] || {{lang|zh|西双版纳傣族自治州}} || Xīshuāngbǎnnà Dǎizú Zìzhìzhōu
|-
| [[Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture]] || {{lang|zh|大理白族自治州}} || Dàlǐ Báizú Zìzhìzhōu
|-
| [[Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture]] || {{lang|zh|德宏傣族景颇族自治州}} || Déhóng Dǎizú Jǐngpōzú Zìzhìzhōu
|-
| [[Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture]] || {{lang|zh|怒江傈僳族自治州}} || Nùjiāng Lìsùzú Zìzhìzhōu
|-
| [[Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture]] || {{lang|zh|迪庆藏族自治州}} || Díqìng Zàngzú Zìzhìzhōu
|}

These 16 prefecture-level divisions are in turn subdivided into 129 [[county-level division]]s (17 [[District of China|district]]s, 18 [[county-level cities]], 65 [[County (People's Republic of China)|counties]], and 29 [[Autonomous counties of the People's Republic of China|autonomous counties]]). At the end of the year 2021, the total population is 48.01 million.[http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2018/indexch.htm]

====Urban areas====
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size:90%;"
|+ Population by urban areas of prefecture and county cities
|-
! # !! Cities !! style="background-color: #aaaaff;"| 2020 Urban area<ref name="2020PRCcensus">{{cite book |author=国务院人口普查办公室、国家统计局人口和社会科技统计司编 |date=2022 |script-title=zh:中国2020年人口普查分县资料 |location=Beijing |publisher=[[:zh:中国统计出版社|China Statistics Print]] |isbn=978-7-5037-9772-9}}</ref> !! style="background-color: #aaaaff;"| 2010 Urban area<ref name="2010PRCcensus">{{cite book |author=国务院人口普查办公室、国家统计局人口和社会科技统计司编 |date=2012 |script-title=zh:中国2010年人口普查分县资料 |location=Beijing |publisher=[[:zh:中国统计出版社|China Statistics Print]] |isbn=978-7-5037-6659-6}}</ref> !! style="background-color: #ffaaaa;" | 2020 City proper
|-
|1||'''[[Kunming]]'''{{efn|name=Dongchuan}}||5,273,144||3,140,777{{efn|name=Kunming|New districts established after 2010 census: [[Chenggong District|Chenggong (Chenggong County)]], [[Jinning District|Jinning (Jinning County)]]. These new districts not included in the urban area count of the pre-expanded city.}}||8,460,088
|-
|2||[[Qujing]]||1,043,665||468,437{{efn|name=Qujing|New districts established after 2010 census: [[Zhanyi District|Zhanyi (Zhanyi County)]], [[Malong District|Malong (Malong County)]]. These new districts not included in the urban area count of the pre-expanded city.}}||5,765,775
|-
|3||[[Xuanwei]]||691,922||584,076||{{small|''see Qujing''}}
|-
|4||[[Zhaotong]]||589,260||255,861||5,092,611
|-
|5||[[Yuxi]]||549,610||306,879{{efn|name=Yuxi|New district established after 2010 census: [[Jiangchuan District|Jiangchuan (Jiangchuan County)]]. The new district not included in the urban area count of the pre-expanded city.}}||2,249,502
|-
|6||[[Dali City|Dali]]||549,189||367,122||{{small|''part of [[Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture|Dali Prefecture]]''}}
|-
|7||[[Mengzi City|Mengzi]]||430,355||bgcolor="lightgrey"|{{efn|name=Mengzi|Mengzi County is currently known as Mengzi CLC after 2010 census.}}||{{small|''part of [[Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture|Honghe Prefecture]]''}}
|-
|8||[[Chuxiong City|Chuxiong]]||426,823||331,991||{{small|''part of [[Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture|Chuxiong Prefecture]]''}}
|-
|9||[[Wenshan City|Wenshan]]||424,760||bgcolor="lightgrey"|{{efn|name=Wenshan|Wenshan County is currently known as Wenshan CLC after 2010 census.}}||{{small|''part of [[Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture|Wenshan Prefecture]]''}}
|-
|10||[[Anning, Yunnan|Anning]]||399,779||242,151||{{small|''see Kunming''}}
|-
|11||[[Baoshan, Yunnan|Baoshan]]||378,240||263,380||2,431,211
|-
|12||[[Jinghong]]||358,517||205,523||{{small|''part of [[Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture|Xishuangbanna Prefecture]]''}}
|-
|13||[[Pu'er City|Pu'er]]||327,733||185,473||2,404,954
|-
|14||[[Gejiu]]||310,521||163,528||{{small|''part of [[Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture|Honghe Prefecture]]''}}
|-
|15||[[Mile City|Mile]]||287,637||bgcolor="lightgrey"|{{efn|name=Mile|Mile County is currently known as Mile CLC after 2010 census.}}||{{small|''part of [[Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture|Honghe Prefecture]]''}}
|-
|16||[[Tengchong]]||238,974||bgcolor="lightgrey"|{{efn|name=Tengchong|Tengchong County is currently known as Tengchong CLC after 2010 census.}}||{{small|''see Baoshan''}}
|-
|17||[[Lijiang]]||238,828||151,744||1,253,878
|-
|18||[[Kaiyuan, Yunnan|Kaiyuan]]||227,231||210,801||{{small|''part of [[Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture|Honghe Prefecture]]''}}
|-
|19||[[Mangshi]]{{efn|name=Mangshi|Mangshi CLC formerly known as Luxi CLC until 20 July 2010.}}||216426||131,425||{{small|''part of [[Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture|Dehong Prefecture]]''}}
|-
|20||[[Lincang]]||211,878||142,095||2,257,991
|-
|21||[[Ruili]]||208,658||99,148||{{small|''part of [[Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture|Dehong Prefecture]]''}}
|-
|22||[[Dongchuan District|Dongchuan]]{{efn|name=Dongchuan|Dongchuan is a satellite urban area separated from Kunming and it is not included in the urban area count.}}||160,192||113,632||{{small|''see Kunming''}}
|-
|23||[[Lushui]]||148,759||bgcolor="lightgrey"|{{efn|name=Lushui|Lushui County is currently known as Lushui CLC after 2010 census.}}||{{small|''part of [[Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture|Nujiang Prefecture]]''}}
|-
|24||[[Chengjiang]]||81,492||bgcolor="lightgrey"|{{efn|name=Chengjiang|Chengjiang County is currently known as Chengjiang CLC after 2010 census.}}||{{small|''see Yuxi''}}
|-
|25||[[Shangri-La, Yunnan|Shangri-La]]||75,300||bgcolor="lightgrey"|{{efn|name=Shangri-La|Shangri-La County is currently known as Shangri-La CLC after 2010 census.}}||{{small|''part of [[Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture|Dêqên Prefecture]]''}}
|-
|26||[[Shuifu]]||68,389||bgcolor="lightgrey"|{{efn|name=Shuifu|Shuifu County is currently known as Shuifu CLC after 2010 census.}}||{{small|''see Zhaotong''}}
|}
{{notelist}}

=== Politics ===
{{further|Governor of Yunnan|List of provincial leaders of the People's Republic of China}}
[[File:2002年云南丽江 红太阳广场 - panoramio.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Mao Zedong]] in [[Lijiang]]]]
The [[Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|Yunnan Provincial Committee]] of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) is the province's top authority. The [[Party Secretary of Yunnan|secretary of the CCP Yunnan Committee]] is the highest ranking and most important position in Yunnan.<ref name=xinhua/> The [[Governor (China)|Governor]] is the second highest office in Yunnan, after the Secretary of the CCP Yunnan Committee.<ref name="xinhua" /> The Governor, who is elected by the [[Yunnan Provincial People's Congress]], is responsible for all [[economic]], [[Environmental policy|environmental]], [[political]], [[personnel]] and [[Foreign policy|foreign affairs]] issues concerning Yunnan.<ref name="xinhua" />
# [[Chen Geng]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|陈赓}}): March 1950 – February 1955
# [[Guo Yingqiu]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|郭影秋}}): February 1955 – November 1958
# [[Ding Yichuan]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|丁一川}}): November 1958 – January 1965
# [[Zhou Xing (PRC)|Zhou Xing]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|周兴}}): January 1965 – 1966
# [[Tan Furen]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|谭甫仁}}): August 1968 – October 1970
# Zhou Xing: October 1970 – October 1975
# [[Jia Qiyun]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|贾启允}}): October 1975 – February 1977
# [[An Pingsheng]] ({{lang|zh|安平生}}): February 1977 – December 1979
# [[Liu Minghui]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|刘明辉}}): December 1979 – April 1983
# [[Pu Chaozhu]] ({{lang|zh|普朝柱}}): April 1983 – August 1985
# [[He Zhiqiang]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|和志强}}): August 1985 – January 1998
# [[Li Jiating]] ({{lang|zh|李嘉廷}}): January 1998 – June 2001
# [[Xu Rongkai]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|徐荣凯}}): June 2001 – November 2006
# [[Qin Guangrong]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|秦光荣}}): January 2007 – August 2011<ref name=xinhua>{{cite news |title=Qin Guangrong re-elected governor of Yunnan Province |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/24/content_7490786.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314082352/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/24/content_7490786.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 14, 2008 |work=[[Xinhua]] |date=2008-01-24 |access-date=2008-02-23}}</ref>
# [[Li Jiheng]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|李纪恒}}): August 2011 – October 2014
# [[Chen Hao (politician)|Chen Hao]] ({{lang|zh-Hans|陈豪}}): October 2014 – December 2016
# [[Ruan Chengfa]] ({{lang|zh-hans| 阮成发}}): December 2016 – November 2020
# [[Wang Yubo]] ({{lang|zh-hans| 王予波}}): November 2020 – present

== Demographics ==
{{Historical populations
|title = Historical population
|1912<ref>{{cite web |script-title=ja:1912年中国人口 |url=http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo2.html |access-date=6 March 2014 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924032922/http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo2.html |url-status=live }}</ref> |9,468,000
|1928<ref>{{cite web |script-title=ja:1928年中国人口 |url=http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo3.htm |access-date=6 March 2014 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924032924/http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo3.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> |13,821,000
|1936–37<ref>{{cite web |script-title=ja:1936–37年中国人口 |url=http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo4.htm |access-date=6 March 2014 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924032925/http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo4.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> |12,042,000
|1947<ref>{{cite web |script-title=ja:1947年全国人口 |url=http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo5.htm |access-date=6 March 2014 |archive-date=13 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913053600/http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/COE/Japanese/discussionpapers/DP97.9/fhyo5.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> |9,066,000
|1954<ref name="census1954">{{cite web |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16767.htm |script-title=zh:中华人民共和国国家统计局关于第一次全国人口调查登记结果的公报 |publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805174810/http://www.stats.gov.cn/TJGB/RKPCGB/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16767.htm |archive-date=August 5, 2009}}</ref> |17,472,737
|1964<ref name="census1964">{{cite web |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16768.htm |script-title=zh:第二次全国人口普查结果的几项主要统计数字 |publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120914173158/http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16768.htm |archive-date=September 14, 2012}}</ref> |20,509,525
|1982<ref name="census1982">{{cite web |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16769.htm |script-title=zh:中华人民共和国国家统计局关于一九八二年人口普查主要数字的公报 |publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510075429/http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16769.htm |archive-date=May 10, 2012}}</ref> |32,553,817
|1990<ref name="census1990">{{cite web |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16772.htm |script-title=zh:中华人民共和国国家统计局关于一九九〇年人口普查主要数据的公报 |publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619002216/http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16772.htm |archive-date=June 19, 2012}}</ref> |36,972,610
|2000<ref name="census2000">{{cite web |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020331_15435.htm |script-title=zh:现将2000年第五次全国人口普查快速汇总的人口地区分布数据公布如下 |publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829052024/http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020331_15435.htm |archive-date=August 29, 2012}}</ref> |42,360,089
|2010<ref name="census2010">{{cite web |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/newsandcomingevents/t20110429_402722516.htm |title=Communiqué of the National Bureau of Statistics of People's Republic of China on Major Figures of the 2010 Population Census |publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727021210/http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/newsandcomingevents/t20110429_402722516.htm |archive-date=July 27, 2013}}</ref>
|45,966,239
|2020<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/china-society-census-takeaways-idUSL4N2MY2I6 |title=FACTBOX-Key takeaways from China's 2020 population census |newspaper=Reuters |date=11 May 2021 |access-date=26 July 2021 |archive-date=5 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105133445/https://www.reuters.com/article/china-society-census-takeaways-idUSL4N2MY2I6 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|47,209,277
}}
<!-- ; Total population : 43.33 million (2002)
; Population growth rate : 10.6%
; Average life expectancy : 65.1 years (male), 67.7 years (female) (1995) -->

According to Yunnan government statistics, there are approximately 2.5 million overseas Chinese whose ancestral homeland is Yunnan province.

=== Ethnicity ===
[[File:Ethnic minorities areas in Yunnan.png|thumb|Major autonomous areas within Yunnan (excluding [[Hui people|Hui]])]]
Yunnan is noted for a very high level of ethnic diversity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.windrug.com/pic/30/15/11/15/167.htm |script-title=zh:中国云南省五个民族DYS287位点多态性的调查 |publisher=Windrug.com |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2004-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040602141127/http://www.windrug.com/pic/30/15/11/15/167.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> It has the highest number of ethnic groups among the provinces and autonomous regions in China. Among the country's [[Ethnic minorities in China|56 recognised ethnic groups]], twenty-five are found in Yunnan. Some 38% of the province population are members of ethnic minorities, including the [[Yi people|Yi]], [[Bai people|Bai]], [[Hani people|Hani]], [[Tai peoples|Tai]], [[Dai people|Dai]], [[Miao people|Miao]], [[Lisu people|Lisu]], [[Hui people|Hui]], [[Lahu people|Lahu]], [[Wa people|Wa]], [[Nakhi people|Nakhi]], [[Yao people (Asia)|Yao]], [[Tibetan people|Tibetans]], [[Jingpo people|Jingpo]], [[Blang people|Blang]], [[Pumi people|Pumi]], [[Nu people|Nu]], [[Achang people|Achang]], [[Jino people|Jinuo]], [[Yunnan Mongols|Mongols]], [[Derung]], [[Manchu people|Manchus]], [[Sui people|Sui]], and [[Bouyei people|Buyei]]. Several other groups are represented, but they live neither in compact settlements nor do they reach the required threshold of five thousand to be awarded the official status of being present in the province. Some groups, such as the [[Mosuo]], who are officially recognised as part of the [[Naxi people|Naxi]], have in the past claimed official status as a national minority, and are now recognised with the status of Mosuo people.

Ethnic groups are widely distributed in the province. Some twenty-five minorities live in compact communities, each of which has a population of more than five thousand. Ten ethnic minorities living in border areas and river valleys include the [[Hui people|Hui]], [[Manchu people|Manchus]], [[Bai people|Bai]], [[Naxi people|Naxi]], [[Mongols]], [[Zhuang people|Zhuang]], [[Dai people|Dai]], [[Achang]], [[Buyei]] and [[Shui people|Shui]], with a combined population of 4.5 million; those in low mountainous areas are the [[Hani people|Hani]], [[Yao people (Asia)|Yao]], [[Lahu people|Lahu]], [[Va people|Va]], [[Jingpo people|Jingpo]], [[Blang people|Blang]] and [[Jino]], with a combined population of 5 million; and those in high mountainous areas are [[Miao people|Miao]], [[Lisu people|Lisu]], [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]], [[Pumi people|Pumi]] and [[Derung|Drung]], with a total population of four million.

=== Languages ===
[[File:Ethnolinguistic groups in Yunnan Province (1971).jpg|thumb|left|CIA map showing the territory of the settlement of [[Ethnolinguistic|ethnolinguistic groups]] in Yunnan (1971).]]
Most [[dialect]]s of the [[Chinese language]] spoken in Yunnan belong to the [[southwestern Mandarin|southwestern]] subdivision of the [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] group, and are therefore very similar to the dialects of neighboring [[Sichuan]] and [[Guizhou]] provinces. Notable features found in many Yunnan dialects include the partial or complete loss of distinction between finals {{IPA|/n/}} and {{IPA|/ŋ/}}, as well as the lack of {{IPA|/y/}}. In addition to the local dialects, most people also speak Standard Chinese (''[[Putonghua]]'', commonly called "Mandarin"), which is used in the media, by the government, and as the language of instruction in education.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ao |first=Ran |last2=Low |first2=Ee Ling |date=2015-10-26 |title=A description of the Yunnan English accent |url=https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12170 |journal=World Englishes |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=18–41 |doi=10.1111/weng.12170 |issn=0883-2919}}</ref>

Spoken in the provincial capital, the [[Kunming dialect]] belongs to the [[Central Yunnan]] group of Mandarin varieties.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yuan |first=Yi |date=2022-07-05 |title=Compliments and compliment responses in Kunming Chinese |url=https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.12.2.04yua |journal=Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA) |pages=183–226 |doi=10.1075/prag.12.2.04yua |issn=1018-2101}}</ref> Even in Kunming, different districts have developed their own variations of Kunming dialect. For example, residents of Guandu district of Kunming speak the Guandu dialect, which have differences between pronunciation and intonation with Kunming dialect.{{Citation needed|date=December 2025}}

Yunnan's ethnic diversity is reflected in its linguistic diversity. Languages spoken in Yunnan include [[Tibeto-Burman languages]] such as [[Bai language|Bai]], [[Yi language|Yi]], [[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]], [[Hani language|Hani]], [[Jingpo language|Jingpo]], [[Lisu language|Lisu]], [[Lahu language|Lahu]], [[Naxi language|Naxi]]; [[Tai languages]] like [[Zhuang languages|Zhuang]], [[Bouyei language|Bouyei]], [[Dong language (China)|Dong]], [[Shui language|Shui]], [[Tai Lü language|Tai Lü]] and [[Tai Nüa language|Tai Nüa]]; as well as [[Hmong–Mien languages]].

The [[Naxi language|Naxi]], in particular, use the [[Dongba script]], which is the only pictographic writing system in use in the world today. The Dongba script was mainly used to provide the Dongba priests with instructions on how to carry out their rituals: today the Dongba script features more as a tourist attraction. Perhaps the best known Western Dongba scholar was [[Joseph Rock]].

=== Literacy ===
By the end of 1998, among the province's population, 419,800 had received college education or above, 2.11 million senior middle school education, 8.3 million junior middle school education, 18.25 million primary school education, and 8.25 million aged 15 or above were illiterate or semi-literate.

{{clear}}

=== Religion ===
{{Pie chart
| caption = Religion in Yunnan (2005)<ref name="religion2005">{{cite web |url=http://yn.cppiae.com/ |script-title=zh:云南省宗教信教群众达400余万人 |access-date=2005-07-27 |archive-date=2014-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727220707/http://yn.cppiae.com/ |url-status=usurped }}</ref>{{update inline|date=September 2025}}
| label1 = [[Atheist]]
| value1 = 91.3
| color1 = White
| label2 = [[Buddhism]]
| value2 = 6
| color2 = Gold
| label3 = [[Islam]]
| value3 = 1.4
| color3 = Green
| label4 = [[Christianity]]
| value4 = 1.3
| color4 = Blue
}}
According to a demographic analysis of religious people in Yunnan, almost 90% of followers of government-sanctioned organised religions belonged to ethnic minorities.<ref name="religion2005"/> As of 2005 the province had around 4 million believers of the [[religion in China|five government-sanctioned organised religious doctrines of China]]. Of these:
*2.6 million or about 6% of the total population are [[Buddhism|Buddhists]];
*620,000 or 1.4% are [[Islam|Muslims]];
*530,000 or 1.2% are [[Protestantism|Protestants]];
*240,000 or 0.5% are [[Taoism|Taoists]] ("Taoist" traditionally only includes [[Taoist priest|priests]]);
*66,000 or 0.1% are [[Catholicism|Catholics]].

According to surveys conducted in 2004 and 2007, in those years approximately 32.22% of the province's population was involved in [[Chinese ancestral religion|worship of ancestors]] and 2.75% declared a Christian identity.<ref name="Wang2015">China General Social Survey 2004, Chinese Spiritual Life Survey 2007. Report by: [https://baylor-ir.tdl.org/baylor-ir/bitstream/handle/2104/9326/WANG-THESIS-2015.pdf?sequence=1 Xiuhua Wang (2015, p. 15)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925123928/https://baylor-ir.tdl.org/baylor-ir/bitstream/handle/2104/9326/WANG-THESIS-2015.pdf?sequence=1 |date=September 25, 2015 }}</ref>

Most of the population of the province practices traditional [[indigenous religion]]s including the [[Chinese folk religion]] among the [[Han Chinese]], [[Bimoism]] among the [[Yi people]]s and [[Benzhuism]] among the [[Bai people]]. The [[Dai people]] are one of the few ethnic minorities of China that traditionally follow the [[Theravada]] branch of Buddhism, making Yunnan the only province in China where all three major Buddhist schools are widely practiced. Most of the [[Hui people]] of the region are [[Muslim]]s. Christianity is dominant among the [[Lisu people|Lisu]], the [[Jingpo people|Jingpo]] and the [[Derung people|Derung]] ethnic groups.<ref name="religion2005"/>

====Image gallery====
<gallery mode="packed" align="center" style="font-size:88%; line-height:130%">
File:Yunnan xingjiao temple.jpg| Xinjiao Temple in [[Shaxi, Yunnan|Shaxi]]
File:Huating Temple 04.JPG|Huating Buddhist Temple in the Western Mountains (Xishan) of Kunming
File:Guishan Temple.jpg|Guishan Buddhist Temple of the [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan tradition]]
File:昆明太和宫金殿.JPG|Hall of the Golden Taoist Temple in Kunming
File:拖姑清真寺_-_panoramio_-_hilloo_(50).jpg|[[Tuogu Mosque]] in [[Ludian County]]
Image:Weihan_Manduan_Temple_Menghai.jpg|[[Dai people|Dai]] [[Theravada]] Buddhist temple in [[Menghai County]], [[Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture|Xishuangbanna]]
File:Anning lianran wenmiao.JPG|Anning Confucian Memorial
File:Zhongdian-sumtseling-gompa-c05.jpg|Zhongdian [[Ganden Sumtseling Monastery|Sumzênling goinba]]
File:云南丙中洛重丁教堂3.JPG|[[Zhongding Catholic Church]], Bingzhongluo, Gongshan County
File:Kunming - Beijing Lu - Church - P1340598.JPG|Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Kunming
File:Panlong Temple.jpg|Panlong Temple in Kunming
</gallery>

==Agriculture==

[[File:1 yuanyang rice terrace duoyishu sunrise 2012.jpg|thumb|View of Duoyishu sunrise in Yuanyang]]
The region maintains a strong agricultural focus. Agriculture is restricted to the few upland plains, open valleys, and terraced hillsides. Level land for agriculture is extremely scarce and only about 5 percent of the province is under cultivation. [[Rice]] is the main crop; [[Maize|corn]], [[barley]], [[wheat]], [[rapeseed]], [[sweet potato]]es, [[soybean]]s (as a food crop), [[Yunnan tea|tea]], [[sugarcane]], [[tobacco]], and [[cotton]] are also grown. On the steep slopes in the west [[livestock]] is raised and [[timber]], a valuable resource, is cut ([[teak]] in the southwest).

Yunnan produces most of [[coffee]] grown in China (although there are also much smaller plantations in [[Fujian]] and [[Hainan]]). Large-scale [[coffee]] cultivation started in Yunnan in 1988. The most commonly grown [[List of coffee varieties|variety]] in the province is catimor.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://urbandwellerscoffee.com/yunnan-coffee/ |title=Yunnan coffee |work=Urban Dwellers Coffee |date=12 May 2017 |access-date=2018-06-12 |archive-date=2021-11-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117162109/https://urbandwellerscoffee.com/yunnan-coffee/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Yunnan province is famous for its quality teas. Most notably Yunnan tea. Yunnan black tea, also known as ‘[[Dianhong]]’ (‘Dian’ is the short name for Yunnan province, ‘hong’ meaning red after the deep, red liquor of the brewed tea) is a fully oxidised tea grown high in the mountainous regions between approximately 1000 metres to 2000 metres above sea level. Its unique earthy flavour makes it a highly sought after tea.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chinese Tea in World History |url=https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/chinese-tea-in-world-history/ |access-date=2024-09-11 |website=Association for Asian Studies |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Raitisoja |first1=Geni |date=2011-08-16 |title=Tea and the Chinese Way of Life - All about China {{!}} Radio86.com |work=Radio86.com |url=http://en.radio86.com/lifestyle-china/tea-and-chinese-way-life |access-date=2024-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816121220/http://en.radio86.com/lifestyle-china/tea-and-chinese-way-life |archive-date=2011-08-16 }}</ref>

[[Tobacco]] is the main (export) product and makes up a big part of the provincial GDP.<ref name="thechinaperspective.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.thechinaperspective.com/topics/province/yunnan-province/ |title=China Economy @ China Perspective |publisher=Thechinaperspective.com |date=2013-11-13 |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2017-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815134710/http://www.thechinaperspective.com/topics/province/yunnan-province/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Furthermore, Yunnan has a strong competitive potential in the fruit and vegetable industries, especially in low value-added commodities such as fresh and dried vegetables and fresh apples.

[[File:Hongta District - Beicheng - strawberry fields - P1350756.JPG|thumb|left|[[Strawberry]] fields near [[Yuxi]]]]
Yunnan is one of the regions in the world with the most abundant resources of wild edible [[mushroom]]s. In China, there are 938 kinds of edible mushrooms, and over 800 varieties can be found in Yunnan. In 2004, around 7,744 tons of wild edible mushrooms were exported, making up for 70% of the total export of this product in China. The so-called [[Matsutake|'pine mushroom']] is the main product in Yunnan and is exported to [[Japan]] in large quantities.

Due to China's growing consumption of dairy products, Yunnan's dairy industry is also developing very rapidly and is also aiming to export to its [[ASEAN]] neighbors.

The flower industry in Yunnan province started to develop towards the end of the 1980s. Yunnan province accounts for 50% of China's total cut flower production. The size of the planting area for cut flowers in Yunnan province amounts to 4000 hectares. In 2003, the output totaled 2.3 billion stems. In 2002 the flower industry in Yunnan had a total output of RMB 3.4 billion. Export amounted to US$18 million. Apart from sales on the domestic market, Yunnan also exports to a number of foreign countries and regions such as Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore. According to state media, the [[Dounan Flower Market]] in Kunming supplies the majority of fresh-cut flowers in China, and is the largest flower trading market of its kind in Asia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asia's largest flower market sees blooming business in 2024 |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202502/22/WS67b99169a310c240449d6ae9.html |access-date=2025-12-28 |website=www.chinadaily.com.cn}}</ref>

== Economy ==
As of the mid-19th century, Yunnan exported birds, brass, tin, gemstones, musk, nuts, and [[peafowl|peacock]] feathers mainly to stores in [[Guangzhou]]. They imported silk, wool, and cotton cloth, tobacco and books.<ref name=Roberts1>{{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Edmund |title=Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat |year=1837 |publisher=Harper & Brothers |location=New York |page=123 |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7317/view/1/123/ |access-date=2013-10-16 |archive-date=2013-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016074209/http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7317/view/1/123/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

It was a major recipient of China's investment in industrial capacity during the [[Third Front (China)|Third Front]] campaign.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Lan |first=Xiaohuan |title=How China Works: An Introduction to China's State-led Economic Development |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2024 |isbn=978-981-97-0079-0 |translator-last=Topp |translator-first=Gary |doi=10.1007/978-981-97-0080-6}}</ref>{{Rp|page=298}}

[[File:Lijiang, Yunnan, China.jpg|thumb|Local traders in [[Lijiang City]]]]
[[File:五华区与盘龙区天际线 - 航拍 - 2025-05-16 03.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of Downtown Kunming]]
[[File:五华区天际线 - 航拍 - 2025-05-16 04.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of Downtown Kunming]]
Yunnan is one of China's relatively [[undeveloped]] provinces with more [[poverty]]-stricken [[County (People's Republic of China)|counties]] than the other provinces. In 1994, about 7 million people lived below the poverty line of less than an annual average [[income]] of 300 [[Chinese yuan|yuan]] [[per capita]]. They were distributed in the province's 73 counties mainly and financially supported by the [[central government]]. With an input of 3.15 billion yuan in 2002, the absolutely poor rural population in the province has been reduced from 4.05 million in 2000 to 2.86 million. The [[poverty alleviation]] plan includes five large projects aimed at improving infrastructure facilities. They involve planned attempts at [[soil improvement]], [[water conservation]], [[electric power]], roads, and "[[green belt]]" building. Upon the completion of the projects, the province hopes this will alleviate the shortages of [[grain]], water, electric power and roads.

Yunnan lags behind the east coast of China in relation to [[socio-economic development]]. However, because of its geographic location the province has [[comparative advantage]]s in regional and border trade with [[Southeast Asian]] countries. The [[Lancang River]] (upper reaches of Mekong River) is the waterway to southeast Asia. In recent years land transportation has been improved to strengthen economic and trade co-operation among countries in the [[Greater Mekong Subregion]]. Yunnan's abundance in resources determines that the province's pillar [[Industry (economics)|industries]] are: [[agriculture]], [[tobacco]], [[mining]], hydro-[[Electric power industry in China|electric power]], and [[tourism]]. In general, the province still depends on the [[natural resources]]. The [[secondary sector]] is currently the largest industrial tier in Yunnan, contributing more than 45 percent of GDP. The [[tertiary sector]] contributes 40 percent and agriculture 15 percent. [[Investment]] is the key driver of Yunnan's [[economic growth]], especially in [[construction]].

The main challenge that Yunnan faces is its lack of major [[development economics|development]]. Its low [[productivity]] and [[Competition (companies)|competitiveness]] restrict the rapid development of the province. The province also faces great challenges in [[social issues]] such as [[environmental protection]], [[poverty elimination]], [[illegal immigration|illegal migration]], [[drug trafficking]] and [[HIV/AIDS in Yunnan|HIV/AIDS]].

Yunnan's four pillar industries include [[tobacco]], [[agriculture]]/[[biology]], [[mining]], and [[tourism]]. The main [[manufacturing]] industries are iron and steel production and copper-smelting, commercial vehicles, chemicals, fertilizers, textiles, and optical instruments.<ref name="thechinaperspective.com"/> Yunnan has trade contacts with more than seventy countries and regions in the world. Yunnan established the [[Muse (Shan State)|Muse border trade zone]] (located in [[Ruili]]) along its border with Burma.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.people.com.cn/200602/13/eng20060213_242330.html |title=Myanmar to open second largest border trade zone |date=February 13, 2006 |publisher=People's Daily Online |access-date=2008-10-14 |archive-date=2007-10-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018003925/http://english.people.com.cn/200602/13/eng20060213_242330.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Yunnan mainly exports [[tobacco]], [[machinery]] and electrical equipment, chemical and agricultural products, and non-ferrous metals. In 2008, its total two-way trade (imports and exports) reached US$9.6 billion. The province signed [[foreign direct investment]] contracts involving US$1.69 billion, of which US$777 million were actually utilized during the year.

Yunnan's employment rate remains stable. The total number of newly entered-employee were 49.35 thousand people. The [[Unemployment|unemployment rate]] at the end of 2020 was 3.92%. Yunnan's nominal GDP in 2020 was 24521.9 billion Yuan( US$3850.92 billion), an annual growth rate of 4.0%. Its per capita GDP was 50,299 Yuan ( US$7,898.96). The share of GDP of Yunnan's [[Primary sector of the economy|primary]], [[Secondary sector of the economy|secondary]] and [[Tertiary sector of the economy|tertiary]] industries were 3598.91 billion Yuan, 8287.54 billion Yuan, and 12635.45 billion Yuan respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |title=统计公报--云南省统计局-- |url=http://stats.yn.gov.cn/tjsj/tjgb/202103/t20210326_1048207.html |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=stats.yn.gov.cn |archive-date=2022-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709004612/http://stats.yn.gov.cn/tjsj/tjgb/202103/t20210326_1048207.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Yunnan is one of the major production bases of copper, lead, zinc, tin and aluminum in China. [[Gejiu]] is well known as "the Kingdom of Zinc" with the reserves ranked first in the country. The Yunxi brand refined tin is one of the main products in Gejiu, which is registered on the [[London Metal Exchange]] (LME). Besides, reserves of germanium, indium, zirconium, platinum, rock salt, sylvite, nickel, phosphate, mirabilite, arsenic and blue asbestos are also high. Significant copper deposits are found at [[Dongchuan District|Dongchuan]], iron ore at [[Wuding County|Wuding]], and coal at [[Xuanwei]] and [[Kaiyuan City, Honghe, Yunnan|Kaiyuan]]. [[Economic policy]] to locate new industry in interior areas with substantial mineral wealth, led to major industrial development in Yunnan, especially in the [[Kunming|Kunming area]].

The electricity industry is another important economic pillar of Yunnan, which plays a key role in the "West-East Electricity Transmission Project". The electricity produced in Yunnan is mainly transported to [[Guangdong]].

=== Economic and Technological Development Zones ===
*[[Kunming Economic and Technological Development Zone]]: First established in 1992, Kunming Economic & Technology Development Zone is a national-level zone approved by the State Council. Kunming is located in east-central Yunnan province with preferential location. After several years' development, the zone has formed its pillar industries, which include tobacco processing, machinery manufacturing, electronic information, and biotechnology.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 20, 2013 |url=http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/kunming-economic-technology-development-zone/ |title=Kunming Economic & Technology Development Zone |publisher=RightSite.asia |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2014-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109161958/http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/kunming-economic-technology-development-zone |url-status=live }}</ref>
*The Kunming High-tech Industrial Development Zone (KMHNZ), is a state-level high-tech industrial zone established in 1992 in Northwest Kunming. It is administratively under Kunming Prefecture. It has covers an area of {{cvt|9|km2}}. KMHNZ is located in the northwest part of Kunming city, 4 kilometers from Kunming Railway Station, 5 kilometers from Kunming International Airport.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 20, 2013 |url=http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/kunming-hi-tech-industrial-development-zone/ |title=Kunming High-tech Industrial Development Zone |publisher=RightSite.asia |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2014-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109162011/http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/kunming-hi-tech-industrial-development-zone |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Kunming]] Dianchi Tourism & Vacation Zone
*[[Kunming Airport]] Economic Zone
*[[Ruili]] [[Ruili Border Economic Cooperation Zone|Border Trade Economic Cooperation Zone]] (RLBECZ): a Chinese State Council-approved Industrial Park based in Ruili, Dehong Prefecture, founded in 1992 to promote trade between China and Burma. The area's import and export trade include the processing industry, local agriculture and biological resources are very promising. Sino-Burmese business is growing fast. Burma is now one of Yunnan's biggest foreign trade partners. In 1999, Sino-Burmese trade accounted for 77.4% of Yunnan's foreign trade. In the same year, exports for electromechanical equipments came up to US$55.28 million. Main exports here include fiber cloth, cotton yarn, [[ceresin]] wax, mechanical equipments, fruits, rice seeds, fiber yarn and tobacco.<ref>{{cite web |date=
November 20, 2013 |url=http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/ruili-border-economic-cooperation-zone/ |title=Ruili Border Economic Cooperation Zone |publisher=RightSite.asia |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2014-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109161758/http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/ruili-border-economic-cooperation-zone |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Wanding Border Economic Cooperation Zone]] (WTBECZ): a Chinese State Council-approved Industrial Park based in Wanding Town, Ruili, Dehong, founded in 1992 to promote trade between China and Burma. The zone spans {{cvt|6|km2}} and is focused on developing trading, processing, agriculture resources and tourism.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 20, 2013 |url=http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/wanding-border-economic-cooperation-zone |title=Wanding Border Economic Cooperation Zone &#124; China Industrial Space |publisher=Rightsite.asia |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2012-05-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509210155/http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/wanding-border-economic-cooperation-zone |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Qujing]] Economic and Technological Development Zone (QETDZ): a provincial development zone approved by Yunnan Provincial Government in August 1992. It is located in the east of urban Qujing, the second largest city in Yunnan in terms of economic strengths. The location of the development zone is the economic, political and cultural center of Qujing. As an agency under Qujing municipal Party committee and municipal government, the administrative commission of QETDZ functions as an economy supervising body at the prefecture level and an administration body at the county level. It has {{cvt|106|km2}} under its jurisdiction. A new 40-square-kilometer city area is planned to providing service for a population of 400,000 in the upcoming 10 years.{{clarify timeframe|date=December 2025}}<ref>{{cite web |date=November 20, 2013 |url=http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/yunnan-qujing-economic-development-zone/ |title=Qujing Economic and Technological Development Zone |publisher=RightSite.asia |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2014-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109164302/http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/yunnan-qujing-economic-development-zone |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Yuxi]] Economic and Technological Development Zone
*[[Dali City, Yunnan|Dali]] Economic and Technological Development Zone
*[[Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture|Chuxiong]] Economic and Technological Development Zone covers an area of {{cvt|12|km2}}, composed of four parks.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 20, 2013 |url=http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/yunnan-chuxiong-economic-development-zone/ |title=Chuxiong Economic Development Zone |publisher=RightSite.asia |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2014-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109150019/http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/yunnan-chuxiong-economic-development-zone |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Songming]] Yanglin Experimental Zone for County & Township Industries
*[[Hekou Yao Autonomous County|Hekou]] Border Economic Cooperation Zone: First established in 1992, this is a border zone approved by State Council to promote Sino-Vietnamese trade. It has a planned area of {{cvt|4.02|km2}}. The zone implemented several policies to serve its clients in China from various industries and sectors including investment, trade, finance, taxation, immigration, etc.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 20, 2013 |url=http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/hekou-border-economic-cooperation-zone/ |title=Hekou Border Economic Cooperation Zone |publisher=RightSite.asia |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2018-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921191233/http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/hekou-border-economic-cooperation-zone/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Jiegao<ref>{{cite web | title=Travel Yunnan China:Cities:Dehong Attractions:Jiegao | url=http://www.yunnaninfo.com/en/city/dehong/attraction/jiegao.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429003658/http://www.yunnaninfo.com/en/city/dehong/attraction/jiegao.htm | archive-date=29 April 2011 }}</ref> Border Trade Economic Zone
*[[Old Town of Lijiang|Lijiang]] [[Yulong Snow Mountain]] Tourism Zone
*[[Cang Mountain]] and [[Erhai Lake]] Tourism and Vacation Zone at Dali
*[[Xishuangbanna]] Tourism and Vacation Zone
*[[Tengchong]] Tourism and Vacation Zone
*[[Yangzonghai Lake]] Tourism and Vacation Zone
*[[Fuxian Lake]] Tourism and Vacation Zone

== Education ==
{{See also|List of universities and colleges in Yunnan}}
Since the 1960s, improvements have been achieved in the overall educational level, which can be seen in the increase in average years of regular education received. The development of part-time [[school education|school]]s have brought [[adult education|adult]], [[distance education|distance]] and [[continuing education]] to farms, factories, offices, and other places. Evening, time off work / study leave classes allow people to receive education without leaving their jobs. Policies to upgrade adult education have begun to complement the campaign against [[illiteracy]]. A basic Chinese vocabulary in [[Simplified Chinese characters|simplified]] [[Stroke order|strokes]] is taught to millions of illiterate people in short, intensive courses. Despite progress made, Yunnan's [[List of Chinese administrative divisions by illiteracy rate|illiteracy rate]] remains one of the highest in China mainly due to insufficient education among minority peoples.<ref>L. Tian, J. Li, K. Zhang, P. Guest. "Women's status, institutional barriers and reproductive health care: A case study in Yunnan, China". ''Health Policy'', Volume 84, Issue 2, Pages 284–297</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D53698%26URL_DO%3DDO_PRINTPAGE%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html |title=Literacy Co-ordination Office of Yunnan Province |publisher=Portal.unesco.org |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2009-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302084602/http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID%3D53698%26URL_DO%3DDO_PRINTPAGE%26URL_SECTION%3D201.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In [[Higher education in China|higher education]], Yunnan has one "[[National Key University]]"—[[Yunnan University]] in [[Kunming]]. There is also a growing number of technical schools, among which the most prominent are the [[Yunnan Normal University]], the [[Southwest Forestry University]], [[Yunnan Agricultural University]], Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, [[Kunming Medical University]], [[Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine]], and [[Kunming University of Science and Technology]]. Other notable establishments of learning are the [[Template:CAS Kunming|Kunming branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences]], the [[Yunnan Astronomical Observatory]], and the [[Yunnan Provincial Library]]. As of 2000, there were 24 [[institutions of higher learning]] in Yunnan, with an enrollment of over 90,400 students and a faculty of 9,237; 2,562 secondary schools with an enrollment of more than 2,137,400 students and 120,461 teachers; and 22,151 primary schools with an enrollment of 4,720,600 pupils and a faculty of 210,507. The [[gross enrollment rate]] of school-age children was 99.02%.

== Health ==
{{Expand section|date=February 2024}}
Yunnan Province is responsible for about 50% of officially reported [[malaria]] cases in China.<ref>[http://www.usp.org/pdf/EN/dqi/yunnanTesting.pdf Yunnan DQ Testing Turns Up Fake Artesunates, Health Officials Alerted] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080909224556/http://www.usp.org/pdf/EN/dqi/yunnanTesting.pdf |date=2008-09-09 }} USP Drug Quality and Information Program</ref>

It is presently considered to be the main source of [[Plague (disease)|plague]] in China.<ref name="Zhang2009">{{cite journal | last1 = Zhang | first1 = Z | last2 = Hai | first2 = R | last3 = Song | first3 = Z | last4 = Xia | first4 = L | last5 = Liang | first5 = Y | last6 = Cai | first6 = H | last7 = Liang | first7 = Y | last8 = Shen | first8 = X | last9 = Zhang | first9 = E | last10 = Xu | first10 = J | last11 = Yu | first11 = D | last12 = Yu | first12 = XJ | year = 2009 | title = Spatial variation of ''Yersinia pestis'' from Yunnan Province of China | url = | journal = Am J Trop Med Hyg | volume = 81 | issue = 4| pages = 714–717 }}</ref>

=== HIV-AIDS ===
{{excerpt|HIV/AIDS in Yunnan|paragraphs=1, 2|files=0|templates=0}}

== Transport{{anchor|Transportation}} ==
{{Main|Transport in Yunnan}}

=== Railways ===
[[File:Dali Lijiang Railway in Dali.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Viaduct of the [[Dali–Lijiang Railway]] near [[Dali City|Dali]]]]
The first railway in Yunnan was the [[narrow gauge]] [[Yunnan–Vietnam Railway]] built by France from 1904 to 1910 to connect [[Kunming]] with [[Vietnam]], then a French colony. The Chinese section spanned from Kunming to [[Hekou Yao Autonomous County|Hekou]], entered Vietnamese territory at [[Lào Cai]], and terminated at the seaport of [[Haiphong]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rousseau |first=Jean-François |date=2014-06-01 |title=An Imperial Railway Failure: The Indochina—Yunnan Railway, 1898–1941 |url=https://doi.org/10.7227/tjth.35.1.2 |journal=The Journal of Transport History |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.7227/tjth.35.1.2 |issn=0022-5266}}</ref> During the Second World War, Britain began building a [[Yunnan–Burma Railway|railway from Yunnan to Burma]] but abandoned the effort due to Japanese advance.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cao |first=Yin |date=2023-07-24 |title=The Yunnan–Burma railway, 1860s–1940s: Imagining, planning and rejecting a railway that was never built |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022463423000395 |journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=298–315 |doi=10.1017/s0022463423000395 |issn=0022-4634}}</ref>

Due in part to difficult terrain both locally and in surrounding provinces and the shortage of capital for rail construction, Yunnan remained outside of China's domestic rail network until 1966 when the [[Shanghai–Kunming Railway|Guiyang–Kunming Railway]] was completed.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Xu |first=Kaizheng |date=1993 |title=Third Front: China's Industrial Program During the Cultural Revolution|location= University of Hawai'i at Manoa}}</ref> The line would not enter into operation until 1970, the same year that the [[Chengdu–Kunming Railway|Chengdu-Kunming]] was completed.<ref>{{Citation |last=Zhihuan |first=Fu |title=High-Speed Railway Racing: A Hundred Years of Dramatic Changes in China's Railways |date=2025 |work=A Brief History of Transportation in China |pages=291–320 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-9851-3_12 |access-date=2025-12-29 |place=Singapore |publisher=Springer Nature Singapore |isbn=978-981-97-9850-6}}</ref> The [[Nanning–Kunming Railway]] to [[Guangxi]] was completed in 1997, followed by the [[Neijiang–Kunming Railway]] in 2001. The [[Pan County West Railway|Panxi Railway]], originally built in 1975 to draw coal from neighboring Guizhou, was electrified in 2001 and adds to eastern Yunnan's outbound rail transport capacity.

[[File:Kunming - Haikou Town - Kunyu Railway - P1350369.JPG|thumb|left|Kunming–Yuxi railway in Haikou Town, Kunming]]
Within the province, the [[Kunming–Yuxi Railway|Kunming–Yuxi]], opened in 1993, and the [[Guangtong–Dali Railway|Guangtong–Dali]], opened in 1998, expanded the rail network to southern and western Yunnan, respectively. The [[Dali–Lijiang Railway]], opened in 2010, brought rail service to northwestern Yunnan. That line is planned to be [[Lijiang–Xamgyi'nyilha Railway|extended further north to Xamgyi'nyilha County]].

The province is extending the railway network to neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. From [[Yuxi]], the [[Yuxi–Mengzi Railway]], built from 2005 to 2013, and the [[Mengzi–Hekou Railway]], under construction since 2008, will form a [[standard gauge]] railway connection with [[Vietnam]]. The [[Dali–Ruili Railway]], under construction since May 2011, will bring rail service to the border with [[Myanmar]]. Also under planning is a rail line from Yuxi to Mohan, in Xishuangbana Prefecture, on the border with Laos. This line could be extended further south to [[Thailand]], [[Malaysia]] and [[Singapore]].

===Burma Road===
The [[Burma Road]] was a highway extending about {{cvt|1100|km}} through mountainous terrain from [[Lashio]], northeast Burma northeastward to Kunming, China. Undertaken by the Chinese after the start of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and completed in 1938, it was a vital transportation route for wartime supplies to the Chinese government from Rangoon and shipped by railroad to Lashio from 1938 to 1946. An extension runs east through China from Kunming, then north to Chongqing. This traffic increased in importance to China after the Japanese took effective control of the Chinese coast and of Indochina. It was seized by the Japanese in 1942 and reopened when it was connected to the [[Stilwell Road]] from India. The [[Ledo Road]] (later called the Stilwell Road) from [[Ledo, Assam|Ledo]], India, into Burma was begun in December 1942. In 1944 the Ledo Road reached [[Myitkyina]] and was joined to the Burma Road. Both roads have lost their former importance and are in a state of disrepair. The Burma Road's importance diminished after World War II, but it has remained a link in a 3,400-km road system from [[Yangon]], [[Burma]], to [[Chongqing]].

=== Highways ===
Road construction in Yunnan continues unabated: over the last years the province has added more new roads than any other province.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} Today expressways link Kunming through Dali to Baoshan, Kunming to Mojiang (on the way to Jinghong), Kunming to Qujing, Kunming to Shilin (Stone Forest). The official plan is to connect all major towns and neighbouring capitals with expressways by 2010, and to complete a high-speed road network by 2020.
[[File:Yulong Xueshan 04.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Roadway in Lijiang with the [[Jade Dragon Snow Mountain]] in the distance.]]
All county towns are now accessible by paved, all-weather roads from Kunming, all townships have a road connection (the last to be connected was Yangla, in the far north, but Dulongjiang remains cut off for about six months every year), and about half of all villages have road access.

Second-level national highways stretch {{cvt|958|km}}, third-level highways, {{cvt|7,571|km}} and fourth-level highways, {{cvt|52,248|km}}. The province has formed a network of communication lines radiating from Kunming to Sichuan and Guizhou provinces and Guangxi and Tibet autonomous regions, and further on to Burma, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

[[File:镇安镇道路02.jpg|thumb|China National Highway 320 in [[Longling County]]]]
National highways running through Yunnan province are:
*[[China National Highway 108]]
*[[China National Highway 213]]
*[[China National Highway 214]]
*[[China National Highway 320]]
*[[China National Highway 323]]
*[[China National Highway 324]]
*[[China National Highway 326]]

==== Expressways ====
After the opening of the Suolongsi to Pingyuanjie section, Luofu expressway, the first between Yunnan and [[Guangxi]] Province, opened in October 2007. It has made material and passenger transportation between the two provinces much more convenient. Moreover, Luofu Expressway has also become the main road from Yunnan to Guangxi and the coastal ports. Luofu Expressway begins from the crossroads of Luo Village between Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces and ends at [[Funing County, Yunnan|Funing County]] of [[Wenshan State]]. The total length of the expressway is 79.3 kilometers which has shortened the [[commuting|commute]] between Yunnan and Guangxi from the previous 3 and half hours to just 50 minutes.

Expressways running through Yunnan province are:
*[[Kunming–Bangkok Expressway]] ([[G8511 Kunming–Mohan Expressway|G8511 Kunmo Expressway]])
*[[G5611 Dali–Lijiang Expressway|G5611 Dali Expressway]] from [[Dali, Yunnan|Dali]] to [[Lijiang, Yunnan|Lijiang]]
*[[G78 Shantou–Kunming Expressway|G78 Shankun Expressway]] from [[Shantou]] to Kunming
*[[G80 Guangzhou–Kunming Expressway|G80 Guangkun Expressway]] from [[Guangzhou]] to Kunming
*[[G8011 Kaiyuan–Hekou Expressway|G8011 Kaihe Expressway]] from [[Kaiyuan City, Honghe, Yunnan|Kaiyuan]] to [[Hekou Yao Autonomous County|Hekou]] on the Vietnamese border

=== Waterways ===
[[File:Yangzi River - by Peter Morgan.jpg|200px|thumb|[[Yangzi River]]]]
Generally, rivers are obstacles to transport in Yunnan. Only very small parts of Yunnan's river systems are navigable. However, China is constructing a series of dams on the [[Mekong]] to develop it as a waterway and source of power; the first was completed at [[Manwan Dam|Manwan]] in 1993.

In 1995, the province put an investment of 171 million yuan to add another {{cvt|807|km}} of navigation lines. It built two wharfs with an annual handling capacity of 300,000 to 400,000 tons each and four wharfs with an annual handling capacity of 100,000 tons each. The annual volume of goods transported was two million tons and that of passengers transported, two million.

=== Airports ===
[[File:Dali Airport 07.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Dali Airport]]
[[File:寧蒗瀘沽湖機場 20190928190809.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Ninglang Luguhu Airport]]
The province has twenty domestic air routes from [[Kunming]] to [[Beijing]], [[Shanghai]], [[Guangzhou]], [[Chengdu]], [[Haikou]], [[Chongqing]], [[Shenyang]], [[Harbin]], [[Wuhan]], [[Xi'an]], [[Lanzhou]], [[Hangzhou]], [[Xiamen]], [[Nanning]], [[Shenzhen]], [[Guiyang]], [[Changsha]], [[Guilin]], [[Lhasa]] and [[Hong Kong]]; eleven provincial air routes from [[Kunming]] to [[Jinghong]], Mangshi, Lincang, Tengchong, [[Lijiang City|Lijiang]], [[Dali, Yunnan|Dali]], [[Shangri-la|Xamgyi'nyilha]], [[Zhaotong]], [[Baoshan, Yunnan|Baoshan]], [[Pu'er City|Simao]], and [[Ninglang Luguhu Airport|Ninglang Luguhu]]; and ten international air routes from [[Kunming]] to [[Bangkok]], [[Kolkata]], [[Chiang mai|Chiang Mai]], [[Yangon]], [[Singapore]], [[Seoul]], [[Hanoi]], [[Ho Chi Minh City]], [[Kuala Lumpur]] and [[Vientiane]].

Replacing [[Kunming Wujiaba International Airport]] is [[Kunming Changshui International Airport]], which opened June 28, 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kmgairport.com/notice/690.jhtml|script-title=zh:昆明长水国际机场2012年6月28日08:00正式启用 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807105301/http://www.kmgairport.com/notice/690.jhtml |archive-date=2013-08-07 |access-date=2014-03-23}}</ref>

===Bridges===
Bridge-building in Yunnan date back at least 1,300 years when the [[Tibetan Empire]] built an iron chain bridge over the [[Yangtze]] to the neighboring [[Nanzhao Kingdom]] at what is today [[Weixi Lisu Autonomous County]] during the [[Tang dynasty]]. Iron chain bridges are still found across high river valleys of Yunnan. The Jinlong Bridge on the [[Jinsha River]] in Lijiang remains the oldest bridge over the Yangtze. With the expansion of the highway and railway network in Yunnan, numerous large-scale bridges have been built across the region's myriad of rivers, including the [[Yangtze River bridges and tunnels|Yangtze which has dozens of crossings]] in Yunnan.

===Metro===
Kunming is the only city in Yunnan that has a [[Kunming Metro|metro system]]. According to the [[Ministry of Transport (China)|Ministry of Transport]], the Kunming Metro has six operational lines with a total length of 165.9 kilometers, and transported 23.244 million passengers in the month of February 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2025年2月城市轨道交通运营数据速报-运力分析-中华人民共和国交通运输部 |url=https://www.mot.gov.cn/fenxigongbao/yunlifenxi/202503/t20250310_4165357.html |access-date=2025-12-28 |website=www.mot.gov.cn}}</ref>

== Culture ==
{{See also|Bashu culture|Major national historical and cultural sites (Yunnan)}}
[[File:Chinese New Year's poetry.jpg|thumb|Hand-painted Chinese New Year's poetry pasted on the sides of doors leading to people's homes, Old Town, [[Lijiang City|Lijiang]].]]

Yunnan's cultural life is one of remarkable diversity. Archaeological findings have unearthed sacred burial structures holding elegant bronzes in [[Jinning]], south of [[Kunming]]. In northeastern Yunnan, frescoes of the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)]] have been discovered in the city of [[Zhaotong|Zhatong]]. Many Chinese cultural relics have been discovered in later periods. The lineage of tribal way of life of the indigenous peoples persisted uninfluenced by modernity until the mid-20th century. Tribal traditions, such as [[Yi people|Yi]] [[slavery|slaveholding]] and [[Wa people|Wa]] [[headhunting]], have since been abolished. After the [[Cultural Revolution]] (1966–1976), in which several minority cultural and religious practices were suppressed, Yunnan has come to celebrate its cultural diversity and subsequently many local customs and festivals have flourished.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BKK83023.htm |title=Headhunting days are over for Myanmar's 'Wild Wa' |publisher=Alertnet.org |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2008-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122142857/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BKK83023.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Eighteen Oddities of Yunnan ===
{{main|Eighteen Oddities of Yunnan}}

=== Cuisine ===
{{main|Yunnan cuisine}}

=== Tea ===
{{for|the [[tea]] from this region|Yunnan tea}}
[[File:Puer tea, Chinese tea, Rostov-on-Don, Russia.jpg|thumb|Pu'er tea from Yunnan]]
Yunnan has several different tea growing regions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.the-leaf.org/The_26_Mts_of_Yunnan.html |title=Article on the tea growing regions of Yunnan |publisher=The-leaf.org |date=1985-06-11 |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-date=2017-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506220733/http://www.the-leaf.org/The_26_Mts_of_Yunnan.html |url-status=live }}</ref> One of Yunnan's best known products is [[Pu-erh tea]] (or Puer), named after the old tea trading town of [[Pu-erh Yunnan|Pu-erh]] (Puer). The province is also known for its [[Golden Needle tea|Yunnan Gold]] and other [[Dian hong tea|Dianhong]] teas, developed in the 20th century.

=== Music ===
{{main|Music of Yunnan}}

Several forms of folk music from Yunnan have been identified as elements of national [[Intangible cultural heritage|intangible cultural heritage]] by the Chinese government. These include the multi-ethnic Huadeng [[Chinese opera|Opera]], and musical traditions from Zhuang, Yi, and Dai people.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kuang |first=Jia |last2=He |first2=Lan |date=August 25, 2022 |title=From Oblivion to Reappearance: A Multi-Faceted Evaluation of the Sustainability of Folk Music in Yunnan Province of China |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221117806 |journal=Sage Open |volume=12 |issue=3 |doi=10.1177/21582440221117806 |issn=2158-2440}}</ref> Huadeng Opera originated in the Ming Dynasty or earlier from Shehuo folk celebrations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hongxian |first=Sun |last2=Yodwised |first2=Chutasiri |date=2023 |title=Studying Yunnan Huadeng and Constructing Yunnan Huadeng Course Plan for Teaching at Yunnan Arts University, China |url=https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jomld/article/view/263322 |journal=Journal of Modern Learning Development |volume=8 |issue=10 |pages=294–300}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=December 2025}}

=== Chinese medicine ===
Yunnan is host to more than 19,000 species of plants, including 60 percent of the plants used in [[traditional Chinese medicine]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Qian |first1=Li-Shen |last2=Chen |first2=Jia-Hui |last3=Deng |first3=Tao |last4=Sun |first4=Hang |date=2020-08-01 |title=Plant diversity in Yunnan: Current status and future directions |journal=Plant Diversity |series=Safeguarding Our Future by Protecting Biodiversity |language=en |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=281–291 |doi=10.1016/j.pld.2020.07.006 |pmid=33094199 |pmc=7567762 |bibcode=2020PlDiv..42..281Q |issn=2468-2659}}</ref>

*[[Yunnan Baiyao]]

=== Tourism ===
[[File:1 yuanyang rice terrace laohuzhui 2012.jpg|thumb|Rice-terraced mountains of Yuanyang county]]
[[File:1 songzanlin 2018a.jpg|thumb|[[Ganden Sumtseling Monastery]] in [[Shangri-La, Yunnan|Shangri-La City]]]]
[[File:古城小桥流水 - panoramio.jpg|thumb|[[Old Town of Lijiang]]]]
[[File:1 yulong xueshan yak 2012.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Baishui River]] with [[Jade Dragon Snow Mountain]] in background]]
Yunnan Province, due to its landscapes, mild climate and cultural diversity, is one of China's major tourist destinations. Most visitors are Chinese tourists, although trips to Yunnan are organized by an increasing number of foreign travel agencies as well. Mainland tourists travel by the masses; 2.75 million Chinese visited Yunnan last October during National Holiday. Also a different trend is slowly developing; small scale and environmentally friendly [[ecotourism]]. At the moment{{when|date=December 2025}} projects in this field are often being set up with help of NGOs.

In 2004, tourism revenues amounted to 37 billion RMB, and thus accounting for 12.6% of the provincial GDP. Another fact indicating the importance of tourism in Yunnan Province is capital Kunming hosting the China International Travel Mart every two years. This tourism trade fair is the largest of its kind in Asia and serves as an important platform for professionals in the sector. More than 80 countries and regions were present during the 2005 edition.

Tourism is expected to grow further. In 2010, the province welcomed over 2.3 million overseas tourists and the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Bureau aims to draw 4.3 million overseas arrivals under the 12th Five-Year Tourism Development Plan. Kunming city is expected to add 11 new mid- to high-end hotels with an inventory of under 4,000 rooms between 2012 and 2016.<ref>{{cite web |title=Yunnan catches up |url=http://www.ttgmice.com/index.php/magazine/?term_id&issues&ID=5281 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130205112625/http://www.ttgmice.com/index.php/magazine/?term_id&issues&ID=5281 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 5, 2013 |publisher=TTGmice |access-date=10 December 2012 }}</ref>

[[The Nature Conservancy]] and the Chinese government came together to form a partnership and explore the possibility of bringing [[adventure tourism]] onto the rivers of Southwest China. A {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20190702053425/https://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/the_yunnan_great_rivers_expedition two-month white-water expedition]}} explored from the Mekong River's Moon Gorge to Yangze River's Great Bend. The expedition provided valuable information to the partnership, encouraging them to take into account the safety, culture, economics, and conservation of the Yunnan Province. Creating an adventure tourism sector would bring valuable economic resources to the economically struggling population, who had once relied on logging as income prior to it being banned due to deforestation.

Tourist centres in Yunnan include:
*[[Dali, Yunnan|Dali]], the historic center of the [[Kingdom of Nanzhao|Nanzhao]] and [[Kingdom of Dali|Dali]] kingdoms.
*[[Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture|Chuxiong]], the first stop on the way to Dali and Lijiang. Home of the Yi ethnic minority and their respective ancient town.
*[[Jinghong]], the center and prefectural capital of the [[Xishuangbanna]] [[Dai people|Dai]] minority autonomous prefecture.
*[[Lijiang City|Lijiang]], a [[Naxi people|Naxi]] minority city. It has been a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] since 1997.
*[[Shangri-La County|Xamgyi'nyilha County]] (also known as [[Shangri-La]] and formerly Zhongdian), an ethnic [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]] township and county set high in Yunnan's northwestern mountains.
*[[Shilin (Stone Forest)]], a series of [[karst]] outcrops east of [[Kunming]].
*[[Yuanyang County, Yunnan|Yuanyang]], a [[Hani people|Hani]] minority settlement with vast rice-terraced mountains.
*[[Xishuangbanna]], a national scenic resort, noted for its natural and cultural attractions.

=== Places of interest ===

[[Image:Gucheng.JPG|thumb|The Gucheng Mosque of Yunnan]]
*[[Black Dragon Pool]]
*[[Baishuitai]]
*[[Cang Mountain|Cangshan]]
*[[Erhai Lake]]
*[[Ganlan Basin]]
*[[Green Lake (Kunming)|Green Lake Park]]
*[[Jade Dragon Snow Mountain]]
*[[Lancang River]] (Mekong River)
*[[Manting Park]] (Chunhuan Park) in [[Jinghong]]
*[[Meili Snow Mountain]] in Deqin
*[[Pujian Temple]]
*[[Sanchahe Nature Reserve]] in Jinghong
*[[Shaping Market]], Dali
*[[Shaxi, Yunnan|Shaxi]]
*[[Shilin (Stone Forest)|Stone Forest]]
*[[Three Pagodas]]
*[[Tengchong]] (hot springs)
*[[Tiger Leaping Gorge]]
*[[Visitor Center for Nature and Culture in Northwest Yunnan]]
*Wase markets, near Dali
*Xishuangbanna Tropical Flower & Plant Garden
*[[Yuantong Temple]]
*[[Yunnan Provincial Museum]]
*[[Shaxi Ancient Town, Dali]]

=== Sport ===
Professional sporting teams in Yunnan have included the now defunct [[Yunnan Bulls]] in the [[Chinese Basketball Association]] and [[Yunnan Hongta F.C.|Yunnan Hongta]] in the [[Chinese Jia-A League]]. The [[Yunnan Yukun]] football team currently competes in [[China League One]].

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
; Books

*{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hUEswLE4SWUC |last=Dillon |first=Michael |title=China's Muslim Hui Community: Migration, Settlement and Sects |date=26 July 1999 |publisher=Routledge / Curzon Press |location=Richmond, UK |isbn=0-7007-1026-4 |access-date=28 June 2010}}
*Forbes, Andrew; Henley, David (2011). ''Traders of the Golden Triangle''. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN: B006GMID5K
*Forbes, Andrew; Henley, David (2011). ''China's Ancient Tea Horse Road''. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN: B005DQV7Q2
*{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K28oAAAAYAAJ |last=Fytche |first=Albert |title=Burma past and present |year=1878 |publisher=C. K. Paul & Co |location=London |access-date=28 June 2010}}
*Jim Goodman (2002). ''The Exploration of Yunnan''. {{ISBN|7-222-03276-2}}.
*Stephen Mansfield (2007). ''China: Yunnan Province''. (Bradt Travel Guide China: Yunnan Province) {{ISBN|1-84162-169-2}}.
*Ann Helen Unger and Walter Unger. (2007) ''Yunnan: China's Most Beautiful Province''. (Orchid Press) {{ISBN|3-7774-8390-7}}.
*Damien Harper (2007). ''China's Southwest''. (Lonely Planet Country & Regional Guides) {{ISBN|1-74104-185-6}}.
*Patrick R. Booz (1998). ''Yunnan''. (Odyssey Passport: McGraw-Hill Contemporary) {{ISBN|0-8442-9664-3}}.
*Susan K. McCarthy (2009). ''Communist Multiculturalism: Ethnic Revival in Southwest China'' (University of Washington Press) {{ISBN|0-295-98909-2}}.
*Tim Summers (2013), "Yunnan – A Chinese Bridgehead to Asia: A case study of China's political and economic relations with its neighbours" (Chandos) {{ISBN|978-0-85709-444-5}}.

;Web
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081208200425/http://www.unescap.org/esid/psis/population/database/chinadata/yunnan.htm Population Profile of Yunnan] – [[United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific]]
*[http://info.hktdc.com/mktprof/china/yunnan.htm Economic Profile of Yunnan] – [[Hong Kong Trade Development Council]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090225053418/http://team.univ-paris1.fr/teamperso/sponcet/Perso/ASEJ%20Poncet.pdf Economic Integration of Yunnan with the Greater Mekong Subregion] ''Asian Economic Journal'' Volume 20 Issue 3, Pages 303–317

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
*[https://www.chinayearbooks.com/tags/yunnan-statistical-yearbook Yunnan Statistical Yearbook] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201257/https://www.chinayearbooks.com/tags/yunnan-statistical-yearbook |date=2021-06-24 }}

{{Geographic location
|Centre = Yunnan
|North = [[Sichuan]]
|Northeast = [[Guizhou]]
|East = [[Guangxi]]
|Southeast = [[Hà Giang Province|Hà Giang]], [[Lào Cai Province|Lào Cai]], [[Lai Châu Province|Lai Châu]], and [[Điện Biên Province|Điện Biên]] provinces, {{flag|Vietnam}}
|South = [[Luang Namtha Province|Luang Namtha]], [[Oudomxay Province|Oudomxay]], and [[Phongsaly Province]]s, {{flag|Laos}}
|Southwest = {{flag|Kachin State}} and {{flag|Shan State}}s, {{flag|Myanmar}}
|West =
|Northwest = [[Tibet Autonomous Region]]
}}
{{Yunnan topics}}
{{Yunnan}}
{{Province-level divisions of the People's Republic of China}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Yunnan| ]]
[[Category:Provinces of China]]
[[Category:Populated places on the Mekong River]]
[[Category:South China]]
[[Category:Western China]]