Yunnan << yoo nahn >> Province is a province in south-central China. It has an area of 168,400 square miles (436,200 square kilometers). Kunming is the province’s capital and largest city. Yunnan is one of the largest provinces in China. About one-third of the province’s people are ethnic minorities.
Yunnan borders Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. The province is mostly mountainous. The Mekong, Red, Salween, and Yangtze rivers flow through Yunnan. Dianchi Lake, near Kunming, is one of the largest freshwater lakes in China.
Yunnan has deposits of many minerals, including coal, copper, iron, lead, tin, and zinc. The province’s main crops are coffee, corn, rice, sugar cane, tea, tobacco, and walnuts. Farmers also raise cattle, goats, hogs, and horses. The major industries in the province manufacture chemicals, cigarettes, food products, machinery, paper, steel, and textiles.
Many ancient tribes lived in Yunnan during China’s early history. Around 300 B.C., soldiers from the Chu state, a powerful state in southeastern China, conquered these tribes. The soldiers settled in the area and established the Kingdom of Dian.
The Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms ruled the Yunnan area from about 738 to 1253. The Mongol leader Kublai Khan conquered the Dali Kingdom in 1253. Yunnan became a province of China during the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). A dynasty is a series of rulers from the same family.
In 1856, Muslims and other ethnic minorities in Yunnan rebelled against the Qing dynasty (1644-1912). The uprising became known as the Panthay Rebellion. The Chinese government put down the rebellion in 1873. About 1 million people were killed.
