Distribution
Yi People is mainly distributed in Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou, and northwestward of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Prefecture. As a whole, its geographical distributing pattern can be generalized as ' Separated largely but centralized in small size'. 19 Autonomous Countries are mainly inhabited by Yi which are Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichan, Chuxing Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan, Honghe Yi and Hani Autonomous Prefecture, Shilin Yi Autonomous Country, Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous Country. Furthermore, there are Yi villages scattering in many places of China; we can see them not only from Dadu River of north to Yunnan Frontier of south, but also from Wu River of east to Lancang River. Commonly, Yi People live together with other minorities in these regions. In addition, there are nearly 30 thousand Yi People distributed in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Burma, of which more than 10 thousand live in Vietnam.
The southwest regions, in which the Yi are distributed, are the locus of the southeast margin of Yun-gui Plateau and Qing-zang Plateau where roll green mountains, crisscross clean rivers, exist multiple changing climates, spread out many flatland, line deep valleys, scatter big lakes and lie abundant resources. Many towering mountains, such as Big Snow-mountain, Daliangshan Mountain, Wumengshan Mountain, Ailaoshan Mountain and Wuliangshan Mountain stand in it; Many billowy and surging rivers, such as Dadu River, Yalu river, Anning River, Yuan River, Lancang River and Nanpan River flow in it. And there are lots of picturesque plateau lakes, such as Qiu Lake, Lugu Lake, Dian Lake, Cao Lake and Ma Lake etc.. Furthermore, there are many river-valley plains and many basins located in mountains, such as Kunming, Qujing, Yiliang, Mengzi, Yuxi and Ten Liangshan Flatlands etc.. The mountain areas, the half-mountain areas, the river-valley plains and the basins located in mountains are the main regions that Yi People inhabit.
The landform and the natural condition are very complex here because the mountains and the rivers crisscross and the gorges are in great depth. Most of the places in this region are mountainous or half-mountainous areas, such as Ailao Mountains and the Wuliang Mountains, and range from 1,000 meters to 2,500 meters above sea level. A few of them are places with the hills and the river-valley, such as Jinsha River, Honghe River and the valleys of their branches. And a few of them are cold and high mountainous areas with the altitude of 3,000 meter around; they are the hinterland of Daliangshan Mountain and Xiaoliangshan Mountain, the east of Yunnan and the Northwest of Guizhou. There are great differences in temperature and rainfall in different regions. In high-cold mountains it is very cool while in mountains and half-mountain it is warm and rains moderately. The climate of many river-valleys in the sub-torrid zone is torrid. All above of these provide good advantaged natural conditions for agriculture, forestry and stock raising. As multiple as the physiognomy, the resources here are plenty: there are animal resources, plant resources, water power resources, fish resources and mineral resources in the vast Yi People's areas. The middle reaches' forest area of Golden Sand River in Chuxiong of Yunnan, the Honghe Area and the area of Bijie and Weining of Guizhou are famous Green Steel bases of Chinese southwest. Many kinds of rare creatures, such as tiger, leopard, bear, orang, mossback, wild horse, lynx, antelope, panda, canary monkey and birds inhabit in these braod wildwoods and regenerated wildwoods of Sichuan, which includes great area of sub-tropic evergreen broad-leaf forest , sub-tropic taiga, sub-tropic high mountain taiga and sub-tropic economy woods in Daliang Moutain and XiaoLian Mountain. The extremely abundant resources of water power are contained in billowy Dadu River, Golden Sand River, Anning River, Yuan River, Lancang River and Nanpan River etc.. Yi inhabited areas teem with mine of iron, coal, copper and stannum etc.. The iron ore of Sichuan, stannum mine of Gejiu and copper mine of Dongchuan take great important role in the same sort of domestic mine. Yi Regions are not only rich in products but also are cradles for amniote and ancient ape-men. For instance, the Ramapithecus found in the Golden River's drainage area, which the Chuxiong Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan is located in, and the ancient fossils of Yuanmou ape-men, have already been famous both at home and overseas. The unique ethnic conventions and natural scenery make the tour resources in Yi Regions rich and particular. For instance, the marvelous spectacle of the Stone Forest in Lunan, the annual Torch Festival and the colorful wooden craftworks attract Countless tourists each year. Lots of Yi special products as tobacco produced in Honghe, Strong chicken in Wuding, ham of Xuanwei, and Boilered Chicken in Jianshui, are famous and well-known.