minority nationalities

main cities of yunnan: dali , dehong , jinghong , kunming , lijiang , ninglang , shangri-la , tengchong , yuanyang

yunnan is a microcosm of china in the areas of minority affairs and nationality relations. the province has 25 minority groups, nearly half of the country's total (56 ethnic groups). with such ethnic diversity it is important to ask the question: what criteria are used to determine minority status and classification?

basically, there are five ways: race, language, culture, religion, and history. in yunnan race is not a major consideration, as it is in northwest china where caucasian exist, language and culture, however, are of primary interest because they are the basis for classfying most minority nationalities. religion plays a role in groups such as the hui (muslims) who, to all intents and purposes, are chinese except for their faith. historical background can sometimes tip the balance in determining the status of a people. the bai, who have a high cultural level and speak a language closedly related to mandarin, are clearly not chinese on the basis of their long, well-recorded and independent history.

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last updated: march 22, 2006

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