Yunnan Geology

Yunnan, called Dian for short, is situated in the Southwest frontier of China. Stretching tbr 864.9 kilometers from east to west and 990 kilometers from north to south, it covers an area of 394,000 square kilo-meters. Accounting for 4.1% of the total land area of China, it is the 8th largest province in China. With Kunming as its capital city; Yunnan has 8 municipalities and 8 national autonomous prefectures under its jurisdiction.
 
Yunnan is situated in the southwestern part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.
It borders Guizhou Province and Guangxi Zhnang Antonomous Region on the southeast, Sichuan Prnvince on the northeast and Tibet Autonomous

Region On the northwest. To its west and south

Yunnan shares a common border with Myanmar. Laos aud Viet Nam along a boundary line that is 4,060 kilometers long. In the border area, there are 12 national border ports, 8 provincial border ports, and over 90 routes leading into the neighboring countries. In addition,Yunnan is geographically proximate to Thailand, Cambodia, Bangladesh and India.

Since ancient times, Yunnan has been serving as China's gateway to Southeast Asia and South Asia and is a meeting point of oriental and western cultures.

The Southern Silk Road which existed 2,000 years ago started its way from Sichnan to Yunnan. and extended from Yunnan further down to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Arabian region, and the West.

Since the Tropic of Cancer runs through the southern part of Yunnan province , a part of the province has tropical weather. The Northern part of the province is mountainous.

The Eastern part is a limestone plateau and the western part has mountain ranges with rivers.

The six major rivers that drain the province are:
* Yangtze.
* Pearl River, with its source near Qujing, collects the waters from the east.
* the Mekong
* the Red River
* Salween
* the Irrawaddy has a few small tributaries in the far west of the province

Yunnan province shares an international border with Myanmar (Burma) , Laos in the south and Vietnam in the south east . Provinces that border Yunnan are Tibet, Sichuan, Guizhou and Guangxi.

Due to the diverse weather and topography, the province has a wide range of flora and fauna. It has more than 15,000 species of plants and a large number of birds and mammals.