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People
The population of Yunnan is approximately 34 million. There
are 24 registered minorities, including the Zhuang,
Hui, Yi, Miao, Tibetans, Mongols,
Yao, Bai, Hani, Dai, Lisu,
Lahu, Wa, Naxi, Jingpo, Bulang,
Pumi, Nu, Achang, Benglong, Jinuo,
and Dulong.
The Naxi, living in and around the town of Lijiang
in the northwestern part of Yunnan, bordering Tibet,
are noted as one of the few Asian people who have maintained a
matriarchal society (anthropologists believe that most
early human societies have in fact been matriarchal, meaning to
say, dominated by women). Apart from northwestern Yunnan, matriarchal
societies are, for example, still found today in central Sumatra.
Ethnically, the Naxi belong to the Tibetan group.
However, the region where they live, or roamed (as they used to
be nomads), administratively belongs to the Chinese provinces
of Yunnan and Sichuan. They count some 280,000.
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