Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture

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Xishuangbanna or Sipsongpanna is an autonomous prefecture in southern Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China. The capital city is Jinghong, the largest settlement in the area and one that straddles the Lancang (Mekong) river. The prefecture has an area of 19700 km².

The native name literally means "twelve thousand rice fields".

Xishuangbanna is the home of the Dai people. The region sits at a lower altitude than most of Yunnan, and has a tropical climate. It is fast becoming a sought after tourist destination.

Contents 1 Administrative Subdivisions 2 Biodiversity 3 Demographics 4 Culture 5 Ethnic groups in Xishuangbanna, 2000 census 6 External links

[edit] Administrative Subdivisions

Xishuangbanna governs 1 county-level city and 2 counties.

• County level city: Jinghong.
• Counties:
  • Menghai County (Měnghǎi Xiàn 勐海县); capital: Xiangshan (Xiàngshān Zhēn 象山镇)
  • Mengla County (Měnglà Xiàn 勐腊县); capital: Mengla (Měnglà Zhēn 勐腊镇)

[edit] Biodiversity

Xishuangbanna harbors much of the biodiversity of Yunnan Province, which harbors much of the biodiversity of China. Its tropical climate and its remoteness until recent times accounts for this. In addition to an abundance of plants, Xishuangbanna is home to the last few Asian elephants still in China; the species roamed over a large part of the country even as late as a few hundred years ago. The elephants are protected in a reserve, but the plant diversity is threatened by, and has for five decades been threatened by, the proliferation of rubber plantations which completely destroy the rainforest and replace it with a monoculture of trees originally from Brazil.

Passiflora xishuangbannaensis is a recently discovered passionflower species that is endemic to Xishuangbanna.

[edit] Demographics

With censuses in the year 2000 Xishuangbanna had 993,397 inhabitants with a population density of 50.43 inhabitants per km².

[edit] Culture

The Six famous tea mountains region (六大茶山; pinyin: Liù Dà Chá Shān; literally, "Six major tea mountain") located in the prefecture produce some of the most highly regarded Pu-erh tea in the 20th century.

[edit] Ethnic groups in Xishuangbanna, 2000 census

Nationality	Population	Percentage
Dai	296,930	29.89%
Han	289,181	29.11%
Hani	186,067	18.73%
Yi	55,772	5.61%
Lahu	55,548	5.59%
Blang	36,453	3.67%
Jino	20,199	2.03%
Yao	18,679	1.88%
Miao	11,037	1.11%
Bai	5,931	0.6%
ethnic background not given	5,640	0.57%
Hui	3,911	0.39%
Va	3,112	0.31%
Zhuang	2,130	0.21%
Others	2,807	0.3%

[edit] External links

• 西双版纳傣族自治州人民政府信息网 (Xishuangbanna Prefecture government website, in Chinese)
• 西双版纳—景洪 (Xishuangbanna-Jinghong city government website, in Chinese)
• 西双版纳--勐巴拉娜西生态网 (Xishuangbanna-Mengbalanaxi, site maintained by the propaganda department of the local Communist Party committee; in Chinese)
• 西双版纳报 (Xishuangbanna Daily, in Chinese)
• The Dai's Homecoming Queen by Time Asia
• The Minorities of Xishuangbanna Newspaper travel report about Xishuangbanna
• Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden

v • d • e Yunnan Province History • Politics • Economy Prefecture-level cities Baoshan • Kunming • Lijiang • Lincang • Pu'er • Qujing • Yuxi • Zhaotong Autonomous prefectures Chuxiong • Dali • Dehong • Dêqên • Honghe • Nujiang • Wenshan • Xishuangbanna See also: List of Yunnan County-level divisions

Coordinates: 22°00′N 100°48′E / 22, 100.8