YUNNAN, China, the most southwesterly and second largest province of the empire, bordering on Tonkin and Burma; area, about 146,680 square miles. It is very mountainous in the north and west, and has a general slope toward the southeast. The cen tral part is a plateau about 6,500 feet above sea level, dotted with lakes and diversified by hills of red sandstone; but in the south the elevation of the land is much less. The province is trav ersed by several large rivers, principally the upper courses of the Yangtse-kiang (called Kin-cha-kiang), the Si-lciang, the Song 4ta or Red River, the Mekong and the Sishvin, bat only the Song-Ita can be as of use for navigation within the province. The principal crops are rice, maize and wheat, but tea, indigo, sugar-cane, cotton, earth-nuts, and many vege tables also are cultivated. Opium was an im portant crop until 1907, when its cultivation was forbidden. Cattle, bogs and other ani mals are reared in considerable numbers, and silkworm-rearing is also extensively carried on. The chief wealth of the province, however, lies in its immense mineral resources, which include iron, coal, copper, gold, silver lead, tin, sine, cinnabar and precious stones. The manufactur ing industries include the making of silk goods and other textiles, leather goods, etc. The cli mate varies from the rigor of the northern dis tricts, where the mountains are snow-capped for the greater part of the year, to the compar atively tropical condition of the southeast. A
large part of the population consists of Miao-tse and other non-Chinese elements, and Moham medanism has many adherents. Yunnan, the capital, in the southeast, is a busy and prosper ous town, with large copper factories, and manufactures of silks and carpets. (Polt. 150,000). Other towns are Chaotung, Hameln, Linganfu, Puerh, Tun?-chwan, Mcngtse and Ssumao, the last two being open to foreign trade since 1889 and 1897 respec tively. The British have endeavored to estab lish a direct trade route between Yunnan and Burma, but from the physical features of the region this is not easy. The history of Yunnan can be traced back to the 3d century ex. Owing to its distance from the seat of the cen tral authority and its mountainous character this province long remained practically independent. It was conquered by Kublai Khan but was not incorporated in the empire until the 17th cen tury. The most noteworthy event of its recent history is the great Panthay revolt of 1855, which was not suppressed by the Chinese authorities till 1873; and from the effects of which, owing to the merciless measures taken, the province has not yet wholly recovered. The first Prot estant Christian mission work was begun in 1877. Pop. (estimated) 12,324,574.