Sichuan is the only inhabited area in China.

Sichuan Province is the only inhabited area of Qiang people in China.

The total population of Qiang nationality is 309,576 (20 10). Mainly distributed in Maoxian, Wenchuan, Lixian, Songpan, Heishui and Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province. The rest are scattered in Danba County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, Pingwu County, Mianyang City, and jiangkou county and Shiqian County, Tongren Prefecture, Guizhou Province.

Most Qiang people live in high mountains or semi-mountainous areas, and a few live near towns along highways, living together with Tibetans, Han and Hui. Call yourself "Ermayina" or "Elba", which means "local".

Qiang language belongs to the Qiang branch of Tibeto-Burman language family of Sino-Tibetan language family, which is divided into northern dialect and southern dialect.

Northern dialects are popular in Chibi Soviet Area and Jiaochang District in the north of Maoxian County, Shaba District in the middle, Xiaoxing Township, Zhenping Township, Baiyang Township and most areas of Heishui County in Songpan County. They are divided into nine dialects: Lu Hua, Mawo, Cimulin, Gu Wei, Qugu, Zhenping, Sanlong, Hei Hu and Goukouweimen.

Southern dialects are popular in Lixian, Wenchuan and southern Maoxian, and are divided into six dialects: Yanmen, Longxi, Mianchong, Puxi, Kamm and Taoping. Due to frequent contact with the Han nationality, many Qiang people can speak and use Chinese. It was not until the 1980s that the Qiang people ended their history of not having their own language.

The terrain of Qiang nationality area is high in the northwest and low in the southeast, mostly high mountains and canyons, among which the mountains are steep and the valleys are deep. There are Minshan Mountains in the north, and Xuebaoding, the main peak, is 5588 meters above sea level. Longmen Mountain obliquely passes through the southeast, and Jiuding Mountain, the main peak, is 4969 meters above sea level. Qionglai Mountain is in the west, and Siguniang Mountain, the main peak, is 6250 meters above sea level. To the north of Siguniang Mountain, there are many mountains with an altitude of more than 5000 meters and snow all year round.

Only Tumen District of Maoxian County, Beichuan County, Suojiang, Xutang, Pingnan, Doukou, Yin Da and Pingtong in peace county belong to the middle and low mountains.

Minjiang River, Jiangkui River and its tributaries are the mother rivers of Qiang people. The Minjiang River originates from Gonggang Lingnan at the junction of Songpan County and Jiuzhaigou County in Aba Prefecture, and flows from north to south in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River above Dujiangyan City.

The tributaries of Minjiang River include Heishui River, Zagunao River, Yuzixi River and Xi Shou River. The Minjiang River, also known as Shiquan River and Beichuan Water, originated in the Minshan Mountains and was named after the "boiling water". It is injected into Fujiang River through Beichuan and Jiangyou.

Qiang nationality area is located between mountains and valleys, with mild climate, dry winter and dry spring, abundant rainfall in summer and autumn, long sunshine time, large temperature difference between day and night and significant vertical temperature difference. The average annual temperature in Minjiang River Basin is 1 1 to 14 degrees Celsius, and the frost-free period is 2 10 to 235 days, with an average annual precipitation of about 500mm.

Because of the small precipitation and large evaporation, this area is also known as the semi-arid valley in the upper reaches of Minjiang River. The annual average temperature in the valley area of Fujiang River system is 13.9 ~ 15.7 degrees Celsius, the frost-free period is 235 ~ 270 days, and the precipitation is 700 ~1200mm. Disastrous weather includes winter drought, spring drought, summer drought, summer drought, hail and frost.

Qiang area is rich in animal and plant resources. Wolong Nature Reserve, located in Wenchuan County, is famous at home and abroad, and is listed as the United Nations International Biosphere Reserve. In 2006, this area, together with Siguniang Mountain and Jin Jia Mountain, was listed on the World Heritage List as "Sichuan Giant Panda Habitat".

This is a natural animal and plant park, with a total area of about 700,000 hectares, with mountains and peaks and clouds. There are different plant communities here, including more than 4,000 species of trees, more than 300 species of birds, more than 60 species of rare mammals such as giant pandas and golden monkeys, as well as rare trees such as sequoia and Acer negundo.

Xiaozhaizigou Nature Reserve, located in Qingpian Township, Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, is also a place with a wide variety of plants. According to the data, there are more than 600 species of vascular plants/kloc-0, belonging to 87 families and 380 genera, among which there are more than 20 rare species under state protection. It and Wolong Nature Reserve are praised by experts as "a rare treasure house of biological genes in the world".

The traditional crops in Qiang area are mainly corn, but also highland barley, wheat, buckwheat, all kinds of beans and vegetables. A white bean called "Snow Mountain Soybean" is a famous specialty.

Economic forest trees include pepper, walnut, apple, blood plum, cherry, apricot, tea, raw lacquer, camellia oleifera, peanut, sunflower and so on. Raising cattle, yaks, cows, horses, sheep, pigs and other domestic animals and all kinds of poultry, the sheep industry is relatively developed. In recent years, with the continuous development of agricultural industrialization, a large number of famous, special, new and excellent agricultural products have been introduced to Qiang areas.

There are more than 200 kinds of medicinal materials, among which the precious medicinal materials are Cordyceps sinensis, Fritillaria, Pilose Antler, Gastrodia elata and Musk, and the bulk medicinal materials are Notopterygium, Codonopsis pilosula, Angelica sinensis, Radix et Rhizoma Rhei and Radix Astragali. Deep in the mountains, there are rare delicacies such as fern moss and fungus, and there are rich fungus resources. In addition, there are dozens of underground mineral deposits such as iron, mica, gypsum, phosphorus, crystal stone and marble.