page_title: Kunming
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Kunming / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: China AMS Topographic Maps
context_page_description: Kunming is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. Also known as Yunnan-Fu, today it is a prefecture-level city and the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquarters of many of Yunnan's large businesses are in Kunming. It was important during World War II as a Chinese military center, American air base, and transport terminus for the Burma Road. Located in the middle of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, Kunming is located at an altitude of 1,900 metres above sea level and at a latitude just north of the Tropic of Cancer. As of 2014, Kunming has a population of 6,626,000 with an urban population of 4,575,000, and is located at the northern edge of Dian Lake, surrounded by temples and lake-and-limestone hill landscapes.
  Kunming consists of an old, previously walled city, a modern commercial district, residential zones and university areas. The city has an astronomical observatory, and its institutions of higher learning include Yunnan University, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming University of Science and Technology, and Kunming Medical University.
context_section_description: Kunming is located in east-central Yunnan province. It is located between north latitude 24°23' and 26°22' N, and east longitude 102°10' and 103°40' E, with a total area of 21,600 square kilometres (8,340 square miles). Its widest stretch from the east to the west amounts to 140 kilometres (87 miles) and its largest expansion from the north to the south amounts to 220 kilometres (137 miles).
  Situated in a fertile lake basin on the northern shore of the Lake Dian and surrounded by mountains to the north, west, and east, Kunming has always played a pivotal role in the communications of southwestern China.  Lake Dian, known as "the Pearl of the Plateau", is the largest lake in Yunnan and the sixth largest fresh water lake in China.  It has an area of approximately 340 square kilometres (130 square miles).  Kunming's highest point is Mazong Ridge of the Jiaozi Mountain in Luquan with an elevation of 4,247 metres (13,934 feet), and its lowest point is the joint of the Xiao River and the Jinsha River in Dongchuan District, with an elevation of 695 metres (2,280 feet). Its downtown area is 1,891 metres (6,204 feet) above sea level.
  About 96 km (60 mi) southeast of the city centre is the Stone Forest in Shilin County, a karst formation developed as a tourist attraction consisting of rock caves, arches, and pavilions. It is part of the larger karst-based landscape of the area.
caption: Map including Kunming (labeled as K'UN-MING (YÜNNANFU) 昆明) (AMS, 1954)
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