Classification and its characteristics of distribution type of ethnic settlements in the mountainous areas of northwest Yunnan

The mountainous areas in northwest Yunnan are a unique ethnic minority settlement area in China. This study takes the settlement landscape of multi-ethnic gathering areas in the northwest mountainous region of Yunnan Province as the research object. ArcGIS spatial statistics were used to extract feature factors, and second-order clustering analysis was applied to classify the distribution types of ethnic settlements in the northwest mountainous region of Yunnan Province. The research results show that: (1) livelihood strategy, annual precipitation, and ethnic composition all exert significant influences on settlement distribution patterns. (2) The distribution types of ethnic settlements in the mountainous areas of northwest Yunnan can be divided into two distinct distribution types: agricultural humid settlements and mountainous semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral dry settlements, accounting for 58.49% and 41.51% respectively. (3) The distribution types of moist agricultural settlements in the mountainous areas of northwest Yunnan are located on semi sunny slopes, semi shaded slopes, and sunny slopes within the altitude range of 1500 m to 3000 m. The livelihood strategies of ethnic settlements are almost agricultural (97.55%), with an average annual temperature of 8-14 ℃ and an average annual rainfall of 800 mm to 1400 mm. The semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral dry settlements are primarily located in areas with average annual precipitation ranging from 400 mm to 1000 mm, and the livelihood strategy is uniformly semi-agricultural/semi-pastoral (100.00%). These results provide a scientific foundation for spatial restoration of traditional vernacular dwellings, new-type urbanization planning for ethnic settlements, efficient courtyard space restructuring, rural habitat improvement, and ecological conservation efforts in the region.