Zhaotong is a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of Yunnan Province, located in the northeast of Yunnan Province, at the junction of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces. Lower reaches of Jinsha River; Located in the transition zone from Sichuan Basin to Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.
Zhaotong is high in the south and low in the north, with the lowest elevation of 267m (Shuifu County) and the highest elevation of 4040m (Qiaojia County), with a total area of 2302 1 km2.
Zhaotong has one district (Zhaoyang District), 10 county and 143 townships (offices). At the end of 20 10, the total population was 5213,000, including 542,000 people from 23 ethnic minorities such as Miao, Yi and Hui.
Zhaotong is an important gateway for Yunnan Province to Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, an important channel for Central Plains culture to enter Yunnan, and one of the three birthplaces of Yunnan culture (Kunming, Zhaotong and Dali). Known as the hub of China's famous "Southern Silk Road", "the key is in the south of Yunnan and the throat is in the west of Sichuan".
Zhaotong has many mountains and great differences in altitude, and has the characteristics of plateau monsoon three-dimensional climate. There is little difference between the four seasons in Zhaotong, but the climate at different altitudes is very different. From high altitude to low altitude, there are plateau climate, temperate climate and subtropical climate. At the same altitude, the temperature in the south of Zhaotong is higher than that in the north, and the humidity is lower than that in the north.
The annual average temperature in Zhaotong is between 1 1℃-2 1℃, with the coldest temperature at 1 month, the monthly average temperature at 1℃- 12℃, the hottest temperature at July and the monthly average temperature at 20℃. Zhaotong is rich in precipitation, but it is unevenly distributed in the north and south, with dry south and wet north, and floods and droughts occur from time to time.