Yuanyang Country inhabites seven ethnic groups, namely, Hani, Yi, Han, Zhuang, Miao, Yao and Dai, with a population of more than 400,000, of which ethnic minorities take up 87.5%. Hani are main ethnic groups. Hani is famous for cultivating terraced fields and he has created an environmental wonder in mountain area. Hani culture is a terraced field agricultural civilization, which has a perfect agriculture system and an agro-worship system as well, the concept of worship is built on the basis that man and nature are in harmony, countless terraced fields are an evidence of this belief.

The Hani and Yi, the creators of the monumental rice terraced mountains which have made Yuanyang famous, are the original inhabitants of these regions. Both their languages belong to the Tibeto-Burman group. Their villages can mainly be found between 1300 to 1600 metres above sea level.

The Dai moved here 700 years ago. The Zhuang 400 years ago. Both their languages belong to the Tai-Kadai language group. Their villages are situated in the warmer areas below 700 metres elevation, near and along the rivers. Their main crop is rice grow in paddy fields.

The Miao and Yao (of the Hmong-Mien language group) are fairly recent arrivals to the region, only settling here 200 and 270 years ago. Their villages are in the cooler and drier upland areas, between 1600 and 1800 metres above sea level, where they grow maize.