Maguan County History
Maguan County (马关县; pinyin: Mǎguān Xiàn) is located in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnanprovince, China. Maguan County locates in the southeast of Yunnan Province, in the south of Wenshan. Connecting to Malipo County in the east, bordering on the Vietnam in the south,adjacent to Hekou and Pingbian County in the southwest,juncture of Wenshan in the north,Xichou County bordering on the Panlong River on the other side in the east.79km from the east to the west,61km from the north to the south,the narrowest distance is 24.7km.
Administrative division of this area in history initiated during the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-24AD), when the emperor launched the exploitation of southwestern border area. Kingdoms set up by local ethnic minorities were conquered and replaced by counties and shires newly established by the court.
Due to a lack of arable land and remoteness, this is area that has never been densely populated. It is generally thought to have been originally inhabited by Miao peoples, who migrated into Wenshanzhou from what is now Guizhou province. During to the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-24AD), kingdoms established by local ethnic groups were dismantled by invading forces and the area was assimilated.
The leaders and people of Wenshan have worked hard for 10 years to change that situation. As a result, the prefecture’s GDP increased from 1.75 billion yuan in 1992 to 8.7 billion yuan in 2002, and the per capita net income of its farmers almost quadrupled. More than 2.4 million people thus emerged from poverty and achieved subsistence level.
