金沙江流域地处母亲河长江的上游,范围包括今川西高原、川南山地以及滇北高原三大部分。干流河谷南北两坡,山脉多呈南北走向,致使干流北坡支流从北向南流,南坡则相反。历史上,这一地区生息的主要是氐羌、百越、苗瑶三大族系居民,而后,氐羌系统民族基本上覆盖了金沙江流域的大部分地区,他们主要是以畜牧业为主,过着游牧、半农半牧的生活,而百越、苗瑶系统各民族则主要分布在金沙江流域河谷南坡面的坝区及高原山地上。此外,这一地区是进入西藏、云贵高原、中南半岛的枢纽地 Jinsha River Basin is located in the upper reaches of the mother river Yangtze River, including the present western Sichuan Plateau, southern Sichuan mountains and northern Yunnan Plateau three parts. Mainstream valleys north and south two slopes, the mountains are mostly north-south, resulting in the mainstream of the northern tributary of the north-south flow from the south, on the contrary. Historically, the main areas of interest in the area were the residents of the three ethnic groups, namely Qiang Bai, Baiyue and Miao Yao. Later, the Qiang ethnic minorities basically covered most parts of the Jinsha River basin. They mainly used animal husbandry as the mainstay, Live nomadic, semi-grazing and semi-pastoral life, and Baiyue, Miao Yao ethnic groups are mainly distributed in the Jinsha River valley south slope of the dam and plateau mountains. In addition, this area is the hub of access to Tibet, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and Indochina Peninsula