Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture located in central Yunnan Province, China. Chuxiong has an area of 29,256 km2 (11,296 sq mi). The capital of the prefecture is Chuxiong City.

The Yi or Nuosu people are an ethnic group in southern China. Numbering nine million people, they are the seventh largest of the 55 ethnic minority groups recognized by the Chinese government. They live primarily in rural areas of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi, usually in mountainous regions. The Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture is home to the largest population of Yi people within China, with two million Yi people in the region. In neighbouring Vietnam, as of 2019, there are 4,827 Lô Lô people living in the Hà Giang, Cao Bằng, and Lào Cai provinces, in the country's north.