GIS-based spatial differentiation of ethnic minority villages in Guizhou Province, China

The protection and development problems in ethnic minority villages have received great attention from the Chinese government. This study aims to systematically identify the spatial differentiation characteristics of ethnic minority villages and their influencing factors in Guizhou Province. Applying ArcGIS and GeoDa, a total of 1,014 ethnic minority villages in the four batches announced by the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission of Guizhou Province (272 in the first batch, 240 in the second batch, 255 in the third batch, and 247 in the fourth batch) served as the research objects. Utilizing the economic development data in Guizhou Statistical Yearbook 2018–2020 for analysis, the coupling calculation of the spatial layout and economic development level of ethnic minority villages was conducted. The results indicate that the number of ethnic minority village points varies in spatial distribution with remarkable agglomeration. The spatial equilibrium distribution of ethnic minority villages in the province is imbalanced. The kernel density is characterized by independent single kernel centers with sporadic distributions of subcenters and an echelon distribution whole. The spatial complexity distribution indicates that ethnic minority villages in Guizhou possess unequal characteristics, and the fractal of the system structure is more complicated. The findings reveal that the spatial distribution of ethnic minority characteristic villages in Guizhou is highly consistent with that of ethnic minorities in Guizhou. The distribution is the combined results of geographical factors and social-economic factors. Most ethnic minority characteristic villages in Guizhou Province are located in areas with complex terrain, inconvenient transportation, and relatively backward economic development. Based on the current geospatial distribution of ethnic minority villages, the present study will provide remarkable implications for the Chinese government to implement the Rural Revitalization Strategy from several key aspects. The Chinese government should establish a protection and development mechanism in ethnic minority villages and strive to enhance the characteristics of ethnic cultural industries. Meanwhile, the “integration of culture and tourism” should be taken as the development strategy while the industry should support rural economic development and help eliminate poverty. This is of crucial practical significance to national unity and rural revitalization in China.