The Yugurs are an ancient nomadic people, descendents of a branch of the Uygurs who prospered during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) around the southeast Tarim Basin in Central Asia.

Most Yugurs raise animals in the snow-capped plateaus and desert grasslands of the northern region of the Qilian mountain range in today's Sunan Yugur autonomous county in Gansu province, having migrated there after religious conflicts and devastating sandstorms in the early 15th century during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

About 10,000 Yugur people live in Sunan, the only county in China where Yugurs are predominant. About 300 Yugurs live in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and another 1,600 live throughout the rest of the country.