or K'un-ming
City (pop., 1999 est.: 1,350,640), capital of Yunnan province, southern China.
Situated on the northern shore of Lake Dian , it has long been a commercial centre at the junction of major trade routes. Originally known as Tuodong in the 8th–9th centuries AD and a part of the independent state of Nanzhao, it came under Chinese control with the Mongol invasion of 1253; it became the provincial capital of Yunnan in 1276 and was visited by Marco Polo . It became a municipality in 1935 and was transformed into a modern city in 1937 during the Sino-Japanese War (1937–45), when Chinese evacuees from the north brought industrial plants and universities to Kunming.