The population of Bonan nationality is about one hundred and twenty thousand persons, most of them live in Gansu province, some of them live in Qinghai province. They have their own language, at the same time , most of them are good at Han language.
Bonan believes in Islam. Their custom and lifestyle are familiar to the nationalities near them like Hui and Dongxiang.
Bonan is good at farming , they cultivate many agricultural products. Some of them work for animal husbandry and handicraft industry. The knives they make which are call "Bonan knife " are very famous among all the nationalities near the settlement of Bonan.
