By the end of the year 2001, the Maonan Ethnic Minority in Guangxi has a total population of 74,000, which accounts for 0.16% that of the whole autonomous region. The Maonan people are mainly scattered in the Huangjiang Maonan autonomous county in the north of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and counties of Hechi, Nandan, Du'an, etc. The quantity of the Maonan people living in Huangjiang takes up about more than 80% the total population of the Maonan Ethnic Minority . The county of Huangjiang has a reputation of "hometown of Maonan people". The Maonan Ethnic Minority has its own language but no written language. It has the Chinese characters in common use.

As one of the ethnic groups in China that live in mountainous areas , the Maonan Nationality has a very small population. They call themselves Anan, which means 'people who live in this area'. They are actually the aboriginal ethnic group of Lingxi area,and Lingxi used to be the name of today's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in ancient times.  In spite of a very small population, the Maonan people are well known in China for their long history and unique culture. Most of the Maonan people live in areas of Shangnan, Zhongnan, and Xian an in Huanjiang County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with Maonan Mountain as the center of their inhabited area. The place of Xiatuanliuyu is the political, economic and cultural center of the Maonan ethnic group. In addition, there are a few of the Maonan people who live in counties of Nandan and Duyun. According to the fifth national census of population conducted in the year 2000, the Maonan ethnic group has a population of 107,166. The Maonan people have their own national language, which belongs to the branch of Zhuang and Dong Languages, Han and Zang Language System, and they don't have their own written language. As they have lived together with the Han and Zhuang nationalities for a very long time in history, most of the Maonan people now can also speak the languages of Han and Zhuang nationalities besides their own language, and the Chinese characters are widely used by them to write.