AIM:To assess the prevalence, distribution and demographic associations of refractive error in a rural minority population in southwestern China, and to obtain the epidemiological database of refractive error in children and adult of the studied population.METHODS: Three thousand seventy subjects of all ages, representative of the minority population, were asked to fill out a questionnaire about their demographic data, career and education. Visual acuity, objective and subjective refractive error and slit-lamp comprehensive eye examination were performed in all participants. Emmetropia was defined as refractive status between -0.50D and +0.50D. Myopia was characterized as < -0.50D, hyperopia as >+0.50D, and astigmatism as >0.50D cylinder. All data on refractive error, age, gender, and education were analyzed.RESULTS: Data on refractive error were available for 2422 (78.9%) subjects 4843 eyes. The prevalence of emmetropia was 54.4%, myopia 22.8%, and hyperopia 22.8% in this studied population. The prevalences of hyperopia and against rule astigmatism increased with age. The mobidity of hyperopia was significantly higher in females than males, and moderate to severe myopia was significantly higher in subjects with junior high school education or above. CONCLUSION: In rural minority population of southwest of China, the prevalence of myopia seems to be somewhat lower than that of urban population. These population-based data on distribution and demographic associations of refractive error could enable planning of eye-care services to reduce visual impairment caused by refractive error in this studied population.