De'ang Ethnic Group has a population of 17,935 (2000 census), which mainly lives in Luxi County in Dehong Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture and Zhenkang County in Lincang Prefecture of Southwest China's Yunnan province. Some of the population scatters in Gengma and Yongde counties in Lincang Prefecture, Baoshan County in Baoshan Prefecture and Lancang County in Simao Prefecture in Yunnan Province. Most of the De'ang villages are not far from the villages of the Dai, Jingpo, Wa and Han people.

De'ang is a word in the local language. Ang means "rock" or "rock cave", and De is added to show respect. It is said that the ancestors of De'ang people once lived in caves, so it's possible that the group call themselves De'ang in commemoration of the ancestors and their history of living in the caves.

De'ang is one of the oldest tribes in the southwestern frontier of China. As the history records, De'ang Nationality dates back to "Pu" people, the earliest residents living in the mountain regions along Lancang River and Nu River in the second century.

During the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) and Jin Dynasty (265-420), a tribe named "Baipu group" lived in Yongchang Prefecture, which covered the present Baoshan, Dehong, Lincang, Simao, and Xishuangbanna prefectures. In Nanzhao Kingdom (649-902), these people were called "Puziman" (Puzi means barbarians). In Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368), they were called "Pu people" or "Puman" (Man also means barbarians in Chinese). In Qing Dynasty (1616-1911), De'ang group developed out of Pu people and became an ethnic group (they were also called Benglong people in Qing historic records). They lived in Yongchang Prefecture (the present Dehong prefecture and Zhenkang, Gengma and Mengding counties). After the founding of PRC in 1949, they were named Benglong Nationality and officially renamed De'ang Nationality in September, 1985.