Abstract: Taking the traditional Qiang villages as the object of study, we analyzed the relationship between traditional settlements and traditional villages and determined that traditional villages are an important component in traditional Qiang nationality settlements. A probe into the traditional villages of Qiang nationality listed on the traditional villages at the national level and provincial level reveals the features of its distribution. The traditional villages of the Qiang nationality are relatively concentrated, with block or strip distribution along rivers; along the main streams they are more densely distributed and are relatively sparsely along the tributries. The vertical distribution features are characteristic of "higher density with altitude increase ". From a spatial point of view, traditional villages of Qiang are single functioning, and are of small scale, small quantity and small area, where the population density is in direct proportion, and the links between villages need to be strengthened.

Key words: the Qiang nationality, traditional village, settlement, geographical distribution, spatial structure