Xiongnu
The Xiongnu () were a confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Asian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Chinese sources report that Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 209 BC, founded the Xiongnu Empire.
Former Zhao
By the 280s, a huge number (approximately 400,000) of Xiongnu herdsmen resided in the Ordos Desert and Bing, a political division including modern-day areas of the whole Shanxi province, southwestern part of Inner Mongolia and eastern part of Shaanxi province, after Cao Cao moved them there and split them into "five departments" (五部, pinyin Wǔbù). The Southern Xiongnu continued their nomadic lifestyles of the steppes with horse breeding and to some extent agriculture. In spite of significant loss of Chinese sedentary population, the Chinese portion of the population in the state is estimated to be around 1,500,000. In addition to the Southern Xiongnu nomads, the state numbered 1,000,000 of other nomadic tribes, mainly Jie, Xianbei, Di, and Qiang, for a total of approximately 1,400,000 nomadic population, or 200 thousand yurts.