The relation of unity of opposites between protection and utilization of traditional villages needs to be discussed from the perspective of geography. The article takes the Yellow River Basin as the research area, based on the preservation rate and utilization index, uses the methods of bivariate spatial auto-correlation and geographical detector, and conducts a comparative study on the protection and utilization of traditional villages along the main line of "horizontal evaluation-spatial characteristics-spatial attribution". The results show: ① The protection of traditional villages in the Yellow River Basin is relatively lagging behind the utilization. The preservation rate is similar to that of the whole country and the highest in the middle reaches, while the utilization rate is significantly higher than that of the whole country and the highest in the lower reaches. ② In the Yellow River Basin, the spatial positive correlation of traditional village preservation rate is significant, but the utilization rate has no autocorrelation, and there is a significant global spatial negative correlation between the two, and the characteristics of low-high class and high-high class units are clustered in the upstream, and high-low class units and low-low class units are mainly distributed in the downstream. ③ The level of protection and utilization of traditional villages in the Yellow River Basin is influenced by multiple factors, but the dominant factors are different. The former is primarily a function of population, land, and economic factors, while the latter is primarily a function of cultural, market, and economic factors.It is suggested to implement policies separately and coordinate efforts for protection and utilization, in order to improve the overall level of protection and utilization of traditional villages in the Yellow River Basin.

Based on the theory of population ecology, 971 national-level characteristic protection villages in the Yellow River Basin were regarded as one geographic population. Based on GIS spatial analysis and mathematical statistics method, the distribution dynamics and habitat selection characteristics of the population were clarified, and then the ecological factors affecting the distribution of this geographic population were revealed by comparing with geographic detectors. The result shows that: ① The distribution density of characteristic protection villages in the Yellow River Basin increased significantly with population growth, the distribution pattern changed from significant aggregation to insignificant dispersion with the increase of scale, and the distribution pattern evolved from multicenter to monocenter over time, but the agglomeration center was always located in the valley basin. ② The characteristic protection villages in the Yellow River Basin have the preferences of "gathering in the middle and low mountains, facing the sunny slope slopes, liking warmth and wetness, being close to the main stream of the Yellow River", and tend to be distributed in areas with medium population density and economically undeveloped areas. It is mainly located within 30 km along the national highway, 10 km along the provincial highway, 20～80 km around the center city, 60 km around the historic town, and 20 km around thetourist attractions and cultural preservation units. ③ The ecological factors influencing the population distribution of characteristic protected villages are comprehensive, non-equivalent and limited, and are dominated by cultural preservation units and altitude in the Yellow River Basin.