Abstract: Sediments and overlying water from a total of 17 main inflow rivers of Erhai Lake were sampled in July 2013. The contents of total nitrogen (TN), ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO₃^--N) were measured, and the nitrogen distribution in the sediments and its correlation with the overlying water was analyzed. The aim of the study was to provide basic information for pollution abatement and the establishment of a buffer zone for Erhai Lake. The results showed that the TN contents of the sediments varied from 23.10 to 310.60 mg/kg, with an average of 141.66 mg/kg. The inflow rivers varied significantly in terms of TN contents, and could be divided into several groups, including Qingbixi River and Shuangyuanxi River; Baishixi River; Lingquanxi River, Longxi River and Yangxi River; Taoxi River, Meixi River, Yinxianxi River and Mijuhe River; Mocanxi River and Boluojiang River; Yonganjiang River; Jinxi River; and Zhonghexi River, Luoshijiang River and Baihexi River. The inflow rivers within each group were not significantly different between each other, while the rivers among groups were significantly different (P=0.05). In the sediments, the organic nitrogen (ON) was a fundamental state of nitrogen in the sediments, and the contents of NH₃-N and ON were both significantly positively correlated with TN contents. Furthermore, the proportion of NH₃-N contents to TN contents in the three northern rivers, namely Yonganjiang River, Mijuhe River and Luoshijiang River, were obviously lower than those in the western rivers, which was attributed to the high degree of anaerobic/anoxic of the surface sediments. The TN contents in the overlying water showed a significantly positive correlation with the contents of TN and ON in the sediments.