Tibet is a plateau region in Central Asia and the home to the indigenous Tibetan people. With an average elevation of 4,900 metres (16,000 ft), it is the highest region on Earth and is commonly referred to as the "
Roof of the World."
Tibet is currently part of the
People's Republic of China (PRC) (with a small part, depending on definitions, controlled by India). As an exclusive mandate, Tibet is also officially claimed by the Republic of China (Taiwan). In the Tibetan sovereignty debate, the government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of Tibet in Exile disagree over when Tibet became a part of China, and whether this incorporation into China is legitimate according to international law. Geographically, UNESCO and Encyclopædia Britannica consider Tibet to be part of Central Asia, while several academic organizations controversially consider it part of South Asia.
Many parts of the region were united in the seventh century by King Songtsän Gampo. From the early 1600s the Dalai Lamas, commonly known as spiritual leaders of the region, have been heads of a centralised Tibetan administration (at least nominally) and are believed to be the emanations of Avalokitesvara ("Chenrezig" [spyan ras gzigs] in Tibetan), the bodhisattva of compassion.
Between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lama and his regents were the predominant political power administering religious and administrative authority[2] over large parts of Tibet from the traditional capital Lhasa.
When the People's Republic of China (PRC) refers to Tibet, it means the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR): a province-level entity which, according to the territorial claims of the PRC, includes Arunachal Pradesh. The TAR covers the Dalai Lama's former domain, consisting of Ü-Tsang and western Kham, while Amdo and eastern Kham are part of Qinghai, Gansu, Yunnan, and Sichuan.
When the Government of Tibet in Exile and the Tibetan refugee community abroad refer to Tibet, they mean the areas consisting of the traditional provinces of Amdo, Kham, and Ü-Tsang, but excluding Sikkim, Bhutan, and Ladakh that have also formed part of the Tibetan cultural sphere.
The difference in definition is a major source of dispute. The distribution of Amdo and eastern Kham into surrounding provinces was initiated by the Yongzheng Emperor during the 18th century and has been continuously maintained by successive Chinese governments. Tibetan exiles, in turn, consider the maintenance of this arrangement from the 18th century as part of a divide-and-rule policy.
The PRC's Chinese name for Tibet, ?? (Xizàng), is a phonetic transliteration derived from the region called Tsang (western Ü-Tsang). The Chinese name originated during the Qing Dynasty of China, ca. 1700. It can be broken down into “xi” ? (literally “west”), and “zàng” ? (from Ü-Tsang, but also literally “Buddhist scripture,” or “storage” or possibly "treasure"). The pre-1700s historic Chinese term for Tibet was ??. In modern Standard Mandarin, the first character is pronounced "tu". The second character is normally pronounced "fan"; in the context of references to Tibet, most authorities say that it should be pronounced "bo", while some authorities state that it should be pronounced as "fan". Its reconstructed Medieval Chinese pronunciation is /t'obw?n/, which comes from the Turkic word for “heights” which is also the origin of the English term “Tibet”. When expressing themselves in Chinese, many exiled Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama's government in Dharamsala, now use the term ?? Tubó. Although the second character is not historically accurate, it has the correct pronunciation (whereas ambiguity attends the pronunciation of ?), and thus ?? is deemed a more appropriate way to write "Tibet" in Chinese.
The government of the People's Republic of China equates Tibet with the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). As such, the name “Xizàng” is equated with the TAR. In order to refer to non-TAR Tibetan areas, or to all of cultural Tibet, the term ?? Zàngqu (literally, "ethnic Tibetan areas") is used. However, Chinese-language versions of pro-Tibetan independence websites, such as the Free Tibet Campaign, the Voice of Tibet, and Tibet Net use ?? (“Xizàng”), not ?? ("Zàngqu"), to mean historic Tibet.
Some English-speakers reserve “Xizàng”, the Chinese word transliterated into English, for the TAR, to keep the concept distinct from that of historic Tibet.
The character ? (zàng) has been used in transcriptions referring to Tsang as early as the Yuan Dynasty, if not earlier, though the modern term "Xizang" (western Tsang) was devised in the 18th century. The Chinese character ? (Zàng) has also been generalized to refer to all of Tibet, including other concepts related to Tibet such as the Tibetan language (??, Zàngwén) and the Tibetan people (??, Zàngzú).
The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European languages, is derived from the Arabic word Tubbat. This word is derived via Persian from the Turkic word Töbäd (plural of Töbän), meaning "the heights". In Medieval Chinese, ?? (pronounced tubo), is derived from the same Turkic word. ?? was pronounced /t'o-bw?n/ in Medieval times.
The exact derivation of the name is, however, unclear. Some scholars believe that the named derived from that of a people who lived in the region of northeastern Tibet and were referred to as 'Tübüt'. This was the form adapted by the Muslim writers who rendered it Tübbett, Tibbat, etc., from as early as the 9th century, and it then entered European languages from the reports of the medieval European accounts of Piano-Carpini, Rubruck, Marco Polo and the Capuchin monk Francesco della Penna. PRC scholars favor the theory that "Tibet" is derived from tubo.
The Tibetan language is spoken throughout the Tibetan plateau, and also Bhutan, and in parts of Nepal and northern India such as Sikkim. It is generally classified as a Tibeto-Burman language of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Spoken Tibetan includes numerous regional dialects which, in many cases, are not mutually intelligible. Moreover, the boundaries between Tibetan and certain other Himalayan languages are sometimes unclear. In general, the dialects of central Tibet (Ü-Tsang) (including Lhasa), Kham, Amdo, and some smaller nearby areas are considered Tibetan dialects. The languages of some groups outside modern Tibet, such as Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Sherpa, and Ladakhi, are more distant varieties descended from archaic Tibetan, and which bear varying degrees of similarity to modern Tibetan. Ultimately, taking into consideration this wider understanding of Tibetan dialects and forms, the Tibetan language "family" is spoken by approximately 6 million people across the Tibetan Plateau. Tibetan is also spoken by approximately 150,000 exile speakers who have fled from modern-day Tibet to India and other countries.
Chinese and the "proto-Tibeto-Burman" language may have split sometime before 4000 BCE, when the Chinese began growing millet in the Yellow River valley while the Tibeto-Burmans remained nomads. Tibetan split from Burman around 500 CE.
Prehistoric Iron Age hill forts and burial complexes have recently been found on the Chang Tang plateau but the remoteness of the location is hampering archaeological research. The initial identification of this culture is as the Zhang Zhung culture which is described in ancient Tibetan texts and is known as the original culture of the Bön religion.
A series of kings ruled Tibet from the 7th to the 11th century. At times, Tibetan rule may have extended as far south as Bengal and as far north as Mongolia.
Tibet appeared in an ancient Chinese historical text where it is referred to as fa. The first incident from recorded Tibetan history which is confirmed externally occurred when King Namri Lontsen sent an ambassador to the Chinese court in the early 7th century.
However general, the history of Tibet begins with the rule of Songtsän Gampo (604–649 CE) who united parts of the Yarlung River Valley and ruled Tibet as a kingdom. In 640 he married Princess Wencheng, the niece of the powerful Chinese emperor Emperor Taizong of Tang China.
Tibetan forces conquered the Tuyuhun Kingdom of modern Qinghai and Gansu to the northeast between 663 and 672 CE. Tibet also dominated the Tarim Basin and adjoining regions (now called Xinjiang), including the city of Kashgar, from 670 to 692 CE, when they were defeated by Chinese forces, and then again from 766 to the 800s.
The Tibetans were allied with the Arabs and eastern Turks. In 747, Tibet's hold over Central Asia was weakened by the campaign of general Gao Xianzhi, who re-opened the direct communications between Central Asia and Kashmir. By 750 the Tibetans had lost almost all of their central Asian possessions to the Chinese. However, after Gao Xianzhi's defeat by the Arabs and Qarluqs at the Battle of Talas river (751), Chinese influence decreased rapidly and Tibetan influence resumed. Tibet conquered large sections of northern India and even briefly took control of the Chinese capital Chang'an in 763 during the chaos of the An Shi Rebellion.
There was a stone pillar, the Lhasa Shöl rdo-rings, in the ancient village of Shöl in front of the Potala in Lhasa, dating to c. 764 CE during the reign of Trisong Detsen. It also contains an account of the brief capture of Chang'an, the Chinese capital, in 763 CE, during the reign of Emperor Daizong.
In 821/822 CE Tibet and China signed a peace treaty. A bilingual account of this treaty including details of the borders between the two countries are inscribed on a stone pillar which stands outside the Jokhang temple in Lhasa. Tibet continued as a Central Asian empire until the mid-9th century.
Tibet is located on the Tibetan Plateau, the world's highest region. Most of the Himalaya mountain range, one of the youngest mountain ranges in the world at only 4 million years old, lies within Tibet. Its most famous peak, Mount Everest, is on Nepal's border with Tibet. The average altitude is about 3,000 m in the south and 4,500 m in the north.
The atmosphere is severely dry nine months of the year, and average snowfall is only 18 inches, due to the rain shadow effect whereby mountain ranges prevent moisture from the ocean from reaching the plateaus. Western passes receive small amounts of fresh snow each year but remain traversable all year round. Low temperatures are prevalent throughout these western regions, where bleak desolation is unrelieved by any vegetation beyond the size of low bushes, and where wind sweeps unchecked across vast expanses of arid plain. The Indian monsoon exerts some influence on eastern Tibet. Northern Tibet is subject to high temperatures in the summer and intense cold in the winter.
Tibetan cultural influences extend to the neighboring states of Bhutan, Nepal, adjacent regions of India such as Sikkim and Ladakh, and adjacent provinces of China where Tibetan Buddhism is the predominant religion.
On the border with India, the region popularly known among Chinese as South Tibet is claimed by China and administered by India as the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
Several major rivers have their source in the Tibetan Plateau (mostly in present-day Qinghai Province), including:
* Yangtze
* Yellow River
* Indus River
* Mekong
* Brahmaputra River — the main river that flows through Tibet. In Tibetan, referred to as the Yarlung Tsangpo
* Ganges
* Salween
* Yarlung Tsangpo River
The Indus, Brahmaputra rivers originate from a lake (Tib: Tso Mapham) in Western Tibet, near Mount Kailash. The mountain is a holy pilgrimage for both Hindus and Tibetans. The Hindus consider the mountain to be the abode of Lord Shiva. The Tibetan name for Mt Kailash is Khang Rinpoche.
Tibet's GDP in 2001 was 13.9 billion yuan (USD1.8billion). The Central government exempts Tibet from all taxation and provides 90% of Tibet's government expenditures. The Tibetan economy is dominated by subsistence agriculture. Due to limited arable land, livestock raising is the primary occupation mainly on the Tibetan Plateau, among them are sheep, cattle, goats, camels, yaks and horses. However, the main crops grown are barley, wheat, buckwheat, rye, potatoes and assorted fruits and vegetables.
In recent years, due to the increased interest in Tibetan Buddhism, tourism has become an increasingly important sector, and is actively promoted by the authorities. The Tibetan economy is heavily subsidized by the Central government and government cadres receive the second-highest salaries in China.
Tourism brings in the most income from the sale of handicrafts. These include Tibetan hats, jewelry (silver and gold), wooden items, clothing, quilts, fabrics, Tibetan rugs and carpets.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway which links the region to Qinghai in China proper was opened in 2006. The Chinese government claims that the line will promote the development of impoverished Tibet. But opponents argue the railway will harm Tibet. For instance, Tibetan opponents contend that it would only draw more Han Chinese residents, the country's dominant ethnic group, who have been migrating steadily to Tibet over the last decade, bringing with them their popular culture. Opponents believe that the large influx of Han Chinese will ultimately extinguish the local culture.
Other opponents argue that the railway will damage Tibet's fragile ecology and that most of its economic benefits will go to migrant Han Chinese. As activists call for a boycott of the railway, the Dalai Lama has urged Tibetans to "wait and see" what benefits the new line might bring to them. According to the Government-in-exile's spokesmen, the Dalai Lama welcomes the building of the railway, "conditioned on the fact that the railroad will bring benefit to the majority of Tibetans."
In January of 2007, the Chinese government issued a report outlining the discovery of a large mineral deposit under the Tibetan Plateau. The deposit has an estimated value of $128 billion and may double Chinese reserves of zinc, copper, and lead. China sees this as a way to alleviate the country's dependence on foreign mineral imports necessary for its growing economy. However, critics worry that mining these vast resources will harm Tibet's fragile ecosystem as well take valuable resources away from the Tibetan people.
Historically, the population of Tibet consisted of primarily ethnic Tibetans. Other ethnic groups in Tibet include Menba (Monpa), Lhoba, Mongols and Hui Chinese. According to tradition the original ancestors of the Tibetan people, as represented by the six red bands in the Tibetan flag, are: the Se, Mu, Dong, Tong, Dru and Ra.
The issue of the proportion of the Han Chinese population in Tibet is a politically sensitive one. The Central Tibetan Administration, an exile group, says that the People's Republic of China has actively swamped Tibet with Han Chinese migrants in order to alter Tibet's demographic makeup.
Tibet has various festivals which commonly are performed to worship the Buddha throughout the year. Losar is the Tibetan New Year Festival and the Monlam Prayer Festival follows it in the first month of the Tibetan calendar which involves many Tibetans dancing and participating in sports events and sharing picnics.
Tibetan New Year is the most important festival in Tibet. It is an occasion when Tibetan families reunite and expect that the coming year will be a better one. Known as Losar, the festival starts from the first to the third day of the first Tibetan month. Preparations for the festive event are manifested by special offerings to family shrine deities, painted doors with religious symbols, and other painstaking jobs done to prepare for the event. Tibetans eat Guthuk (barley crumb food with filling) on New Year's Eve with their families. Eating Guthuk is fun since the barley crumbs are stuffed with a different filling to fool someone in the family. The Festival of Banishing Evil Sprits is observed after dinner. Signs that the New Year is approaching when one sees lit torches, and people running and yelling to get rid of evil spirits from their houses. Before dawn on New Year's Day, housewives get their first buckets of water for their homes and prepare breakfast. After breakfast, people dress up to go to monasteries and offer their prayers. People visit their neighborhoods and exchange their Tashi Delek blessings in the first two days. Feast is the theme during the occasion. On the third day, old prayer flags are replaced with new ones. Other folk activities may be held in some areas to celebrate the events.
Monlam, the Great Prayer Festival, falls on the fourth up to the eleventh day of the first Tibetan month. The event was established in 1049 by Tsong Khapa, the founder of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama's order. It is the grandest religious festival in Tibet. Religious dances are performed and thousands of monks gather for chanting before the Jokhang Temple. Examinations taking form of sutra debates for the Geshe degree, the highest degree in Buddhist theology, are also held. Pilgrims crowd to listen to the sermons while others give religious donations.
