Often called the ‘Roof of the World,’ Tibet is a mountainous land in Central Asia and is the highest region on Earth. A part of the People’s Republic of China, Tibet is referred to as “Bod” by Tibetans. Lhasa is the capital and largest city. It is the home of the Dalai Lama.
The three regions of Tibet – the Zangbo Valley, Chang Tang, and Kham – give Tibet its varied physical landscape. Tibet’s land regions consist of both cold, barren regions and dense, abundant forest regions. The climate is generally cold and dry, with heavier rainfalls in the eastern regions.
Over 3 million people live in Tibet. Ethnic Tibetans make up the crux of Tibet’s population, with Mongols, Hui Chinese, Menba, and Lhoba peoples accounting for the rest of the population.
Tibetan, the official language of Tibet, is one of a family of languages, which includes Burmese, Chinese, and Thai. It is spoken by over 5 million people in Tibet and various provinces of China and India. Its alphabet is derived from India’s ancient Sanskrit alphabet. Tibetan is written from left to right.
Religion is of utmost importance to Tibetans. Most of the population practice Lamaism, a form of Buddhism that was adopted by Kublai Khan in 1270 as the state religion. The Dalai Lama and the Panch’en Lama are Tibet’s high-ranking religious leaders. There are also small groups of Muslims.
While Tibet boasts rich mineral resources, such as salt, gold, and coal, its economy fails to thrive because of other difficulties, mainly transportation.
The Chinese Communist Party holds the political and administrative power in Tibet. Since 1982, a president must serve as head of state, and a prime minister is adopted as head of government.
The unit of currency is the renminbi.
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