The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) (Tibetan: བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས་, Pö Rangyongjong; ), is a province-level administrative subdivision of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Within the PRC the TAR is identified with Tibet, a characterization hotly disputed by many Tibetan exile groups, particularly the Government of Tibet in Exile, which define the terms "Tibet" or "historic Tibet" to include not just the TAR, but also the traditional province of Amdo, today encorporated in Qinghai province and southwestern of Gansu province, and the traditional province of Kham (eastern half), today in western Sichuan province and northwestern Yunnan province. The TAR includes about half of historic Tibet, including the traditional provinces of U-Tsang and Kham (western half). Its borders coincide roughly with the actual zone of control of the government of Tibet before 1959.

History

See History of Tibet for the history of the area before 1959.

Before 1959, the present extent of the TAR, comprising U-Tsang and western Kham, was governed by the government of Tibet headed by the Dalai Lama, which the Government of Tibet in Exile characterizes as a sovereign independent nation, and the governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China as a self-governing Region within China. Other parts of historic Tibet (eastern Kham and Amdo) were not under the administration of the Tibetan government during the 20th century; today they are distributed among the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan.

Following Soviet practice, there is a convention that the governor of the TAR is an ethnic Tibetan from the TAR while the general secretary of the local Communist Party committee is an outsider, usually Han Chinese. Notable general secretaries of the TAR Party committee include Hu Jintao who served in the 1980s.

See also:

• History of Tibet
• History of the political divisions of China

Geography

The TAR is located on the Tibetan Plateau, the highest region on Earth. Most of the Himalaya mountain range lies within Xizang; Mount Everest is on Xizang's border with Nepal.

The TAR is bounded on the north and east by Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Sichuan, on the west by Kashmir and on the south by Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. TAR also borders on Bhutan, India, and Pakistan.

Administrative divisions

Tibet Autonomous Region is divided into 1 prefecture-level city (Lhasa) and 6 prefectures (Nagqu Prefecture , Qamdo Prefecture , Nyinchi Prefecture , Shannan Prefecture , Xigazê Prefecture , Ngari Prefecture ). All of these are in turn divided into 1 district (Chengguan District, Lhasa ), 1 county-level city (Xigazê), and 71 counties.

Demographics

The TAR has the lowest population density among all of the province-level administrative regions in China, mainly due to its mountainous and harsh geographical features.

Most of the population comprises the ethnic Tibetans, who mainly adhere to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön. A sizeable population comprises the Han Chinese, who are recent immigrants from other parts of China. Intrmarriages between the Han Chinese and Tibetans do exist, although it proved to be unpopular.

Smaller tribal groups such as the Monpa and Lhoba, who follow a combination of Lamaism and spirit worship, is found mainly in the southeastern parts of the region.

Economy

The Tibetans traditionally depended upon agriculture for survival. However since the 1980's, with the arrival of modernism from China, other jobs such as taxi-driving and hotel retail work have become avaliable .

Tourism

Ever since China opened its doors to tourists in the 1980s, many people from all over the world have came to visit and explore Tibet. The main attraction is the Potala Palace.

Further reading

• Sorrel Wilby, Journey Across Tibet: A Young Woman's 1900-Mile Trek Across the Rooftop of the World, Contemporary Books (1988), hardcover, 236 pages, ISBN 0809246082

External links

• dmoz search : Tibet
• Tibet Tours
• A Local Travel Agency
• Tibet Travel
• Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region
• Photos from Tibet

For "Historic Tibet", see Tibet. The location of this article does not imply any official position by Wikipedia on whether "Tibet" corresponds to Historic Tibet or Tibet Autonomous Region.