Tibet

Other names:

• Thibet in older spelling
• བོད་ in Tibetan (Pö or Bod in Latin transliteration)
• 西藏 in Chinese (Xīzàng in Pinyin)
• Tübed in Mongolian

History

Geography

Flag of Tibet

Tibet consists of several regions:

• Amdo (a mdo) in northeast → the provinces of Qinghai, part of Gansu and part of Sichuan
• Kham (khams) in east → part of Sichuan, northern Yunnan and part of Qinghai
  • Western Kham → part of Tibetan Autonomous Region
• U (dbus) in center → part of Tibetan Autonomous Region
• Tsang (gtsang) in west → part of Tibetan Autonomous Region

(See also Provinces of China)

In the wide sense, Tibet also includes Bhutan, Sikkim and Ladakh.

Several majors rivers have their source in Tibet, including:

• Chang Jiang
• Huang He
• Indus River
• Mekong

Transport

See Transportation in China.

Culture

The Tibetan people speak the Tibetan language and write the Tibetan written language.

Tibet is the traditional center of Vajrayana, a distinctive form of Buddhism. Before 1959, Tibet was a theocracy led by the Dalai Lama, who now lives in exile and is internationally seen by many people as being a spokesman for the Tibetan people.

Tibet is also home for spiritual tradition called Bön (alternative spelling: Bon).

External links

• http://www.tibet.com/ The Government of Tibet in exile
• http://www.tibet.com/glance.html Tibet at a glance
• http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk/eng/zt/zgxz/default.htm Chinese Government Tibet information
• http://neverland.net/bati/tibet/ A drawing for Tibet (en fr)
• http://www.tibet-info.org/ Chain for change in Tibet (fr nl en)
• http://www.tibet.freeserve.co.uk/ Private website containing photos and info. on Tibet (and Nepal)

Further Reading & Media

• Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood, Orville Schell, Henry Holt, 2000, hardcover, 340 pages, ISBN 0805043810
• Robert Thurman on Tibet, Robert Thurman, 2 July 2002, DVD Region 1, English only, 240 minutes, ASIN B00005Y722

Editing tools:

• The 1911 Encyclopaedia: Info on geography, climate, flora, people, language, literature, writing, and history. (Scroll down pass TIBESTI)

Referenced By