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Travel Tibet
Official Name of Tibet: Tibet Autonomous Region
Government type in Tibet: Province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China
Capital of Tibet: Lhasa
Primary Language in Tibet: Tibetan
Currency in Tibet: Yuan
Throughout its long history, Tibet at times has governed itself as an independent state and at other times has had various levels of association with China. Regardless of China’s involvement in Tibetan affairs, Tibet’s internal government was for centuries a theocracy (state governed by religious leaders), under the leadership of Buddhist lamas, or monks. In 1959 the Dalai Lama (spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and at that time the head of Tibet’s internal government) fled to India during a Tibetan revolt against Chinese control in the region. China then took complete control of Tibet, installing a sympathetic Tibetan ruler and, in 1965, replacing the theocracy with a Communist administration.
The TAR covers an area of 1,222,000 sq km (471,800 sq mi). It is bounded on the north by Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province; on the east by Sichuan and Yunnan provinces; on the south by Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), India, Bhutan, and Nepal; and on the west by India. Lhasa is the region’s capital and largest city. Some Tibetans contend that Tibet includes parts of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces where ethnic Tibetans live.
With an average elevation of 4,900 m (16,000 ft), Tibet is the highest region on earth. For this reason, it is sometimes called the Roof of the World. Most of the people in Tibet live at elevations ranging from 1,200 m (3,900 ft) to 5,100 m (16,700 ft). Tibet is also one of the world’s most isolated regions, surrounded by the Himalayas on the south, the Karakoram Range on the west, and the Kunlun Mountains on the north.
Source: http://encarta.msn.com/
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