Tibet Autonomous Region

The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the

People's Republic of China

in

Southwest China

. It was overlayed on the traditional

Tibet

an regions of Ü-Tsang and

Kham

.

It was formally established in 1965 to replace the Tibet Area, the former administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC) established after the annexation of Tibet. The establishment was about five years after the 1959 Tibetan uprising and the dismissal of the Kashag, and about 13 years after the original annexation.

The current borders of the Tibet Autonomous Region were generally established in the 18th century and include about half of historic Tibet, or the

ethno-cultural Tibet

. The Tibet Autonomous Region spans over and is the second-largest province-level division of China by area, after

Xinjiang

. Due to its harsh and rugged terrain, it is lightly populated at just over 3.5 million people.

History

Yarlung kings founded the

Tibetan Empire

in 618. By the end of the 8th century, the empire reached its greatest extent. After a civil war, the empire broke up in 842. The royal lineage

fragmented

and ruled over small kingdoms such as Guge, Maryul and Nyingma. The Mongol Empire conquered Tibet in 1244 but the region was granted a degree of political autonomy.

Kublai Khan

later incorporated the region into his Yuan empire. The Sakya lama Drogön Chögyal Phagpa became religious teacher to Kublai, and was made the head of the region.

From 1354 to 1642, Central Tibet (Ü-Tsang) was ruled by a succession of dynasties from Nêdong,

Shigatse

and

Lhasa

. In 1642, the Ganden Phodrang court of the

5th Dalai Lama

was established by Güshi Khan of the

Khoshut Khanate

, who was enthroned as King (chogyal) of Tibet. The Khoshuts ruled until 1717 when they were overthrown by the Dzungar Khanate. The Dzungar forces were in turn expelled by the Manchu expedition to Tibet during the Dzungar–Qing Wars. This began the Qing rule over Tibet and marked the first time that Tibet was controlled by the central Chinese government.

Despite some politically charged historical debate on the exact nature of Sino-Tibetan relations, most historians agree that Tibet under the Ganden Phodrang was an independent state, albeit under different foreign suzerainties, for most of its history and including the

Ming dynasty

period (1368–1644).

From 1912 to 1950, the State of Tibet became ''de facto'' independent after the fall of the Qing dynasty. The Republic of China that succeeded the Qing, was too preoccupied with fractious warlordism (1916–1928), Chinese Civil War (1927–1949) and Japanese invasion to have been able to assert any authority in Tibet. Other smaller kingdoms of ethno-cultural Tibet in eastern

Kham

and

Amdo

had been under ''de jure'' administration of the Chinese dynastic government since the mid-18th century; today they are distributed among the provinces of

Qinghai

,

Gansu

,

Sichuan

and

Yunnan

. (See also:

Xikang Province

)

In 1950, the People's Liberation Army marched into Tibet and defeated the Tibetan local army in a battle fought near the city of Chamdo. In 1951, the Tibetan representatives signed a 17-point agreement with the Central People's Government affirming China's sovereignty over Tibet and the incorporation of Tibet. The agreement was ratified in Lhasa a few months later. Although the 17-point agreement had provided for an autonomous administration led by the

Dalai Lama

, a "Preparatory Committee for the Autonomous Region of Tibet" (PCART) was established in 1955 to exclude the Dalai Lama's government and create a system of administration along Communist lines. Under threat of his life from Chinese forces the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 and renounced the 17-point agreement. Tibet Autonomous Region was established in 1965, thus making Tibet a provincial-level division of China.

Geography

The Tibet Autonomous Region is located on the Tibetan Plateau, the highest region on earth. In northern Tibet elevations reach an average of over .

Mount Everest

is located on Tibet's border with

Nepal

.

China's provincial-level areas of

Xinjiang

,

Qinghai

and

Sichuan

lie to the north, northeast and east, respectively, of the Tibet AR. There is also a short border with

Yunnan Province

to the southeast. The countries to the south and southwest are

Myanmar

,

India

,

Bhutan

, and

Nepal

. China claims

Arunachal Pradesh

administered by India as part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It also claims several areas adjoining the Chumbi Valley that are recognised as Bhutan's territory. China administers several border areas of

Ladakh

claimed by India.

Physically, the Tibet AR may be divided into two parts: the lakes region in the west and north-west and the river region, which spreads out on three sides of the former on the east, south and west. Both regions receive limited amounts of rainfall as they lie in the

rain shadow

of the

Himalayas

; however, the region names are useful in contrasting their hydrological structures, and also in contrasting their different cultural uses:

nomad

ic in the lake region and

agricultural

in the river region. On the south the Tibet AR is bounded by the Himalayas, and on the north by a broad mountain system. The system at no point narrows to a single range; generally there are three or four across its breadth. As a whole the system forms the watershed between rivers flowing to the Indian Ocean — the

Indus

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