The Tibetan script is a segmental writing system, or abugida , derived from Brahmic scripts and Gupta script , and used to write certain Tibetic languages , including Tibetan , Dzongkha , Sikkimese , Ladakhi , Jirel and Balti . It was originally developed c. 620 by Tibetan minister Thonmi Sambhota for King Songtsen Gampo .
111-647: The Tibetan people ( Tibetan : བོད་པ་ , Wylie : bod pa , THL : bö pa ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet . Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China , significant numbers of Tibetans live in the Chinese provinces of Gansu , Qinghai , Sichuan , and Yunnan , as well as in India , Nepal , and Bhutan . The Tibetic languages belong to
222-452: A mandala . To ensure that the image will not fade, organic and mineral pigments are added, and the painting is framed in colorful silk brocades. Tibetan folk opera, known as lhamo , is a combination of dances, chants and songs. The repertoire is drawn from Buddhist stories and Tibetan history. Tibetan opera was founded in the fourteenth century by Thang Tong Gyalpo , a lama and a bridge-builder. Gyalpo and seven girls he recruited organized
333-661: A 2010 Chinese survey found a higher proportion of 0.4%. There is a Catholic church with 700 parishioners, which is located in the traditionally Catholic community of Yanjing in the east of the region. From the 1951 Seventeen Point Agreement to 2003, life expectancy in Tibet increased from thirty-six years to sixty-seven years with infant mortality and absolute poverty declining steadily. The average life expectancy in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) reached 72.19 years by 2021, compared to 35.5 years recorded in 1951,
444-437: A Yellow River farmers-like population c. 4,700 years ago, resulting in the formation of a "Tibetan cline". Modern Tibetans display genetic continuity to ancient samples from Nepal , with their genetic diversity having been reduced compared to 'Early Ancient Tibetans' suggesting low to none geneflow from outside groups since c. 3,500 years ago. Subsequent internal geneflow resulted in "a northeastern plateau ancestry associated with
555-433: A certain age. However, polyandry is practiced in parts of Tibet. This is usually done to avoid division of property and provide financial security. Tibetan script The Tibetan script has also been used for some non-Tibetic languages in close cultural contact with Tibet, such as Thakali , Nepali and Old Turkic . The printed form is called uchen script while the hand-written cursive form used in everyday writing
666-465: A character, with red symbolizing a king and yellow indicating deities and lamas. The performance starts with a stage purification and blessings. A narrator then sings a summary of the story, and the performance begins. Another ritual blessing is conducted at the end of the play. There are also many historical myths/epics written by high lamas about the reincarnation of a "chosen one" who will do great things. The most unusual feature of Tibetan architecture
777-481: A clade with them to the exclusion of other Eurasians. The Northern East Asian lineage can be represented by Neolithic Yellow River farmers, which are associated with the spread of Sino-Tibetan languages. Modern Tibetans derive up to 20% from Paleolithic Tibetans, with the remaining 80% being primarily derived from Yellow River farmers. The formation of the present-day Tibetan gene pool dates back at least 5,100 years BP. Northeastern Tibetans display additional geneflow from
888-651: A cluster of mutually unintelligible Sino-Tibetan languages spoken by approximately 8 million people, primarily Tibetan, living across a wide area of East and South Asia , including the Tibetan Plateau and Baltistan , Ladakh , Nepal, Sikkim , and Bhutan. Classical Tibetan is a major regional literary language, particularly for its use in Buddhist literature. The Central Tibetan language (the dialects of Ü-Tsang , including Lhasa ), Khams Tibetan , and Amdo Tibetan are generally considered to be dialects of
999-679: A divergent sister branch to them. Full genome studies revealed that Tibetans and other high-alltitude East Asians formed from two divergent Ancient East Eurasian lineages in Eastern Asia, specifically a lineage representing the Paleolithic population of the Tibetan Plateau, and a lineage associated with Ancient Northern East Asians . The Paleolithic Tibetan lineage was found to be distinct from other deep lineages such as Ust'-Ishim , Hoabinhian / Onge or Tianyuan , but forming
1110-448: A frequency of >75%. The widespread presence of this gene may represent one of "the fastest genetic change ever observed in humans". Recent research into the ability of Tibetans' metabolism to function normally in the oxygen-deficient atmosphere above 4,400 metres (14,400 ft) shows that, although Tibetans living at high altitudes have no more oxygen in their blood than other people, they have ten times more nitric oxide and double
1221-576: A population density of 3 inhabitants per square kilometre (7.8/sq mi), and is the least-populous autonomous region or province in China. 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 and Maryul . The Mongol Empire conquered Tibet in 1244 but granted
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#17327663070251332-404: A provincial-level division of China. The Tibet Autonomous Region is located on the Tibetan Plateau , the highest region on Earth. In northern Tibet elevations reach an average of over 4,572 metres (15,000 ft). 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
1443-411: A significant minority observe the indigenous Bon religion. There are also smaller communities of Tibetan Muslims and Christians. Tibetan Buddhism influences Tibetan art , drama and architecture, while the harsh geography of Tibet has produced an adaptive culture of Tibetan medicine and cuisine . As of the 2014 census, there are about 6 million Tibetans living in the Tibet Autonomous Region and
1554-456: A single language, especially since they all share the same literary language, while Dzongkha , Sikkimese , Sherpa , and Ladakhi are generally considered to be separate languages. The ethnic roots of Tibetans can be traced back to a deep Eastern Asian lineage representing the indigenous population of the Tibetan plateau since c. 40,000 to 30,000 years ago, and arriving Neolithic farmers from
1665-403: A space. Spaces are not used to divide words. The Tibetan alphabet has thirty basic letters, sometimes known as "radicals", for consonants. As in other Indic scripts , each consonant letter assumes an inherent vowel ; in the Tibetan script it is /a/. The letter ཨ is also the base for dependent vowel marks. Although some Tibetan dialects are tonal , the language had no tone at the time of
1776-454: A tiny Tibetan Christian community in eastern Tibet. Smaller tribal groups such as the Monpa and Lhoba , who follow a combination of Tibetan Buddhism and spirit worship, are found mainly in the southeastern parts of the region. Historically, the population of Tibet consisted of primarily ethnic Tibetans . According to tradition the original ancestors of the Tibetan people, as represented by
1887-490: A total of 66 counties and 8 districts ( Chengguan , Doilungdêqên , Dagzê , Samzhubzê , Karub , Bayi , Nêdong , and Seni ). With an average of only two people per square kilometer, Tibet has the lowest population density among any of the Chinese province-level administrative regions, mostly due to its harsh and rugged terrain. In 2022, only 37.4 percent of Tibet's population was urban, with 63.4 being rural, amongst
1998-496: A written tradition. Amdo Tibetan was one of a few examples where Buddhist practitioners initiated a spelling reform. A spelling reform of the Ladakhi language was controversial in part because it was first initiated by Christian missionaries. In the Tibetan script, the syllables are written from left to right. Syllables are separated by a tsek (་); since many Tibetan words are monosyllabic, this mark often functions almost as
2109-427: Is a means of simulating the chant of a mantra by physically revolving the object several times in a clockwise direction. It is widely seen among Tibetan people. In order not to desecrate religious artifacts such as Stupas , mani stones, and Gompas , Tibetan Buddhists walk around them in a clockwise direction, although the reverse direction is true for Bön . Tibetan Buddhists chant the prayer " Om mani padme hum ", while
2220-524: Is a province-level entity of the People's Republic of China. Chinese law nominally guarantees some autonomy in the areas of education and language policy. Like other subdivisions of China, routine administration is carried out by a People's Government , headed by a chairman, who has been an ethnic Tibetan except for an interregnum during the Cultural Revolution . As with other Chinese provinces,
2331-410: Is above most other consonants, thus རྐ rka. However, an exception to this is the cluster རྙ /ɲa/. Similarly, the consonants ར /ra/, and ཡ /ja/ change form when they are beneath other consonants, thus ཀྲ /ʈ ~ ʈʂa/; ཀྱ /ca/. Besides being written as subscripts and superscripts, some consonants can also be placed in prescript, postscript, or post-postscript positions. For instance,
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#17327663070252442-600: Is built according to both Chinese and Tibetan architecture. It was first erected in 1792 under the Qing dynasty and renovated around 2013 after decades of disrepair. Built or rebuilt between 2014 and 2015 is the Guandi Temple of Qomolangma ( Mount Everest ), on Ganggar Mount, in Tingri County . There are four mosques in the Tibet Autonomous Region with approximately 4,000 to 5,000 Muslim adherents, although
2553-571: Is called umê script . This writing system is used across the Himalayas and Tibet . The script is closely linked to a broad ethnic Tibetan identity, spanning across areas in India , Nepal , Bhutan and Tibet. The Tibetan script is of Brahmic origin from the Gupta script and is ancestral to scripts such as Lepcha , Marchen and the multilingual ʼPhags-pa script , and is also closely related to Meitei . According to Tibetan historiography,
2664-550: Is called the Chang Tang (Byang sang) or 'Northern Plateau' by the people of Tibet. It is 1,100 km (680 mi) broad and covers an area about equal to that of France. Due to its great distance from the ocean it is extremely arid and possesses no river outlet. The mountain ranges are spread out, rounded, disconnected, and separated by relatively flat valleys. The Tibet AR is dotted over with large and small lakes, generally salt or alkaline , and intersected by streams. Due to
2775-681: Is cultivated in Tibet and therefore features heavily in its cuisine. Yak yogurt , butter and cheese are frequently eaten and well-prepared yogurt is considered something of a prestige item. Men and Women wear long thick dresses ( chuba ) in more traditional and rural regions. The men wear a shorter version with pants underneath. The style of the clothing varies between regions. Nomads often wear thick sheepskin versions. In more urban places like Lhasa, men and women dress in modern clothing, and many choose to wear chuba during festivals and holidays like Losar . Tibet has national literature that has both religious, semi-spiritual and secular elements. While
2886-666: Is designed as a simple means for inputting Dzongkha text on computers. This keyboard layout was standardized by the Dzongkha Development Commission (DDC) and the Department of Information Technology (DIT) of the Royal Government of Bhutan in 2000. It was updated in 2009 to accommodate additional characters added to the Unicode & ISO 10646 standards since the initial version. Since
2997-560: Is formed by the Yarlung Tsangpo River during its middle reaches, where it travels from west to east. The valley is approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) long and 300 km (190 mi) wide. The valley descends from 4,500 m (14,760 ft) above sea level to 2,800 m (9,190 ft). The mountains on either side of the valley are usually around 5,000 m (16,400 ft) high. Lakes here include Lake Paiku and Lake Puma Yumco . The Tibet Autonomous Region
3108-525: Is in many areas the most important source of cash for rural households. It contributes an average of 40% to rural cash income and 8.5% to the Tibet Autonomous Region's GDP. The re-opening of the Nathu La pass (on southern Tibet's border with India) should facilitate Sino-Indian border trade and boost Tibet's economy. The China Western Development policy was adopted in 2000 by the central government to boost economic development in western China, including
3219-528: Is simply read as it usually is and has no effect on the pronunciation of the consonant to which it is subjoined, for example ཀ་ཝ་ཟུར་ཀྭ (IPA: /ka.wa.suː.ka/). The vowels used in the alphabet are ཨ /a/, ཨི /i/, ཨུ /u/, ཨེ /e/, and ཨོ /o/. While the vowel /a/ is included in each consonant, the other vowels are indicated by marks; thus ཀ /ka/, ཀི /ki/, ཀུ /ku/, ཀེ /ke/, ཀོ /ko/. The vowels ཨི /i/, ཨེ /e/, and ཨོ /o/ are placed above consonants as diacritics, while
3330-560: Is solely for the consonants ད /tʰa/ and ས /sa/. The head ( མགོ in Tibetan, Wylie: mgo ) letter, or superscript, position above a radical is reserved for the consonants ར /ra/, ལ /la/, and ས /sa/. The subscript position under a radical can only be occupied by the consonants ཡ /ja/, ར /ra/, ལ /la/, and ཝ /wa/. In this position they are described as བཏགས (Wylie: btags , IPA: /taʔ/), in Tibetan meaning "hung on/affixed/appended", for example བ་ཡ་བཏགས་བྱ (IPA: /pʰa.ja.taʔ.t͡ʃʰa/), except for ཝ , which
3441-409: Is that many of the houses and monasteries are built on elevated, sunny sites facing the south. They are commonly made of a mixture of rocks, wood, cement and earth. Little fuel is available for heating or lighting, so flat roofs are built to conserve heat, and multiple windows are constructed to let in sunlight. Walls are usually sloped inwards at 10 degrees as a precaution against frequent earthquakes in
Tibetan people - Misplaced Pages Continue
3552-649: Is the region of China with the largest per capita government spending on education . Foreign tourists were first permitted to visit the Tibet Autonomous Region in the 1980s. While the main attraction is the Potala Palace in Lhasa , there are many other popular tourist destinations including the Jokhang Temple , Namtso Lake , and Tashilhunpo Monastery . Nonetheless, tourism in Tibet is still restricted for non-Chinese passport holders (including citizens of
3663-695: The British invasion until the establishment of the PRC. Only 8% of Han people have household registration in TAR, others keep their household registration in place of origin. Tibetan scholars and exiles claim that, with the 2006 completion of the Qingzang Railway connecting the Tibet Autonomous Region to Qinghai Province, there has been an "acceleration" of Han migration into the region. The Tibetan government-in-exile based in northern India asserts that
3774-467: The EPAS1 gene , also referred to as the "super-athlete gene", which regulates the body's production of hemoglobin, allowing for greater efficiency in the use of oxygen. The genetic basis of Tibetan adaptations have been attributed to a mutation in the EPAS1 gene, and has become prevalent in the past 5,000 years. Ancient Tibetans carried this allele at a frequency of 25–58%, while modern Tibetans carry it at
3885-611: The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition published between 1910 and 1911, the total population of the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, including the lamas in the city and vicinity, was about 30,000, and the permanent population also included Chinese families (about 2,000). Most Han people in the Tibet Autonomous Region (12.2% of the total population) are recent migrants, because all of the Han were expelled from "Outer Tibet" ( Central Tibet ) following
3996-657: The Ganden Phodrang court of the 5th Dalai Lama was established by Güshi Khan of the Khoshut Khanate , who was enthroned as King of Tibet. The Khoshuts ruled until 1717, when they were overthrown by the Dzungar Khanate . Despite politically charged historical debate concerning the nature of Sino-Tibetan relations, some historians posit that Tibet under the Ganden Phodrang (1642–1951)
4107-898: The Latin script . Multiple Romanization and transliteration systems have been created in recent years, but do not fully represent the true phonetic sound. While the Wylie transliteration system is widely used to Romanize Standard Tibetan , others include the Library of Congress system and the IPA-based transliteration (Jacques 2012). Below is a table with Tibetan letters and different Romanization and transliteration system for each letter, listed below systems are: Wylie transliteration (W), Tibetan pinyin (TP), Dzongkha phonetic (DP), ALA-LC Romanization (A) and THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription (THL). The first version of Microsoft Windows to support
4218-646: The Line of Actual Control in a bilateral agreement signed on 7 September 1993 . 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: nomadic in
4329-841: The Nyang River , the Salween , the Yangtze , the Mekong , and the Yellow River . The Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon , formed by a horseshoe bend in the river where it flows around Namcha Barwa , is the deepest and possibly longest canyon in the world. Among the mountains there are many narrow valleys. The valleys of Lhasa , Xigazê , Gyantse and the Brahmaputra are free from permafrost, covered with good soil and groves of trees, well irrigated, and richly cultivated. The South Tibet Valley
4440-735: The Rai people , followed by the Magars and the Tamang . Tibetan males predominantly belong to the paternal lineage D-M174 followed by lower amounts of O-M175 . Tibetan females belong mainly to the Northeast Asian maternal haplogroups M9a1a, M9a1b, D4g2, D4i and G2ac, showing continuity with ancient middle and upper Yellow River populations. Although "East Asian Highlanders" (associated with haplogroup D1 ) are closely related to East Asian lowland farmers (associated with haplogroup O ), they form
4551-510: The Sherpa people have allele frequencies which are often found in other Tibeto-Burman regions, the strongest affinity was for Tibetan population sample studies done in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Genetically, the Sherpa cluster closest with the sampled Tibetan and Han populations. Additionally, the Sherpa and Tibetans had exhibited affinity for several Nepalese populations, with the strongest for
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4662-550: The Tibeto-Burman language group . The traditional or mythological explanation of the Tibetan people's origin is that they are the descendants of the human Pha Trelgen Changchup Sempa and rock ogress Ma Drag Sinmo. It is thought that most of the Tibeto-Burman speakers in southwest China , including Tibetans, are direct descendants from the ancient Qiang people . Most Tibetans practice Tibetan Buddhism , although
4773-623: The Xizang Autonomous Region , often shortened to Tibet or Xizang , is an autonomous region of China and is part of Southwestern China . It was formally established in 1965 to replace the Tibet Area , the former administrative division of the 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
4884-580: The Yellow River within the last 10,000 years, and which can be associated with having introduced the Sino-Tibetan languages . Modern Tibetan populations are genetically most similar to other East Asian populations, especially Han Chinese , Bhutanese , as well as other Sino-Tibetan-speaking populations . They show relatively more genetic affinity for modern Central Asian than modern Siberian populations. They also share some genetic affinity for South Asian groups . Genetic studies shows that many of
4995-679: The proclamation of the People's Republic of China the year before, the People's Liberation Army entered Tibet and defeated the Tibetan army in a battle fought near the city of Chamdo . In 1951, Tibetan representatives signed the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet with the Central People's Government affirming China's sovereignty over Tibet and the annexation of Tibet by
5106-869: The 10 Tibetan autonomous prefectures in the provinces of Gansu , Qinghai , Sichuan , and Yunnan . The SIL Ethnologue in 2009 documents an additional 189,000 Tibetic speakers living in India , 5,280 in Nepal and 4,800 in Bhutan . The Central Tibetan Administration 's (CTA) Green Book (of the Tibetan Government in Exile ) counts 145,150 Tibetans outside Tibet: a little over 100,000 in India; over 16,000 in Nepal; over 1,800 in Bhutan, and over 25,000 in other parts of
5217-509: The 1980s, however, other jobs such as taxi-driving and hotel retail work have become available in the wake of Chinese economic reform . In 2011, Tibet's GDP topped 60.5 billion yuan (US$ 9.60 billion), nearly more than seven times as big as the 11.78 billion yuan (US$ 1.47 billion) in 2000. Economic growth since the beginning of the 21st century has averaged over 10 percent a year. By 2023, its gross domestic product (GDP) stood at nearly 239.3 billion yuan (about 33.6 billion U.S. dollars), adding that
5328-591: The 28th king of Tibet, Thothori Nyantsen , dreamed of a sacred treasure falling from heaven, which contained a Buddhist sutra , mantras , and religious objects. However, because the Tibetan script had not been invented, the text could not be translated in writing and no one initially knew what was written in it. Buddhism did not take root in Tibet until the reign of Songtsän Gampo , who married two Buddhist princesses, Bhrikuti of Nepal and Wencheng of China. It then gained popularity when Padmasambhāva visited Tibet at
5439-468: The 5.4 million number is a decrease from 6.3 million in 1959 while the Chinese government claims that it is an increase from 2.7 million in 1954. However, the question depends on the definition and extent of "Tibet" ; the region claimed by the CTA is more expansive and China more diminutive . Also, the Tibetan administration did not take a formal census of its territory in the 1950s; the numbers provided by
5550-518: The 9th-century spoken Tibetan, and current pronunciation. This divergence is the basis of an argument in favour of spelling reform , to write Tibetan as it is pronounced ; for example, writing Kagyu instead of Bka'-rgyud . The nomadic Amdo Tibetan and the western dialects of the Ladakhi language , as well as the Balti language , come very close to the Old Tibetan spellings. Despite that,
5661-512: The CCP's official aim to eliminate "the three evils of separatism, terrorism and religious extremism" is used as a pretext for human rights abuses. A 1992 Amnesty International report stated that judicial standards in the Tibet Autonomous Region were not up to "international standards". The report charged the CCP government with keeping political prisoners and prisoners of conscience ; ill-treatment of detainees, including torture , and inaction in
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#17327663070255772-671: The China’s national average. By 2022, the GDP of the region surpassed 213 billion yuan (US$ 31.7 billion in nominal), while GDP per capita reached CN¥58,438 ( US$ 8,688 in nominal). In 2022, Tibet's GDP per capita ranked 25th highest in China, as well as higher than any South Asian country except Maldives . In 2008, Chinese news media reported that the per capita disposable incomes of urban and rural residents in Tibet averaged (CN¥12,482 ( US$ 1,798 ) and CN¥3,176 ( US$ 457 ) respectively. While traditional agriculture and animal husbandry continue to lead
5883-624: The Himalaya and 34° N, but are most numerous to the west of Tengri Nor (north-west of Lhasa). So intense is the cold in this part of Tibet that these springs are sometimes represented by columns of ice, the nearly boiling water having frozen in the act of ejection. The river region is characterized by fertile mountain valleys and includes the Yarlung Tsangpo River (the upper courses of the Brahmaputra ) and its major tributary,
5994-585: The International Religious Freedom Report of 2012, most Tibetans (who comprise 91% of the population of the Tibet Autonomous Region) are adherents of Tibetan Buddhism, while a minority of 400,000 people are followers the native Bon or folk religions which share the image of Confucius ( Tibetan : Kongtse Trulgyi Gyalpo ) with Chinese folk religion , though in a different light. According to some reports,
6105-482: The King which were afterward translated. In the first half of the 7th century, the Tibetan script was used for the codification of these sacred Buddhist texts, for written civil laws, and for a Tibetan Constitution. A contemporary academic suggests that the script was instead developed in the second half of the 11th century. New research and writings also suggest that there were one or more Tibetan scripts in use prior to
6216-455: The PRC is promoting the migration of Han workers and soldiers to Tibet to marginalize and assimilate the locals. The main religion in Tibet has been Buddhism since its outspread in the 8th century AD. Before the arrival of Buddhism, the main religion among Tibetans was an indigenous shamanic and animistic religion, Bon , which now comprises a sizeable minority and influenced the formation of Tibetan Buddhism . According to estimates from
6327-562: The People's Republic of China . The 14th Dalai Lama ratified the agreement in October 1951. After the failure of a violent uprising in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India and renounced the Seventeen Point Agreement. During the 1950s and 1960s, Western-dispatched insurgents were parachuted into Tibet, almost all of whom were captured and killed. The establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region in 1965 made Tibet
6438-680: The Republic of China from Taiwan), and foreigners must apply for a Tibet Entry Permit to enter the region. A 2019 white paper from The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China reported Tibet's road system has achieved a total of 118,800 km. The civil airports in Tibet are Lhasa Gonggar Airport , Qamdo Bangda Airport , Nyingchi Airport , and the Gunsa Airport . Gunsa Airport in Ngari Prefecture began operations on 1 July 2010, to become
6549-514: 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 some areas adjoining the Chumbi Valley that are recognised as Bhutan's territory, and some areas of eastern Ladakh claimed by India. India and China agreed to respect
6660-517: The Tibet Autonomous Region. Because the central government permits Tibet to have a preferentially low corporate income tax rate, many corporations have registered in Tibet. There are 4 universities and 3 special colleges in Tibet, including Tibet University , Tibet University for Nationalities , Tibet Tibetan Medical University , Tibet Agricultural and Animal Husbandry College , Lhasa Teachers College , Tibet Police College and Tibet Vocational and Technical College . As of at least 2019, Tibet
6771-732: The Tibetan keyboard layout is MS Windows Vista . The layout has been available in Linux since September 2007. In Ubuntu 12.04, one can install Tibetan language support through Dash / Language Support / Install/Remove Languages, the input method can be turned on from Dash / Keyboard Layout, adding Tibetan keyboard layout. The layout applies the similar layout as in Microsoft Windows. Mac OS -X introduced Tibetan Unicode support with OS-X version 10.5 and later, now with three different keyboard layouts available: Tibetan-Wylie, Tibetan QWERTY and Tibetan-Otani. The Dzongkha keyboard layout scheme
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#17327663070256882-423: The Tibetan script was developed during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo by his minister Thonmi Sambhota , who was sent to India with 16 other students to study Buddhism along with Sanskrit and written languages. They developed the Tibetan script from the Gupta script while at the Pabonka Hermitage . This occurred c. 620 , towards the beginning of the king's reign. There were 21 Sutra texts held by
6993-584: The administration at the time were "based on informed guesswork". According to the Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (2010), there are 6,282,187 Tibetans nationwide: There are 2,716,388 people in the Tibet Autonomous Region , 1,496,524 people in Sichuan Province, 1,375,059 people in Qinghai Province, 488,359 people in Gansu Province (mostly in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Bairi Tibetan Autonomous County ) and 142,257 people in Yunnan Province (mostly in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture ). Tibetans account for 0.47% of
7104-549: The area's economy, in 2005 the tertiary sector contributed more than half of its GDP growth, the first time it surpassed the area's primary industry. Rich reserves of natural resources and raw materials have yet to lead to the creation of a strong secondary sector, due in large part to the province's inhospitable terrain, low population density, an underdeveloped infrastructure and the high cost of extraction. The collection of caterpillar fungus ( Cordyceps sinensis , known in Tibetan as Yartsa Gunbu ) in late spring / early summer
7215-401: The arrangement of keys essentially follows the usual order of the Dzongkha and Tibetan alphabet, the layout can be quickly learned by anyone familiar with this alphabet. Subjoined (combining) consonants are entered using the Shift key. The Dzongkha (dz) keyboard layout is included in Microsoft Windows, Android, and most distributions of Linux as part of XFree86 . Tibetan was originally one of
7326-407: The basic Tibetan alphabet to represent different sounds. In addition to the use of supplementary graphemes, the rules for constructing consonant clusters are amended, allowing any character to occupy the superscript or subscript position, negating the need for the prescript and postscript positions. Romanization and transliteration of the Tibetan script is the representation of the Tibetan script in
7437-486: The chairman carries out work under the direction of the regional secretary of the Chinese Communist Party . The standing committee of the regional Communist Party Committee serves as the top rung of political power in the region. The current chairman is Yan Jinhai and the current party secretary is Wang Junzheng . The Autonomous Region is divided into seven prefecture-level divisions : six prefecture-level cities and one prefecture . These in turn are subdivided into
7548-418: The consonants ག /kʰa/, ད /tʰa/, བ /pʰa/, མ /ma/ and འ /a/ can be used in the prescript position to the left of other radicals, while the position after a radical (the postscript position), can be held by the ten consonants ག /kʰa/, ན /na/, བ /pʰa/, ད /tʰa/, མ /ma/, འ /a/, ར /ra/, ང /ŋa/, ས /sa/, and ལ /la/. The third position, the post-postscript position
7659-449: The death rate of women in childbirth dropped to 38.63 per 100,000 in 2023 from 5,000 per 100,000 in 1951, the infant mortality rate fell to 5.37 per 1,000 from 430 per 1,000. Before the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China in 1951, Tibet was ruled by a theocracy and had a caste-like social hierarchy. Human rights in Tibet prior to its incorporation into the People's Republic of China differed considerably from those in
7770-525: The expense was borne by the residents themselves, often through bank loans. The population transfer program, which was first implemented in Qinghai where 300,000 nomads were resettled, is called "Comfortable Housing", which is part of the "Build a New Socialist Countryside" program. Its effect on Tibetan culture has been criticized by exiles and human rights groups. Finding employment is difficult for relocated persons who have only agrarian skills. Income shortfalls are offset by government support programs. It
7881-524: The face of ill-treatment; the use of the death penalty; extrajudicial executions ; and forced abortion and sterilization . Beginning in 2006, 280,000 Tibetans who lived in traditional villages and as nomadic herdsmen have been forcefully relocated into villages and towns. In those areas, new housing was built and existing houses were remodelled to serve a total of 2 million people. Those living in substandard housing were required to dismantle their houses and remodel them to government standards. Much of
7992-460: The first performance to raise funds for building bridges to facilitate transportation in Tibet. The tradition continued uninterrupted for nearly seven hundred years, and performances are held on various festive occasions such as the Lingka and Shoton festival. The performance is usually a drama, held on a barren stage that combines dances, chants, and songs. Colorful masks are sometimes worn to identify
8103-427: The forearm blood flow of low-altitude dwellers. Tibetans inherited this adaptation due to selected genes associated with Denisovan admixture among Asian populations, highlighting how different environments trigger different selective pressures. Nitric oxide causes dilation of blood vessels, allowing blood to flow more freely to the extremities and aids the release of oxygen to tissues. According to Tibetan mythology ,
8214-486: The fourth civil airport in China's Tibet Autonomous Region. The Peace Airport for Xigazê was opened for civilian use on 30 October 2010. Announced in 2010, Nagqu Dagring Airport was expected to become the world's highest altitude airport, at 4,436 meters above sea level. However, in 2015 it was reported that construction of the airport has been delayed due to the necessity to develop higher technological standards. The Qinghai–Tibet Railway from Golmud to Lhasa
8325-581: The government of China has been promoting the Bon religion, linking it with Confucianism . Most of the Han Chinese who reside in Tibet practice their native Chinese folk religion ( 神道 ; shén dào ; 'Way of the Gods';). There is a Guandi Temple of Lhasa ( 拉萨关帝庙 ) where the Chinese god of war Guandi is identified with the cross-ethnic Chinese, Tibetan, Mongol and Manchu deity Gesar . The temple
8436-592: The grammar of these dialectical varieties has considerably changed. To write the modern varieties according to the orthography and grammar of Classical Tibetan would be similar to writing Italian according to Latin orthography, or to writing Hindi according to Sanskrit orthogrophy. However, modern Buddhist practitioners in the Indian subcontinent state that the classical orthography should not be altered even when used for lay purposes. This became an obstacle for many modern Tibetic languages wishing to modernize or to introduce
8547-606: The growth rates of the region's major economic indicators, including per capita disposable income, fixed asset investment, and total retail sales of consumer goods, all ranked first in China. The added value of the service sector accounted for 54.1 percent and contributed a 57.6 percent share to economic growth. Investment in fixed assets also grew rapidly last year, with investment in infrastructure up by 34.8 percent and investment in areas related to people's livelihoods up by 31.8 percent. Its GDP grew by an annual average of 9.5 percent from 2012 to 2023, about 3 percentage points higher than
8658-515: The highest amount of funding from the central government to the local government as of at least 2019. As of at least 2019, Tibet has the highest total per capita government expenditure of any region in China, including the highest per capita government expenditure on health care , the highest per capita government expenditure on education, and the second highest per capita government expenditure on social security and employment. The Tibetans traditionally depended upon agriculture for survival. Since
8769-482: The intricate designs of the Thangka paintings. Tibetan art can be found in almost every object and every aspect of daily life. Thangka paintings, a syncretism of Indian scroll-painting with Nepalese and Kashmiri painting, appeared in Tibet around the 8th century. Rectangular and painted on cotton or linen, they usually depict traditional motifs including religious, astrological, and theological subjects, and sometimes
8880-452: The introduction of the script by Songtsen Gampo and Thonmi Sambhota . The incomplete Dunhuang manuscripts are their key evidence for their hypothesis, while the few discovered and recorded Old Tibetan Annals manuscripts date from 650 and therefore post-date the c. 620 date of development of the original Tibetan script. Three orthographic standardisations were developed. The most important, an official orthography aimed to facilitate
8991-399: The invitation of the 38th Tibetan king, Trisong Deutson . Today, one can see Tibetans placing Mani stones prominently in public places. Tibetan lamas , both Buddhist and Bön, play a major role in the lives of the Tibetan people, conducting religious ceremonies and taking care of the monasteries. Pilgrims plant prayer flags over sacred grounds as a symbol of good luck. The prayer wheel
9102-481: The key figures in its development was the renowned 8th century physician Yuthog Yontan Gonpo , who produced the Four Medical Tantras integrating material from the medical traditions of Persia, India and China. The tantras contained a total of 156 chapters in the form of Thangkas, which tell about the archaic Tibetan medicine and the essences of medicines in other places. The Cuisine of Tibet reflects
9213-583: 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 , Brahmaputra and Salween and its tributaries — and
9324-498: The lowest in China, though this is significantly up from 22.6 percent in 2011. In 2020 the Tibetan population was three million. The ethnic Tibetans , comprising 86.0% of the population, mainly adhere to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön , although there is an ethnic Tibetan Muslim community . Other Muslim ethnic groups such as the Hui and the Salar have inhabited the region. There is also
9435-508: The modern era. Due to tight control of press in mainland China , including the Tibet Autonomous Region, it is difficult to accurately determine the scope of human rights abuses. When General Secretary Hu Yaobang visited Tibet in 1980 and 1982, he disagreed with what he viewed as heavy-handedness. Hu reduced the number of Han party cadre, and relaxed social controls. Critics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) say
9546-476: The mountainous area. Tibetan homes and buildings are white-washed on the outside, and beautifully decorated inside. Standing at 117 metres (384 ft) in height and 360 metres (1,180 ft) in width, the Potala Palace is considered the most important example of Tibetan architecture. Formerly the residence of the Dalai Lama , it contains over a thousand rooms within thirteen stories and houses portraits of
9657-522: The northeast cluster, a southern plateau ancestry associated with the south-southwest cluster, and a southeastern plateau ancestry associated with the southeast-central cluster". There was limited contact with Central Asian populations, inline with historical events, evident in mutual geneflow. The expansion of the Tibetan Empire may have left genetic traces in surrounding populations. Genetic studies identified more than 30 genetic factors that make Tibetans' bodies well-suited for high-altitudes, including
9768-424: The number of Tibetan diaspora in India declined to 85,000. Tibetans are known as Bhotiyas in Nepal, where they are majority in regions such as Upper Mustang , Dolpo , Walung region and Limi and Muchu valleys. Nepal is also home to other Tibetic people such as the Sherpa , Hyolmo and Tamang . There are also more than 10,000 Tibetan refugees in Nepal. The Tibetic languages ( Tibetan : བོད་སྐད། ) are
9879-441: The original annexation. The current borders of the Tibet Autonomous Region were generally established in the 18th century and include about half of historical Tibet. The Tibet Autonomous Region spans over 1,200,000 km (460,000 sq mi), and is the second-largest province-level division of China by area, after Xinjiang . Due to its harsh and rugged terrain, it is sparsely populated at just over 3.6 million people with
9990-551: The origins of Tibetans are said to be rooted in the marriage of the monkey Pha Trelgen Changchup Sempa and rock ogress Ma Drag Sinmo. Most Tibetans generally observe Tibetan Buddhism or a collection of native traditions known as Bön (also absorbed into mainstream Tibetan Buddhism). There is a minority Tibetan Muslim population. There is also a small Tibetan Christian population in the eastern Tibet and northwestern Yunnan of China. Also there are some Tibetan Hindus who mainly live in China, India and Nepal. According to legend,
10101-511: The past Dalai Lamas and statues of the Buddha. It is divided between the outer White Palace, which serves as the administrative quarters, and the inner Red Quarters, which houses the assembly hall of the Lamas, chapels, 10,000 shrines, and a vast library of Buddhist scriptures. Traditional Tibetan medicine utilizes up to two thousand types of plants, forty animal species, and fifty minerals. One of
10212-582: The practitioners of Bön chant "Om matri muye sale du". Tibet is rich in culture. Tibetan festivals such as Losar , Shoton , Linka , and the Bathing Festival are deeply rooted in indigenous religion and also contain foreign influences. Each person takes part in the Bathing Festival three times: at birth, at marriage, and at death. Tibetan art is deeply religious in nature, from the exquisitely detailed statues found in Gonpas to wooden carvings and
10323-556: The presence of discontinuous permafrost over the Chang Tang, the soil is boggy and covered with tussocks of grass, thus resembling the Siberian tundra . Salt and fresh-water lakes are intermingled. The lakes are generally without outlet, or have only a small effluent . The deposits consist of soda , potash , borax and common salt . The lake region is noted for a vast number of hot springs , which are widely distributed between
10434-404: The radical ཀ /ka/ and see what happens when it becomes ཀྲ /kra/ or རྐ /rka/ (pronounced /ka/). In both cases, the symbol for ཀ /ka/ is used, but when the ར /ra/ is in the middle of the consonant and vowel, it is added as a subscript. On the other hand, when the ར /ra/ comes before the consonant and vowel, it is added as a superscript. ར /ra/ actually changes form when it
10545-424: The region a degree of political autonomy. Kublai Khan later incorporated Tibetans into his Yuan empire (1271–1368). The Sakya lama Drogön Chögyal Phagpa became religious teacher to Kublai in the 1250s, and was made the head of the Tibetan region administration c. 1264 . From 1354 to 1642, Central Tibet ( Ü-Tsang ) was ruled by a succession of dynasties from Nêdong , Shigatse and Lhasa . In 1642,
10656-542: The regions of Ladakh (Ladakhi and Balti ), Kinnaur district in Himachal Pradesh , Spiti valley , Uttarakhand ( Bhotiya ), Sikkim ( Bhutia ), and Arunachal Pradesh ( Khamba , Lhoba and Monpa people ). There are also nearly 100,000 Tibetans living in exile in India since 1959, the majority of them living in Tibetan enclaves such as Dharamshala and Bylakuppe . In 2011, the Indian government reported 150,000 Tibetan diaspora residing in India. In 2019,
10767-440: The religious texts are well-known, Tibet is also home to the semi-spiritual Gesar Epic , which is the longest epic in the world and is popular throughout Mongolia and Central Asia. There are secular texts such as The Dispute Between Tea and Chang (Tibetan beer) and Khache Phalu's Advice . Monogamy is common throughout Tibet. Marriages are sometimes arranged by the parents if the son or daughter has not picked their own partner by
10878-520: The resident population of the Tibet Autonomous Region, 3,204,700 were Tibetans and other ethnic minorities, of whom 3,137,900 were Tibetans, an increase of 421,500, or 15.52%, over 2010, with an average annual growth rate of 1.45%; 66,800 were other ethnic minorities, an increase of 26,300, or 64.95%, over 2010, with an average annual growth rate of 5.13%; and 6,680 were other ethnic minorities, an increase of 26,300, or 64.95%, over 2010, with an average annual growth rate of 5.13%. The average annual growth rate
10989-439: The rich heritage of the country and people's adaptation to high altitude and religious culinary restrictions. The most important crop is barley . Dough made from barley flour, called tsampa , is the staple food of Tibet . This is either rolled into noodles or made into steamed dumplings called momo . Meat dishes are likely to be yak , goat or mutton , often dried or cooked into a spicy stew with potatoes . Mustard seed
11100-453: The script's invention, and there are no dedicated symbols for tone. However, since tones developed from segmental features, they can usually be correctly predicted by the archaic spelling of Tibetan words. One aspect of the Tibetan script is that the consonants can be written either as radicals or they can be written in other forms, such as subscript and superscript forming consonant clusters . To understand how this works, one can look at
11211-792: The scripts in the first version of the Unicode Standard in 1991, in the Unicode block U+1000–U+104F. However, in 1993, in version 1.1, it was removed (the code points it took up would later be used for the Burmese script in version 3.0). The Tibetan script was re-added in July, 1996 with the release of version 2.0. The Unicode block for Tibetan is U+0F00–U+0FFF. It includes letters, digits and various punctuation marks and special symbols used in religious texts: Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region , officially
11322-490: The six red bands in the Tibetan flag, are: the Se, Mu, Dong, Tong, Dru and Ra. Other traditional ethnic groups with significant population or with the majority of the ethnic group reside in Tibet include Bai people , Blang , Bonan , Dongxiang , Han , Hui people , Lhoba , Lisu people , Miao , Mongols , Monguor (Tu people) , Menba (Monpa) , Mosuo , Nakhi , Qiang , Nu people , Pumi , Salar , and Yi people . According to
11433-588: The streams flowing into the undrained salt lakes to the north. The lake region extends from the Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh , Lake Rakshastal , Yamdrok Lake and Lake Manasarovar near the source of the Indus River , to the sources of the Salween , the Mekong and the Yangtze . Other lakes include Dagze Co , Namtso , and Pagsum Co . The lake region is a wind-swept Alpine grassland. This region
11544-467: The successor Republic of China . The Republican regime, preoccupied with warlordism (1916–1928), civil war (1927–1949) and Japanese invasion (1937–1945), did not exert authority in Tibet. Other regions 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; they form parts of the provinces of Qinghai , Gansu , Sichuan and Yunnan . In 1950, following
11655-595: The total population of the country. Tibetans account for 90.48% of the total population in Tibet Region, 24.44% of the total population of Qinghai and 1.86% of the total population in Sichuan. Of all Tibetans in China, 315,622 people live in cities, 923,177 in towns, and 5,043,388 people (80.3%) live in rural areas. According to the Seventh Census of 2020 , there are 7,060,700 Tibetans living within China. Of
11766-467: The translation of Buddhist scriptures emerged during the early 9th century. Standard orthography has not been altered since then, while the spoken language has changed by, for example, losing complex consonant clusters . As a result, in all modern Tibetan dialects and in particular in the Standard Tibetan of Lhasa , there is a great divergence between current spelling, which still reflects
11877-512: The vowel ཨུ /u/ is placed underneath consonants. Old Tibetan included a reversed form of the mark for /i/, the gigu 'verso', of uncertain meaning. There is no distinction between long and short vowels in written Tibetan, except in loanwords , especially transcribed from the Sanskrit . The Tibetan alphabet, when used to write other languages such as Balti , Chinese and Sanskrit , often has additional and/or modified graphemes taken from
11988-645: The world. There are Tibetan communities in the United States , Australia , Brazil , Canada , Costa Rica , France , Mexico , Norway , Mongolia , Germany , Switzerland and the United Kingdom . In the Baltistan region of Northern Pakistan, the Balti people are a Muslim ethnicity of Tibetan descent numbering around 300,000. There is some dispute over the current and historical number of Tibetans. The Central Tibetan Administration claims that
12099-768: Was 5.13%. There are one region, ten prefectures, and two counties officially established by the government: the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Qinghai Province ( Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture , Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture , Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture , Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture , Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture , and Haiximenggu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture ), Sichuan Province ( Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture , Ganz Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture , and Muji Tibetan Autonomous County ), Gansu Province ( Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture ), and Yunnan Province ( Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture ). In India Tibetic people are found in
12210-648: Was an independent state, albeit under various foreign suzerainties for much of this period, including by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). The Dzungar forces were in turn expelled by the 1720 expedition to Tibet during the Dzungar–Qing Wars . This began a period of direct Qing rule over Tibet. From the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912 until 1950, the State of Tibet was de facto independent, as were other regions claimed by
12321-420: Was announced that in 2011 that 20,000 Communist Party cadres will be placed in the new towns. In general, China's minority regions have some of the highest per capita government spending public goods and services. Providing public goods and services in these areas is part of a government effort to reduce regional inequalities, reduce the risk of separatism, and stimulate economic development. Tibet has
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