Tibet
China Tibet, also known as TAR, is a
democratic region in China that is very
poor, and is mainly inhabited by
Buddhists. 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. Whatever China 's involvement in
Tibetan affairs, Tibet's
internal government was for centuries a theocracy,
under the leadership of
Buddhist lamas, or monks. In 1959 the Dalai Lama 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 with a Communist administration (Encarta 1). The TAR
covers an
area of about 472,000 square miles. 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 (formally known as
Burma), India, Bhutan, and
Nepal; and on the west by India. Lhasa is the
region's capital and largest city
(Schaller 72). With an average elevation of
more than 12,000 feet, Tibet is the
highest region on earth, and for this
reason, it is sometimes called the Roof of
the World. Most of the people in
Tibet live at elevations ranging from 3,900
feet to 16,700 feet. Tibet is
also one of the world's most isolated regions,
surrounded by the Himalayas on
the south, the Karakorum Range on the west, and
the Kunlun Mountains on the
north (Encarta 1). The southern part of Tibet is
situated entirely within the
Himalayas, and many of the world's highest summits
are located in the
Himalayan chain, which extends along Tibet's southern
frontier. Among the
peaks are Mount Everest(29,028 feet), the world's largest
mountain; Namcha
Barwa(25,445 feet); and Gurla Mandhata(25,354 feet). The Kailas
Range, a
chain of the Himalayas, lies parallel to and north of the main chain
and has
peaks of up to 22,000 feet. Between the Kailas Range and the main chain
is a
river valley that extends about 600 miles. The Brahmaputra River (known
in
Tibet as the Yarlung Zangbo) flows from west to east through most of
this valley
(Encarta 1). The mountains in Tibet form Asia's principal
watershed, or dividing
line, between westward-flowing and eastward-flowing
streams, and Tibet is the
source of the continent's major rivers. The
Brahmaputra is Tibet's most
important river. The Indus, Ganges, and Sutlej
rivers have their headwaters in
western Tibet. Many of Tibet's rivers have
potential for hydroelectric
development (Encarta 1). Vegetation on the
Tibetan Plateau is extremely sparse,
consisting mainly of grasses and shrubs.
Scattered wooded areas occur in extreme
west and east. Most vegetation,
however, is concentrated in Brahmaputra, Indus,
and Sutlej river valleys.
These areas support most species of trees, including
conifers, oaks,
cypresses, poplars, and maples. Apple, peach, pear, and apricot
trees are
cultivated in the valleys (Encarta 1). Tibet is home to a variety
of
wildlife. Musk deer, wild sheep, wild goats, wild donkeys, yaks, and
Tibetan
antelope are common in mountainous areas. Other large mammals include
leopards,
tigers, bears, wolves, foxes, and monkeys. Bird life includes
geese, gulls,
teal, and other species of waterfowl, and also pheasants and
sand grouse
(Encarta 1). Tibet has a dry, cold climate with an average annual
temperature of
34 degrees Fahrenheit. It is very bitter in Tibet in the
winter (Harrer 39).
Temperatures in the mountains and plateaus are
especially cold, and strong winds
are common year round. The river valleys
experience a more moderate climate.
Lhasa and central Tibet have an
average temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit in
December and an average
of 60 degrees Fahrenheit in June. The daily temperature
range is great. On a
typical summer day, the temperature can rise from 37
degrees Fahrenheit
before sunrise to 81 degrees Fahrenheit before midday. In
general,
temperatures in Tibet frequently drop suddenly after sunset. The
average
annual precipitation is 15 inches (Encarta 2). The Tibet pamphlet states
that
Tibet is rich in mineral resources, although few have been exploited due
to
inaccessibility, a lack of industrial capacity, and Buddhist admonitions
against
disturbing the earth for fear of harming living creatures. Gold is
found in many
areas, and significant deposits of iron ore, coal, salt, and
borax are also
present. Other known resources include oil shale, manganese,
lead, zinc, quartz,
and graphite (14). Since 1959 the Chinese government has
capitalized on some of
Tibet's resources by mining chromite, tinkalite,
and boromagnesite; constructing
hydroelectric and geothermal plants; and
logging timber. In eastern Tibet,
serious environmental concerns have been
raised over the extent of pollution and
deforestation resulting from these
projects (Encarta 2). The Population of TAR
was 2,196,010 in 1990, yielding
an average population density of 4.7 persons per
square mile, the lowest of
any region in China. The vast majority of Tibet's
people live in rural areas,
and a large but diminishing part of the people is
nomadic or seminomadic.
Lhasa, the capital and largest city, is Tibet's
principal center of trade,
tourism, commerce, education, and government, and the
headquarters of the
region's major religious institutions (Encarta 2). Most
people in Tibet are
ethnic Tibetans, and the largest minority is Han Chinese,
China's
majority ethnic group. According to the 1990 census, 3.7 percent
of
Tibet's population was Han Chinese; however, this and other population
figures
are believed to be in complete, as they do not include the much
larger number of
Han who have come to Tibet looking for work
opportunities and have not
officially registered as residents (Encarta 2).
Most people in Tibet speak
Tibetan, a language of the Tibeto-Burman
subfamily of Sino-Tibetan languages.
Various dialects of Tibetan are
spoken in different regions. Putonghua
(Mandarin) Chinese, China's official
language, is also used, particularly by Han
Chinese, government agencies,
and most commercial enterprises. People can
request the use of Tibetan within
the legal system (Encarta 2). Tibetan Buddhism
is the religion of the
overwhelming majority of the population. Buddhism was
introduced into Tibet
from India, originally in the 7th century, and then, after
a period of
persecution, it was reintroduced in the 11th century (Encarta
2).
Historically, religion permeated every aspect of Tibetan life. The
only
educational system was religious, all cultural and intellectual
activities were
centered around religious beliefs, and the heads of
government were Buddhist
monks (Encarta 2). Today Buddhism is practiced
widely in Tibet. Many monasteries
and other religious buildings have been
rebuilt, and monks and nuns are once
again openly practicing their religion
(Encarta 2). Before the 1950s there was
no formal educational system in Tibet
and very few people were literate. Most
Tibetan monks were taught to
memorize religious scriptures rather than read
them. The Chinese introduced
secular, formal state schooling in 1952. By the
mid-1990s there were more
than 3000 schools in Tibet and the literacy rate was
estimated at about 50
percent. Tibetan is the language of instruction in lower
grades, shifting to
Putonghua in later years. In the mid-1990s Tibet had four
institutions of
higher learning, all located in Lhasa: Tibet University, the
Institute
for Nationalities, the Agricultural and Animal Husbandry College, and
the
Tibetan Medical College (Encarta 3). Since assuming control in the 1950s,
the
Chinese Communist administration has improved Tibet’s
transportation
infrastructure. Furthermore, Tibet’s economy has grown and
diversified. As a
result, Tibetans in urban areas now enjoy considerably more
material benefits in
the form of food, clothing, housing, technology, and
entertainment. Far less
improvement has occurred in rural areas (Encarta 3).
Tibet remains one of the
poorest regions in China, particularly its rural
areas. In the mid-1990s the
average annual per capita income for city
dwellers was about $120, while rural
people earned about half that amount.
Although the Chinese government
contributes subsidies to help offset Tibet’s
low standard of living,
controversy has developed over who benefits from this
aid (Encarta 3).
Subsistence agriculture dominates the Tibetan economy.
Productive land,
concentrated mostly in the river valleys, is limited in
area. The principal
subsistence crops are barley, wheat, buckwheat, rye,
potatoes, and various
vegetables and fruits. Cotton, soybeans, walnuts, tea,
and hemp are grown as
commercial crops. Livestock raising is
the
Bibliography
Encarta Encyclopedia, CD-ROM. New York: Microsoft
Corporation, 1993. Harrer,
Heinrich. Seven Years In Tibet. New York:
Penguin Putnam Inc., 1953. Schaller,
George B. "Tibet's Remote Chang
Tang." National Geographics 15 August
1993: 62. Tibet. [United
States]:n.p., n.d.