Tibet is a plateau region in Central Asia and the indigenous home to the Tibetan people. With an average elevation of 4,900 metres (16,000 ft), it is the highest region on Earth and is commonly referred to as the "Roof of the World."
Tibet is today controlled by the People's Republic of China (PRC). As an exclusive mandate, Tibet is also officially claimed by the Republic of China (Taiwan). However in the Tibetan sovereignty debate, the government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of Tibet in Exile disagree over when Tibet became a part of China, and whether this incorporation into China is legitimate according to international law.
Mountain View, on the way to Mount Everest, Tibet
The Tibetan Empire came into existence in the seventh century when Emperor Songtsan Gampo united many areas and tribes of the region. From the early 1600s the Dalai Lamas, commonly known as spiritual leaders of the region, are believed to be the emanations of Avalokitesvara ("Chenrezig" [spyan ras gzigs] in Tibetan), the bodhisattva of compassion.
Between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lama and his regents were the predominant political power administering religious and administrative authority over Tibet from the traditional capital Lhasa, regarded as Tibet's holiest city
Evaluation by the Tibetan exile community
The Central Tibetan Administration states that the number that have died in the much unwanted Great Leap Forward, of violence, or other indirect causes since 1950 is approximately 1.2 million, which the Chinese Communist Party denies. The Chinese Communist Party's official toll of deaths recorded for the whole of China for the years of the Great Leap Forward is 14 million, but scholars have estimated the number of the Great Chinese Famine victims to be between 20 and 43 million. According to Patrick French, the estimate of 1.2 million in Tibet is not reliable because Tibetans were not able to process the data well enough to produce a credible total. There were, however, many casualties, with a figure of 400,000 extrapolated from a calculation Warren W. Smith made from census reports of Tibet which show 200,000 "missing" from Tibet. Even The Black Book of Communism expresses doubt at the 1.2 million figure, but does note that according to the Chinese census the total population of ethnic Tibetans in the PRC was 2.8 million in 1953, but only 2.5 million in 1964. It puts forward a figure of 800,000 deaths and alleges that as many as 10% of Tibetans were interned, with few survivors. Chinese demographers have estimated that 90,000 of the 300,000 "missing" Tibetans fled the region.
The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile in Dharamsala, India. The government of Tibet in Exile also says that, fundamentally, the issue is that of the right to self-determination of the Tibetan people. The Dalai Lama has stated his willingness to negotiate with China for genuine autonomy. Most all Tibetans still call for full Tibetan independence. The Dalai Lama sees the millions of government-imported Han immigrants and preferential socioeconomic policies, as presenting an urgent threat to the Tibetan nation by stealing economic resources and smothering Tibetan culture. Tibetan exile groups say that despite recent attempts to restore the appearance of original Tibetan culture to attract tourism, the traditional Tibetan way of life is now irrevocably changed.
The Chinese government says that when Hu Yaobang, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, visited Lhasa in 1980 he was unhappy when he found out the region was lagging behind neighbouring provinces. Policies were changed, and since then the central government's policy in Tibet has claimed to have granted most religious freedoms, despite the observation of the more stringent government control implemented over Tibetan monasteries. However, in 1998 three monks and five nuns died while in custody, after suffering beatings and torture for having shouted slogans supporting the Dalai Lama and Tibetan independence. Many Tibetans continue to attempt to flee Tibet. Projects that the PRC claims to have benefited Tibet, such as the China Western Development economic plan or the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, are actually politically-motivated actions to consolidate central control over Tibet by facilitating militarization and Han migration while benefit only a few Tibetans. The money funneled into cultural restoration projects is being primarily aimed at purely attracting tourists, and Tibet is still lagging behind the rest of the PRC. The first large hospital in Tibet was not built until 1985. Several of Lhasa's main roads were not paved until 1987 and that the first students at Tibet University did not graduate until 1988. There is still preferential treatment awarded to the Han Chinese population of the TAR in the labour market as opposed to Tibetans. Tibet | Tibetan Art & Architecture | Music of Tibet | Tibetan Cuisine
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