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Tibet Autonomous Region

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Template:Two other uses Template:Infobox PRC province The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) (Tibetan: བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས་; Wylie: Bod-rang-skyong-ljongs; simplified Chinese: 西藏自治区; traditional Chinese: 西藏自治區; pinyin: Xīzàng Zìzhìqū), is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Within the PRC, the TAR is identified with Tibet, a characterization hotly disputed by many Tibetan exile groups, particularly the Government of Tibet in Exile, which define the terms "Tibet" or "historic Tibet" to include not just the TAR, but also the traditional province of Amdo, today incorporated in Qinghai province and southwestern of Gansu province, and the traditional province of Kham (eastern half), today in western Sichuan province and northwestern Yunnan province. The TAR includes about half of historic Tibet, including the traditional provinces of Ü-Tsang and Kham (western half). Its borders coincide roughly with the actual zone of control of the government of Tibet before 1959.

Unlike other autonomous regions, the vast majority of Tibetans are of the local ethnicity. As a result, there is debate surrounding the extent of actual autonomy in the TAR. The opinion of the PRC is that the TAR has ample autonomy, as guaranteed under Articles 111-122 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China as well as the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy of the People's Republic of China. For example, the chairman of the TAR must be ethnic Tibetan, by law. However, independence advocates are of the opinion that the TAR has little or no autonomy. For over a decade, the 14th Dalai Lama has publicly stated that he seeks to negotiate "genuine self-government" or "genuine self-rule" for Tibet within the context of the Chinese state, indicating that he is of the opinion that in the current state the TAR does not give the Tibetans genuine self-rule.

History

For the history of the area before 1959, see History of Tibet.
See also: History of the political divisions of China

Before 1959, the present extent of the TAR (comprising Ü-Tsang and western Kham) was governed by the government of Tibet headed by the Dalai Lama. The Government of Tibet in Exile characterizes the area as an independent and sovereign nation, while the governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China characterize it as a self-governing region within China. Other parts of historic Tibet (eastern Kham and Amdo) were not under the administration of the Tibetan government during the twentieth century; today they are distributed among the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan.

Following Soviet practice, there is a convention that the governor of the TAR is an ethnic Tibetan from the TAR, while the general secretary of the local Communist Party committee is an outsider, usually Han Chinese. Notable general secretaries of the TAR Party committee include Hu Jintao, who served in the 1980s.

File:ChinaTibet.jpg
PRC police in front of Potala Palace in Lhasa.

Neither the Republic of China nor the People's Republic of China have ever proven China's claim to sovereignty over Tibet.[1]

In 1950, the Chinese Army invaded the Tibetan area of Chamdo, crushing minimal resistance from the ill-equipped Tibetan army. In 1951, the Tibetan representatives, under PLA military pressure, signed a seventeen-point agreement with the PRC's Central People's Government affirming China's sovereignty over Tibet. The agreement was ratified in Lhasa a few months later.[2][3]

Though some of the population of Tibet at that time were serfs ("mi ser"),[4][5] often bound to land owned by monasteries and aristocrats, Tibetans in exile have claimed that the serfs and their masters formed only a small part of Tibetan society, and argued that Tibet would have modernized itself without China's intervention. However, the Chinese government claims that most Tibetans were still serfs in 1951,[6], and have proclaimed that the Tibetan government inhibited the development of Tibet during its self-rule from 1913 to 1959, and opposed any modernization efforts proposed by the Chinese government.[7] This [illegal] agreement was initially put into effect in Tibet proper. However, Eastern Kham and Amdo were outside the administration of the government of Tibet, and were thus treated like any other Chinese province with land redistribution implemented in full. As a result, a rebellion broke out in Amdo and eastern Kham in June 1956. The insurrection, supported by the American CIA, eventually spread to Lhasa. It was crushed by 1959. The 14th Dalai Lama and other government principals fled to exile in India, but isolated resistance continued in Tibet until 1969 when the CIA abruptly withdrew its support.

Geography

The TAR is located on the Tibetan Plateau, the highest region on Earth. In northern Tibet elevations reach an average of over 4,572 metres. Most of the Himalaya mountain range lies within Xizang; Mount Everest lies on Xizang's border with Nepal.

Xinjiang, Qinghai and Sichuan lie to the north and east of the TAR; India and Kashmir to the west; and Yunnan, Nepal, India and Bhutan to the south.

Administrative divisions

Tibet Autonomous Region is divided into one prefecture-level city (Lhasa) and six prefectures (Nagqu, Qamdo, Nyinchi, Shannan, Xigazê and Ngari prefectures). These in turn are subdivided into a total of seventy-one counties, one district (Chengguan District, Lhasa) and one county-level city (Xigazê).

See List of administrative divisions of Tibet Autonomous Region for a complete list of county-level divisions.

Demographics

The TAR has the lowest population density among China's province-level administrative regions, mostly due to its mountainous and harsh geographical features.

As of 2000, 92.8% of the population are ethnic Tibetans, who mainly adhere to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön. Han Chinese, who are recent immigrants from other parts of the People's Republic of China, comprise 6.1% of the population [1].

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.

Towns and villages in Tibet

Lhasa
Further information: List of towns and villages in the Tibet Autonomous Region

Economy

Main article: Economy of Tibet

The Tibetans traditionally depended upon agriculture for survival. Since the 1980s, however, other jobs such as taxi-driving and hotel retail work have become available in the wake of Chinese economic reform. In 2005, Tibet's nominal GDP topped 25 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion), more than double the 11.78 billion yuan (US$1.47 billion) in 2000. In the past five years, Tibet's annual GDP growth has averaged 12%.

While traditional agricultural work and animal husbandry continue to lead the area's economy, in 2005 the tertiary sector contributed more than half its GDP growth, the first time it has surpassed the area's primary industry [2] [3]. 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 [4].

In 2005, the per capita disposable incomes of urban and rural residents in Tibet averaged 8,411 yuan (US$1,051) and 2,075 yuan (US$259) respectively. These figures were an increase of 30.4% and 55.9% over those of 2000 [5].

The China Western Development policy has recently been adopted by central government to boost economic development in western China, including the TAR.

Tourism

Tourists were first permitted to visit the TAR in the 1980s. While the main attraction is the Potala Palace in Lhasa, there are many other popular tourist destinations including Jokhang Temple, Namtso Lake, and Tashilhunpo Monastery.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Grunfeld, 1996, pp255-257
  2. ^ Gyatso, Tenzin, Dalai Lama XIV, interview, 25 July 1981.
  3. ^ Goldstein, Melvyn C., A History of Modern Tibet, 1913-1951, University of California Press, 1989, pp812-813
  4. ^ Goldstein, Melvyn, An Anthropological Study of the Tibetan Political System, 1968, p40
  5. ^ Rahul, Ram, The Structure of the Government of Tibet, 1644-1911, 1962, pp263-298
  6. ^ Jiawei, Wang, "The Historical Status of China's Tibet", 2000, pp194-197
  7. ^ Jiawei, Wang, "The Historical Status of China's Tibet", 2000, pp194-197

Further reading

  • Sorrel Wilby, Journey Across Tibet: A Young Woman's 1900-Mile Trek Across the Rooftop of the World, Contemporary Books (1988), hardcover, 236 pages, ISBN 0-8092-4608-2.
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