Tibet

Tibet (Thibet in older spelling; Bod in Tibetan, Tübed in Mongolian) is a region of Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. Most of Tibet is in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China.

History

Geography

Tibet consists of several regions:

• Amdo (a mdo) in northeast → the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and part of Sichuan
• Kham (khams) in east → part of Sichuan, northern Yunnan and part of Qinghai
  • Western Kham → part of Tibetan Autonomous Region
• U (dbus) in center → part of Tibetan Autonomous Region
• Tsang (gtsang) in west → part of Tibetan Autonomous Region

(See also Provinces of China)

In the wide sense, Tibet also includes Bhutan, Sikkim and Ladakh[?].

Culture

The Tibetan people speak Tibetan language and a few Tibetans write the Tibetan written language.

Tibet is the traditional center of Vajrayana, a distinctive form of Buddhism. Before 1959, Tibet was a theocracy led by the Dalai Lama, who now lives in exile and is internationally seen by many people as being a spokesman for the Tibetan people.

Tibet is also home for spiritual tradition called Bön (alternative spelling: Bon).

External links

• http://www.tibet.com/ The Government of Tibet in exile (http://www.tibet.com/)
• http://www.tibet.com/glance.html Tibet at a glance (http://www.tibet.com/glance.html)
• http://neverland.net/bati/tibet/ A drawing for Tibet (http://neverland.net/bati/tibet/) (en fr)
• http://www.tibet-info.org/ Chain for change in Tibet (http://www.tibet-info.org/) (fr nl en)

Further Reading

• Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood, Orville Schell, Henry Holt, 2000, hardcover, 340 pages, ISBN 0805043810

Editing tools:

• The 1911 Encyclopaedia (http://25.1911encyclopedia.org/T/TI/TIBET.htm): Info on geography, climate, flora, people, language, literature, writing, and history. (Scroll down pass TIBESTI)