Tibet

Autonomous region (pop., 2002 est.: 2,670,000), western China. It is bordered by India (including the Kashmir region), Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar (Burma), the provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan, and Qinghai, and Xinjiang autonomous region. It has an area of 471,700 sq mi (1,221,600 sq km), and its capital is Lhasa. Before the 1950s it was a unique entity, with its own Buddhist culture and religion, that sought isolation from the rest of the world. Situated on a plateau averaging 15,000 ft (4,500 m) above sea level, it is the highest region in the world. Its surrounding mountain ranges include the Kunlun Mountains and the Himalayas; Mount Everest (Chomolungma) rises on its border with Nepal.

Tibet emerged as a powerful Buddhist kingdom in the 7th–9th century &AD;. It came under the control of the Mongols in the 13th century and the Qing (Manchu) dynasty in the 18th century. After the 1911–12 Chinese revolution, it gained a measure of autonomy. The Chinese People's Liberation Army entered Tibet in 1950 and reestablished Chinese authority. The 14th Dalai Lama, Bstan-'dzin-rgya-mtsho, led an abortive rebellion in 1959, after which he fled to India. The Tibet Autonomous Region was established in 1965. Many of Tibet's cultural treasures were destroyed or badly damaged during the Cultural Revolution, but restoration work has been under way since then.