Tibet: The roof of the world

Known to the world as the ‘roof of the world’, Tibet is the only one major Buddhist territory which has an entire sovereignty over the Himalayan regions. This status it has acquired due to the height at which it is located almost at 16,000 ft above the sea level. It is considered as one of the highest levels of elevation.

Demographic details:

Tibet is now a part of East Asia. Initially it was believed to be in central Asia. The Chinese media likes to refer to the part in which Tibet lies as ‘The western sections’. It has some of the highest mountains, Mount Everest being 8848 meters. This mountain shares the border with Nepal. The Tibetan plateau is home to many rivers like Yangtze, Indus, Ganges, Tsangpo (known as Brahmaputra in India) and a few others. This is why it is also referred to as the ‘Water tower’ of Asia.

The capital of Tibet is Lhasa and the currency is called Renminbi yuan. The Tibetan flag has six bands, each corresponding to the ethnic groups which formed a part of Tibet. In the Tibet autonomous region, the Tibetans are about 90% out of 3 million.

History of Tibet:

This country emerged as a unified empire around the 7^th century but soon later after that, it was divided into a variety of territories. These territories used to follow their own way of ruling. But later on the current borders that now exist were established around 18^th century. Qing dynasty which was ruling till then, collapsed in 1912 and the region declared its own independence in 1913. But it was not recognized by the Chinese republican government. There was autonomy to it till 1951, after which Tibet was invaded and then unified into the People’s Republic of China.

Religion and people: 

Tibet is predominantly Buddhist in nature, but there is also another religion by the name of Bon, which was the religion of the Tibetans before Buddhism seeped in. Apart from these two, there are Muslim and Christian minorities. People mainly speak Tibetan language. There are many other dialects spoken in Tibet, which apparently are considered to be different languages itself by the Tibetan people.

The Tibetan people are very particular about their culture and traditions. Paintings, festivals, music, architecture, cuisine and Tibetan Art are a very integral part of the culture of Tibet. The monasteries that you will get to see while on your sightseeing tour will keep you mesmerized and keep you glued to the country. You would never want to go back home once this roof of the world entices you with its beauty.