Tibet: Quick Facts
Created | Updated Feb 24, 2008
h2g2 Friends of Tibet
- The average elevation of Tibet is 14,000 ft.
- Lhasa is the capital of Tibet.
- Tibet was invaded by the Chinese People's Liberation Army in 1950, after Mao defeated the Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek and assumed power in 1949.
- 1.2 million Tibetans are estimated to have died as a result of the Chinese invasion and occupation of their country.
- Before the invasion, Tibet covered an area the size of Western Europe or Alaska and Texas combined.
- Tibet is comprised of three provinces: Amdo (NE Tibet), U-Tsang (Central Tibet), and Kham (SE Tibet).
- The so-called 'Tibet Autonomous Region' is less than half of pre-invasion Tibet, the other half having been absorbed by neighbouring Chinese provinces.
- Tibetans speak their own distinct language, which is a member of the Tibeto-Burmese language family.
- The Dalai Lama, the political and spiritual leader of Tibet, was forced into exile in 1959.
- The home of the Dalai Lama and the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile is Dharamsala, India.
- The Tibetan Government-in-Exile is the only democratically elected body representing the opinions of any Tibetan people.
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama was awarded the nobel Prize for Peace in 1989.
- The non-violent nature of the Tibetan freedom struggle and the Dalai Lama's pleas to discuss the future of Tibet in an open and constructive manner continue to be largely ignored by the international community.
