Each answer names its source. Where sources disagree, the answer says so instead of choosing one.
Where is Tibet, and how large is it?
The Tibet Autonomous Region lies in southwest China on the southwestern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, between about 26°50′N and 36°53′N and between 78°25′E and 99°06′E. It borders Xinjiang, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan within China, and Myanmar, India, Bhutan and Nepal beyond it, along a land border of more than 4,000 km. The regional government gives its area as 1.2028 million square kilometres, and the national land survey platform gives about 1.23 million.
Source: Tibet Autonomous Region government; Ministry of Natural Resources
How is Tibet divided, and where is the capital?
The region has seven prefecture-level divisions: six cities and one prefecture. Lhasa is the regional capital, and its government sits in Chengguan District. The other cities are Shigatse (Sangzhuzi District), Qamdo (Karuo District), Nyingchi (Bayi District), Shannan (Naidong District) and Nagqu (Seni District). Ngari remains a prefecture, with its administrative office at Shiquanhe in Gar County.
Source: Ministry of Civil Affairs; Tibet Autonomous Region government
How high are Lhasa and the other main towns?
Heights depend on the measuring point and the agency. The Lhasa government gives about 3,650 m for the urban area, the Lhasa meteorological station 3,650.1 m and the China Meteorological Administration 3,657 m. Shigatse is about 3,860 m. Nyingchi's Bayi District is 2,995 m by the regional tourism department and about 3,040 m by the Shannan government. Qamdo's urban area is 3,250 m, against a district average of about 3,500 m. Nagqu averages above 4,500 m, and Shiquanhe in Ngari is above 4,200 m.
Source: Lhasa, Shigatse, Nyingchi, Qamdo and Nagqu governments; Tibet culture and tourism department; China Meteorological Administration
Where is Mount Everest, and how high is it?
Mount Everest, called Qomolangma in Chinese, is the main peak of the Himalayas and stands on the border of China and Nepal, with its north side in Tingri County, Shigatse, Tibet. Three official measurements are on record: 8,848.13 m in 1975, 8,844.43 m to the rock surface beneath the snow in 2005, and 8,848.86 m to the snow surface, announced jointly by China and Nepal on 8 December 2020.
Source: Ministry of Natural Resources; People's Daily
What is Tibetan Buddhism, and what are its schools?
Tibetan Buddhism is the form of Buddhism that took shape on the Tibetan Plateau. Buddhism reached the Tubo kingdom in the 7th century, was interrupted in the 9th century, and revived from the 10th and 11th centuries, when the schools formed. The Sakya school dates from the founding of Sakya Monastery in 1073. The Kagyu school is represented by Tsurphu near Lhasa and the Nyingma school by Mindrolling in Shannan. The Gelug school took shape around Ganden Monastery, founded in 1409. Samye Monastery, begun in 762, belongs to the earlier period.
Source: China Tibetology Research Center; Palace Museum; National People's Congress
What do lama, rinpoche, tulku, khenpo and geshe mean?
Lama is a Tibetan word for a spiritual teacher, from the Sanskrit guru, and is now a general respectful title for Tibetan Buddhist monks. Rinpoche means precious one and addresses a reincarnated master or a respected teacher. A tulku, called huofo in Chinese, is a monk recognised as the reincarnation of an earlier master. A khenpo is an abbot or senior teacher of a monastery, and a geshe holds a degree in Buddhist philosophy awarded in Gelug monasteries after study and debate.
Source: China Tibet Online; National Ethnic Culture Resource Database
When was the Potala Palace built?
The Potala Palace on Red Mountain in Lhasa was originally built in the 7th century, and the regional tourism department gives 635. It was rebuilt from 1645, with the White Palace finished in 1648 or 1649 and the Red Palace completed in 1693 or 1694. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage site in 1994 (707-001), then added the Jokhang Temple in 2000 and Norbulingka in 2001 as extensions.
Source: Potala Palace; Tibet culture and tourism department; UNESCO
What are the Jokhang Temple and the Barkhor?
The Jokhang Temple stands in the centre of old Lhasa. Official regional sources date its founding to 647, and one Tibetan television source gives 653. It enshrines the Jowo Shakyamuni statue, the twelve-year-old image said to have been brought from Chang'an by Princess Wencheng in 641. The Barkhor, about a kilometre round, circles the temple as a pilgrim route, with an inner and an outer circuit. UNESCO added the Jokhang to the Potala Palace listing in 2000.
Source: Tibet Autonomous Region foreign affairs office; China Tibet Online; UNESCO
Which are the six great Gelug monasteries?
They are Ganden, Drepung, Sera, Tashilhunpo, Kumbum and Labrang. Ganden near Lhasa was founded in 1409 under Tsongkhapa, Drepung in 1416 and Sera in 1419, both by his disciples, and Tashilhunpo in Shigatse in 1447. Kumbum Monastery in Qinghai began with a stupa in 1379 or with monastery buildings in 1560, and one source gives 1377. Labrang Monastery in Gansu was founded in 1709.
Source: China Tibetology Research Center; Shigatse, Xiahe and Qinghai governments
What are kora, mani stones, prayer flags and prayer wheels?
Kora is circling a temple, stupa or sacred site clockwise, or prostrating along the route, and Bon followers circle anticlockwise. Mani piles are heaps of stones carved with the six-syllable mantra and scriptures, set beside roads, at village edges and near sacred mountains and lakes. Prayer flags are five-coloured cloths printed with scripture and hung at passes and on rooftops. Prayer wheels hold scripture inside and are turned clockwise, and butter lamps are offered before images.
Source: China Tibet Online; Garze Prefecture government; Zogang County government
What is a sky burial?
Sky burial, known in Tibetan as bya-gtor, is a traditional Tibetan funeral practice. After monks recite scriptures, the body is taken to a burial site and offered to vultures, which Tibetans regard as sacred birds. In Tibetan Buddhist belief it is a last act of giving that returns the body to nature. It is practised in Tibet and in Tibetan communities in Qinghai, Sichuan and Gansu. No burial sites are listed on this page.
Source: National People's Congress; China Central Television; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Shannan government
How high is Mount Kailash, and why is it sacred?
Mount Kailash, the main peak of the Gangdise range in Burang County, Ngari, is given as 6,656 m by the Ngari prefecture and regional tourism sources and as 6,714 m by China Tibet Online. Tibetan Buddhists call it Kang Rinpoche, the precious snow mountain, and see it as the home of Demchok. The Bon tradition calls it the nine-storey Yungdrung mountain, where its founder Tonpa Shenrab is said to have descended. Hindus call it Kailasa, the home of Shiva, and Jain tradition links it to Ashtapada. The outer circuit is given as 52 km and as 53 km.
Source: Ngari Prefecture government; Tibet culture and tourism department; China Tibet Online; People's Daily
How large and deep is Lake Manasarovar?
Lake Manasarovar in Burang County, Ngari, lies at 4,588 m according to the county and prefecture governments and CCTV, and covers 412 square kilometres. Its greatest depth is given as 76.1 m, 77 m, 70 m or 81.8 m, depending on the source. The Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research gives a surface height of 4,583 m. Its name is glossed as the ever unconquered jade lake.
Source: Burang County and Ngari Prefecture governments; CCTV; Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research
How large are Namtso and Yamdrok Lake?
Namtso lies between Damxung County in Lhasa and Bangoin County in Nagqu at 4,718 m, with an area given as about 1,920 square kilometres by the regional tourism department, 1,980 by the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research and 1,940 by People's Weekly. Yamdrok Lake in Nagarze County, Shannan, lies at 4,441 m and covers 638 square kilometres by one account and 649 by another. Local government and official media name these two lakes and Manasarovar as Tibet's three great sacred lakes.
Source: Tibet culture and tourism department; Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research; Shannan government
How long is the Yarlung Tsangpo, and how deep is its canyon?
The Yarlung Tsangpo runs about 2,057 km within China from the Jema Yangzong glacier on the northern Himalayan slope. It leaves the country near Bashika in Medog County and becomes the Brahmaputra in India. The Grand Canyon runs 504.6 km from Daduka in Milin to Bashika, with a greatest depth of 6,009 m and an average of 2,268 m, by the national surveying bureau's figures. Namcha Barwa is given as 7,782 m on the 1956 Yellow Sea datum and 7,787 m on the EGM96 datum.
Source: Tibet Meteorological Service; Medog County government; Nyingchi government; Xinhua
Which World Heritage sites relate to Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism?
The Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa (707) is the World Heritage site in Tibet, with three components: the Potala Palace (1994), the Jokhang Temple (2000) and Norbulingka (2001). Related sites elsewhere are the Mountain Resort and its Outlying Temples, Chengde (703, 1994, 611.2 ha), Mount Wutai (1279, 2009), made of the Taihuai area and Foguang Temple, and Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan (1083, 2003), which includes the Meili Snow Mountains and Kawagebo. Qinghai Hoh Xil (1540, 2017) is a natural site and names no Tibetan Buddhist sites.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Which UNESCO intangible heritage entries are Tibetan, and what is a thangka?
UNESCO's Representative List includes four Chinese entries tied to Tibetan culture: Tibetan opera (2009), the Gesar epic tradition (2009), Regong arts (2009) and Lum medicinal bathing of Sowa Rigpa (2018). A thangka is a scroll painting on cloth, made with mineral pigments, gold and silver. Thangka joined China's national intangible heritage list in 2006 and is not a separate UNESCO listing. Regong thangka comes mainly from Tongren, in the Longwu River valley of Huangnan.
Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage; Qinghai provincial government; Qinghai culture and tourism department
How does the Tibetan calendar work?
The Tibetan calendar is a lunisolar calendar. The system now in use counts from 1027, with months set by the moon and leap months added. Losar, the Tibetan New Year, falls on day 1 of month 1. The Shoton Festival starts on day 1 of month 7 in regional government accounts, and on day 30 of month 6 in the account of the Tibetology Research Center. Saga Dawa is the fourth month, with day 15 as its peak. This page gives the rules but not the dates.
Source: Tibet Autonomous Region foreign affairs office; China Tibetology Research Center; Tibet culture and tourism department
Where is Tibetan Buddhism found outside Tibet?
Yonghe Temple, the Lama Temple, in Beijing began as a residence built in 1694, became a palace in 1725 and was converted into a Tibetan Buddhist temple of the Gelug school in 1744. The Mountain Resort in Chengde was built between 1703 and 1792 as a Qing summer residence, with twelve imperial temples around it; eight of them, run directly by the Lifan Yuan, are known as the Eight Outer Temples. Mount Wutai in Shanxi holds both Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist temples, and the Shanxi cultural heritage bureau dates Xiantong Temple there to AD 68.
Source: Beijing municipal government; UNESCO; Chengde cultural heritage bureau; Shanxi cultural heritage bureau
What are U-Tsang, Amdo and Kham?
Tibetan areas are traditionally divided into three cultural and dialect regions. U-Tsang covers Lhasa, Shannan, Shigatse, Ngari and parts of Nagqu and Nyingchi, with Ganden, Drepung, Sera, Tashilhunpo and Sakya. Amdo covers the greater part of Qinghai, southern Gansu and northwestern Sichuan, with Kumbum and Labrang. Kham covers Garze in Sichuan, Qamdo in Tibet, Yushu in Qinghai and Diqing in Yunnan, with Qiangbalin, the Dege printing house and Ganden Sumtseling.
Source: Garze Prefecture government; Qamdo government; Introduction to Kham Studies; The Paper
