Located in the Chinese West, Tibet is limited to north by the autonomous region of Xinjiang and the province of Qinghai, to the east by the province of Sichuan, to south-east by the province of Yunnan and Burma, to the south by India, Bhutan and Nepal, and in the west by India. Tibet covers a total surface area of 1.222.000 km2 and there are + 13.000.000 inhabitants.
Chinese
Tibet or
Xizang, is one of the five autonomous regions of China.
It’s in the middle of Asia and the three-quarters of the land are situated at more than 3.500 meters of altitude, which makes it the highest area of the world, hence its nickname: the
roof of the world.
Its capital city is
Lhasa which is located more or less at the south-east of Tibet.
The majority of the Tibetan population live at between 1200m and 5100m of altitude.
The climate of the north of Tibet is cold and dry.
Strong winds blow most of the time.
There are rather often brutal falls of temperature at night.
The climate of the south of Tibet is softened in the high Eastern valleys (
Mekong,
Yangzi Jiang) and in the south (high valley of
Brahmaputra, Lhasa).
The average temperature is -1C° in January and 17C° in July.
The countries bordering Tibet are: China, India, Nepal, Bhutan as well as Mongolia. It is also bordered of high mountain chains:
Kunlun, the
Himalaya, the
Sichuan Alps.
Tibet abounds in natural resources, particularly in the
ores: great reserves of gold, copper, tin, oil, gas, etc...
