To put it simply, Tibet sits in the heart of Asia, right between India and China. Some consider it to be the far Eastern edge of Central Asia, while others classify it as East Asia.
In this wonderfully clear map from Michael Buckley, we see the vast, high-altitude Tibetan Plateau, and the surrounding regions: India, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, China and (not labeled) to the north, Xinjiang (East Turkestan).
HOW TO VISIT TIBET
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We’re Lobsang Wangdu and Yolanda O’Bannon, a Tibetan-American couple, and your Tibet travel experts. We’ll show you exactly how to visit Tibet — get your visa and permits, find a reliable agency, choose either the “sky” train or a flight, and avoid getting altitude sickness in the breathtaking heart of the Himalayas.
You will find all the Tibet travel info you need in our How to Visit Tibet: An Insider’s Guide.
The Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau is a geographically spectacular area, surrounded by range upon range of extreme high-altitude mountains which provide the sources for many of Asia’s great rivers, including the Indus, Sutlej, Yarlung Tsampo (which becomes the Brahmaputra in India), Salween, Mekong, Yangtse, and Yellow rivers.
If you’re interested in travel to Tibet, you will need to get a permit through an agency, since no independent travel is allowed to Tibet. You want to be sure to choose a Tibetan-owned agency, which hires Tibetan guides only. The simplest way to do this is ask us to connect you to a reliable Tibetan-owned travel agent to plan a great trip for you that also supports the local Tibetan economy and culture.
Most travelers are interested in the most prominent of the mountain ranges bordering Tibet is the Himalayan Range — including Mt. Everest, the world’s highest peak — to the south. But there are many other impressive ranges as well.
The Kunlun Range to the north separates the Tibetan Plateau from the deserts of East Turkistan, and the Qilian Range to the northeast forms the border with the Hexi Corridor and the Gobi Desert.
To the east are the Hengduan Mountains and to the west the Karakorum range.
A Bird’s Eye View of the Tibetan Plateau
In the NASA image above, you can see the mountain ranges marking the borders of the Tibetan Plateau quite clearly.
The dark brown scoop in the center of the image is the Tibetan Plateau, with the Himalayas marking a clear, curving boundary with green India on the south, extending up toward the Karakorum Range to the west.
To the north, we see where the Tibetan Plateau separates from the golden-colored oval Tarim Basin, and it’s huge Taklamakan Desert, both of East Turkestan (Xinjiang).
Continuing along the line demarking the Tibetan Plateau from East Turkestan’s desert to the northeast, we can trace the dark curving edge of the Qilian Range, and see the lighter brown shades of the Gobi extending up to the northeast.
There is a large dark dot in the northeastern section of the Tibetan Plateau that is Lake Kokonor. Continuing down, south along the darker edge of the Plateau, we find the Hengduan Mountains roughly circling back toward the Himalayas to complete the circle.*
Current Tibet Maps
Most current maps show Tibet as part of China, since China occupied Tibet in 1959, so you will usually see maps like the map of China below, which does not show Tibet as a separate country.
In this context, you will see that Tibet is called Xizang, or the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), which is considerably smaller than the Tibetan Plateau region. The historically and ethnically Tibetan areas outside the area called Xizang are included, in such maps, in the areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu.
A map of the historical and ethnic areas of Tibet would look more like this:
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Sources
In addition to the Tibetan map images and sites linked to from above:
Koushik Chatterjee says
1950 China forcefully invaded and occupied Tibet. Tibet is a independent state. In UNO the world should raise voice for it and also for the liberty of Hong Kong, Laos etc.
Koushik Chatterjee says
I think Tibet is an independent and free country. In about 1950 China forcefully occupied it and therefrom is claiming that it is under the China. In UNO the world should raise voice for liberty of Tibet and also Hong Kong, Laos etc.
Vivek Shukla says
Hi,
Its so beautiful, I think its better to be left as a separate country, to run there own government according to themselves, which will definitely let them hold the bountifulness and calmness as it was , as it is and for sure it will be.
Hope All the best for the country and country Men
Thanks.
Love you Tibet
Uday Gupta says
Hope Tibet will be enjoy his independence very soon as independent country as before. China occupy illegally. very unfortunate.
Rory says
Agree with you 100%.
When you see Indian Tibet, such as Ledakh or Lahaul and Spiti, you see how beautiful the people are and can see their culture in all its glory.
A democratic, free Tibet.
The only place I’ve ever been where there is no poverty or inequality, where the women are at least the equals of men, where everyone is smiling all the time.
It really is paradise on earth. So much better than here in the UK.
I pray to God that we do see a free, independent Tibet very soon.
Peace and respect.
Dr. K. Phani Raja says
I pray God for a free and independent Tibet
Jai Tibet…Jai Jai Tibet
yowangdu says
Thank you Dr. Raja.
Bholu says
Hello, Please don’t show “Aksai Chin” as part of China. It’s disputed land and earlier it belonged to India, so it makes more sense to show it within Indian Territory. Thanks fot the information though.
yowangdu says
Hi Bholu, Thanks for making us aware of this. We don’t have the capacity to make our own maps yet, but if we find one with Aksai Chin noted independently or under India, we would share.
Thanks!
Sathyashrayan says
Useful Information. I am a Indian. I know the difficulty of getting a TAR permit for Indian passport holders. my doubt. The special permission for a Indian passport holders is only for TAR region but not for whole tibet Plateau. To visit yunnan,chengudu, qinghai, gansu does not attracts TAR permit. Just Chinese visa is enough. Am I correct?
ashish says
Hello ,
I am a traveler from india. I have a special love for Tibet and Tibetans. I ve been in Ladakh fr a while and have stayed at monestries like Lamayuru , Thiksey , also went to Takht sang(Tiger Nest) Bhutan once. I feel getting more and more attracted by this culture as i am growing older and understanding life. Having stayed with tibetan yak men and came to knew about how they survive easily. It was always a great experience .once my Bike was about to fall from Changla pass top , due to a heavy snowstorm. a 80 year old old man who stayed with his wife and daughter gave me shelter for that night and saved my life(about 5000 meters above sea level) . I won’t ever forget that.
Sharma
yowangdu says
Thanks so much for this moving story, Ashish 🙂 Acts of kindness = good karma.
Rory says
That’s so good to hear. I went to Leh on my very first trip to India in 1994-5 and it’s honestly the most beautiful place and people I’ve ever encountered on any of my travels.
How did you get to Ledakh, btw? I came from Kashmir, but when I left to go to Manali in HP, we had to spend 19 hrs on the bus going from Leh to Keylong. Over two passes at 5,500m.
And from Keylong to Manali, it was just up and down over the Rhotang pass. Me and several of the other gora tourists did it on the roof of the bus.
The best journey of my life.
So glad you are getting attracted to the culture.
When you combine Tibetan culture with Indian freedoms such as democracy, free speech, the rule of law etc, then you have the best culture on the planet and proof of how Tibet would be were it not occupied by the Chinese dictatorship.
Respect.
Paddy says
Thanks for accepting me, I recently purchased a pencil sketch map of Tibet, it’s very detailed with lots of images of important characters around the edges, really delighted with it. Looking forward to more posts from you.Nameste.
yowangdu says
Hi Paddy, thanks for this kind note. We’re happy to have you here!
shajal acharya says
Helpful information to know about tibet
yowangdu says
Thanks, Shajal!
Diana says
I stronly beleive in the fact that Tibetian nation’s light will succeed, and will get peace at the end.
It is the time the light-workers to hold each other’s hand strongly to raise the vibration of the world .
Togehther we can stop the wars, and make peace on the planet Earth.
I congratulate for you/your team for making this beautiful site, and for showing the Tibetian culture.
It is not the religion what is imporatnt as there are so much religions. I’m mostly interested in the heart, mind opening of religions, and i feel that tibetian religion is one of the highest one in this aspect.
So good work carry on.
Namaste
Jon says
China even though they boast how old their culture is they act in such childish and oppressive ways. Bullying Tibetans and denying everything. The British went through their own stage of wanting to take everything and thinking it was perfectly ok to do that and now we’ve got off balance letting our country being over run by foreigners but at least we do not treat others like the Chinese government do now. One can only hope they will grow up and realise the Tibetan people are a treasure and should be left alone and helped in the way they want not the way the Chinese government thinks is right.
sunil says
hi, is tibet a free country or a part of china? Please tell us all history of tibet
yowangdu says
Hi Sunil, On this site we are focused on Tibetan culture rather than the very serious political issues concerning Tibet. For the definitive answer to your question, we suggest you read His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s autobiography, called Freedom in Exile, and perhaps Dragon in the Land of Snows, a History of Modern Tibet, by Tsering Shakya.
All the best to you!
Poem says
I believe China took over Tibet back in 1949. They try to erase Tibet on the map.
san says
Does Tibet fall only in between India and china? you can not put it simply as you stated above. i think you need to gain some more knowledge to write it.
Yolanda says
Thanks for your feedback, San. We do feel we have more than sufficient knowledge on this topic.
Suvendu Dey says
Really helpful information. Thank you.
Yolanda says
You are very welcome, Suvendu! Thanks for writing 🙂
Harjit Singh says
One day you will get it back from China. My Best Wishes!
jana fortier says
Hi, can you tell us the scale of each of the maps? Thanks!
yowangdu says
Hi Jana,
Sorry, we didn’t make these maps. The credit for each one is on the post. You would need to go to the makers. All the best to you.
tenzin says
tibet is a country or a area ?
yowangdu says
Hi Tenzin,
From our perspective, it is both a country and a cultural and geographic area. Best.
Susan Gee Rumsey says
When you see how many important waterways originate in Tibet, it is easy to understand why another country would want it for their own. Thank you for this most interesting post that explains so much.
yowangdu says
Thanks for writing in, Susan! It is remarkable how critical how many major rivers have their source in Tibet, making it politically critical to multiple countries.