[Chin. shee-zahng] 
[ti-bet] | 1. | Also, Thibet. Also called Sitsang, Xizang. Official name, Tibet Autonomous Region. an administrative division of China, N of the Himalayas: prior to 1950 a theocracy under the Dalai Lama; the highest country in the world, average elevation ab. 16,000 ft. (4877 m). 1,250,000; 471,660 sq. mi. (1,221,599 sq. km). Capital: Lhasa. |
| 2. | Plateau of. Also called Tibetan Highlands, Roof of the World. a vast plateau in S central Asia bounded by the Tarim and Qaidam basin deserts to the N and the Himalayan, Karakoram, and Pamir mountain ranges to the S and W: highest plateau in the world, averaging ab. 15,000 ft. (4570 m). ab. 850,000 sq. mi. (2,200,000 sq. km). |
| Xi·zang (shē'dzäng') An autonomous region of China in the southwest part of the country north and west of the Himalaya Mountains. Controlled by China since 1720, it became an autonomous province in 1951 and was formally proclaimed an autonomous region in 1965. Xizang is a center of Buddhism, but many Buddhists have fled since the 1950s to escape religious persecution. Lhasa is the capital. Population: 2,610,000. |
Region in southwestern China, bordered by Burma to the southeast; India, Bhutan, and Nepal to the south; India to the west; and Chinese provinces to the north and east. Located in the Himalayas.
Note: The Dalai Lama, religious and civil leader of Tibet, was forced into exile in 1959, when the Chinese annexed the country.
