Tibetan Bod Chinese Xizang or Hsi-tsang
Autonomous region (pop., 2002 est.: 2,670,000), western China.
It is bordered by India (including the Kashmir region), Nepal , Bhutan , and Myanmar , the provinces of Yunnan , Sichuan , and Qinghai , and Xinjiang autonomous region. It has an area of 471,700 sq mi (1,221,600 sq km), and its capital is Lhasa . Before the 1950s it was a unique entity, with its own Buddhist culture and religion, that sought isolation from the rest of the world. Situated on a plateau averaging 16,000 ft (4,900 m) above sea level, it is the highest region in the world. Its surrounding mountain ranges include the Kunlun Mountains and the Himalayas ; Mount Manchu dynasty in the 18th century. After the 1911–12 Chinese revolution it gained a measure of autonomy. The Chinese People's Liberation Army entered Tibet in 1950, and Chinese authority was subsequently established over the region. The 14th {{link=Dalai Lama">Dalai Lama , Bstan-'dzin-rgya-mtsho, led an abortive rebellion in 1959, after which he fled to India and set up a government-in-exile. The Tibet Autonomous Region was established in 1965. Many of Tibet's cultural treasures were destroyed or badly damaged during the Cultural Revolution , but restoration work has been underway since then.