什麼是西藏

藏文作Bod

中文作西藏（Xizang、Hsi-tsang）

西藏先前乃是國家，如今為自治區，位於中國西部，人口數約為2,400,000人（1996）。西藏首府拉薩。在1950年代之前，西藏以其佛教文化和宗教而自成一獨特的整體，並試圖孤離於世界的其他部分。西藏位於一座平均高於海平面16,000英尺（4,900公尺）的高原上，是世界上最高的地域。西藏周圍的山脈包括崑崙山和喜馬拉雅山脈；埃佛勒斯峯則高聳於邊界，與尼泊爾相鄰。西藏於七世紀到八世紀間以強大的佛教王國而興起。它在十三世紀由蒙古所統治；十八世紀則由滿族王朝入主。1911年至1912年中國革命以後，西藏在英國的影響下獨立。中國共產黨於1950年入侵併佔領西藏，並於1959年嚴厲鎮壓反抗中國的叛亂。1965年，西藏在名義上成為共產中國裏的自治區。它的佛教文化在中國文化大革命期間幾乎陷於毀滅。從1970年代晚期以降，實施了部分宗教和經濟改革，但獨立運動從1980年代以後漸趨增長。西藏的精神領袖達賴喇嘛，於1959年在印度成立流亡政府，並持續嘗試為西藏獨立凝聚世界的輿論。

Tibet

Former country, now autonomous region (pop., 1996 est: 2,400,000), western China. The 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 Mtns. and the Himalayas; Mount Everest rises on its border with Nepal. Tibet emerged as a powerful Buddhist kingdom in the 7th-8th cent AD. It came under the Mongols in the 13th century and under the Manchu dynasty in the 18th century. After the 1911-12 Chinese revolution, it became independent under British influence. The Communist Chinese invaded and occupied the region in 1950 and harshly suppressed an anti-Chinese rebellion in 1959. In 1965 it was made a nominally autonomous region within Communist China. Its Buddhist culture was nearly destroyed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Some religious and economic reforms have occurred since the late 1970s, but independence movements have increased since the late 1980s. Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, set up a government-in-exile in India in 1959 and continued his attempt to rally world opinion for Tibetan independence.