Tibetan

族About this people

The Tibetan people inhabit the vast Tibetan Plateau, the highest-altitude inhabited region on Earth, at elevations generally above 4,000 metres. Their homeland spans the Tibet Autonomous Region and large parts of Qinghai (the Amdo region), western Sichuan (Kham), and smaller areas of Gansu and Yunnan. The total Tibetan-classified population in China is approximately seven million people.

The Tibetan language belongs to the Bodish sub-group of the Tibeto-Burman branch of Sino-Tibetan. Classical Tibetan, used in religious and literary texts, was codified in the 7th century CE when King Songtsen Gampo is credited with commissioning a script adapted from Indian models. The script is still used for religious texts, signage, and formal writing, and Standard Tibetan is taught in schools throughout Tibetan areas.

Tibetan Buddhism, introduced from India and Central Asia beginning in the 7th century and consolidated in the 11th–13th centuries, profoundly shaped Tibetan civilisation. Monasteries served as centres of education, philosophy, medicine, art, and administration. Thangka painting (sacred scrolls on cloth), sand mandala construction, elaborate ritual music with long horns (dungchen) and oboes (gyaling), and butter sculpture are among the major art forms. The annual Shoton (Yoghurt) Festival at Drepung Monastery near Lhasa, where an enormous thangka is unfurled at dawn, is one of Tibet's most visually striking events.

Pastoral nomadism — herding yaks, sheep, and horses across high alpine meadows — remains important in many areas, supplemented by barley farming at lower elevations. Yak butter, tsampa (roasted barley flour), and butter tea (bo cha) are dietary staples.