Editing Tibet Autonomous Region (section)

== Geography ==
{{Main|Geography of Tibet}}{{See also|Southwestern China}}
The Tibet Autonomous Region is located on the [[Tibetan Plateau]], the highest region on Earth. In northern Tibet elevations reach an average of over {{convert|4572|m|ft}}. [[Mount Everest]] is located on Tibet's border with [[Nepal]].

China's provincial-level areas of [[Xinjiang]], [[Qinghai]] and [[Sichuan]] lie to the north, northeast and east, respectively, of the Tibet AR. There is also a short border with [[Yunnan|Yunnan Province]] to the southeast.  The countries to the south and southwest are [[Myanmar]], [[India]], [[Bhutan]], and [[Nepal]]. China claims [[Arunachal Pradesh]] administered by India as part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It also claims some areas adjoining the Chumbi Valley that are recognised as Bhutan's territory, and some areas of eastern [[Ladakh]] claimed by India. India and China agreed to respect the [[Line of Actual Control]] in a bilateral agreement signed on [[Border Peace and Tranquility Agreement, 1993|7 September 1993]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas {{!}} UN Peacemaker |url=https://peacemaker.un.org/chinaindia-borderagreement93 |access-date=2022-12-01 |publisher=United Nations |language=en}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=December 2022}}

[[File:Everest North Face toward Base Camp Tibet Luca Galuzzi 2006 edit 1.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Mount Everest]]]]

Physically, the Tibet AR may be divided into two parts: the lakes region in the west and north-west and the river region, which spreads out on three sides of the former on the east, south and west. Both regions receive limited amounts of rainfall as they lie in the [[rain shadow]] of the [[Himalayas]]; however, the region names are useful in contrasting their [[hydrology|hydrological]] structures, and also in contrasting their different cultural uses: [[nomad]]ic in the lake region and [[agriculture|agricultural]] in the river region.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.tew.org/geography/t2000.agricultural.html |title = Tibet: Agricultural Regions |access-date = 6 August 2007 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070824153940/http://www.tew.org/geography/t2000.agricultural.html |archive-date = 24 August 2007 }}</ref> On the south the Tibet AR is bounded by the Himalayas, and on the north by a broad mountain system. The system at no point narrows to a single range; generally there are three or four across its breadth. As a whole the system forms the watershed between rivers flowing to the Indian Ocean — the [[Indus River|Indus]], [[Brahmaputra River|Brahmaputra]] and [[Salween River|Salween]] and its tributaries — and the streams flowing into the undrained salt lakes to the north.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

The lake region extends from the [[Pangong Tso|Pangong Tso Lake]] in [[Ladakh]], [[Lake Rakshastal]], [[Yamdrok Lake]] and [[Lake Manasarovar]] near the source of the [[Indus River]], to the sources of the [[Salween]], the [[Mekong]] and the [[Yangtze River|Yangtze]]. Other lakes include [[Dagze Co]], [[Namtso]], and [[Pagsum Co]]. The lake region is a wind-swept Alpine grassland. This region is called the [[Chang Tang]] (Byang sang) or 'Northern Plateau' by the people of Tibet. It is {{convert|1100|km|-1|abbr=on}} broad and covers an area about equal to that of France. Due to its great distance from the ocean it is extremely arid and possesses no river outlet. The mountain ranges are spread out, rounded, disconnected, and separated by relatively flat valleys.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

The Tibet AR is dotted over with large and small lakes, generally salt or [[alkaline]], and intersected by streams. Due to the presence of [[discontinuous permafrost]] over the Chang Tang, the soil is boggy and covered with tussocks of grass, thus resembling the Siberian [[tundra]]. Salt and fresh-water lakes are intermingled. The lakes are generally without outlet, or have only a small [[effluent]]. The deposits consist of [[Sodium carbonate|soda]], [[potash]], [[borax]] and common [[salt]]. The lake region is noted for a vast number of [[hot spring]]s, which are widely distributed between the Himalaya and 34° N, but are most numerous to the west of Tengri Nor (north-west of Lhasa). So intense is the cold in this part of Tibet that these springs are sometimes represented by columns of ice, the nearly boiling water having frozen in the act of ejection.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

The river region is characterized by fertile mountain valleys and includes the [[Yarlung Tsangpo River (Tibet)|Yarlung Tsangpo River]] (the upper courses of the [[Brahmaputra]]) and its major tributary, the [[Nyang River]], the [[Salween]], the [[Yangtze]], the [[Mekong]], and the [[Yellow River]]. The [[Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon]], formed by a horseshoe bend in the river where it flows around [[Namcha Barwa]], is the deepest and possibly longest canyon in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.china.org.cn/english/MATERIAL/185555.htm |title = The World's Biggest Canyon |publisher = china.org |access-date = 29 June 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071012120238/http://china.org.cn/english/MATERIAL/185555.htm |archive-date = 12 October 2007 |url-status = live }}</ref> Among the mountains there are many narrow valleys. The valleys of [[Lhasa (prefecture-level city)|Lhasa]], [[Xigazê]], [[Gyantse]] and the Brahmaputra are free from permafrost, covered with good soil and groves of trees, well irrigated, and richly cultivated.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

The [[South Tibet Valley]] is formed by the Yarlung Tsangpo River during its middle reaches, where it travels from west to east. The valley is approximately {{convert|1200|km|-1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|300|km|-1|abbr=on}} wide. The valley descends from {{convert|4500|m|-1|abbr=on}} above sea level to {{convert|2800|m|-1|abbr=on}}. The mountains on either side of the valley are usually around {{convert|5000|m|-1|abbr=on}} high.<ref>{{cite book |title = Tibetan Geography |pages = 30–31 |publisher = China Intercontinental Press |isbn = 978-7-5085-0665-4 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4q_XoMACOxkC&q=%22South+Tibet+Valley%22&pg=PA30 |last1 = Yang |first1 = Qinye |last2 = Zheng |first2=Du |year=2004}}</ref><ref>Zheng Du, Zhang Qingsong, Wu Shaohong: ''Mountain Geoecology and Sustainable Development of the Tibetan Plateau'' (Kluwer 2000), {{ISBN|0-7923-6688-3}}, p. 312;</ref> Lakes here include [[Lake Paiku]] and [[Lake Puma Yumco]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}