Editing Tibet Autonomous Region (section)

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Religion in Tibet}}

{{Bar box
|float = right
|title = Religion in Tibet (2012 estimates)<ref name="IRFR2012">[https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/208434.pdf Internazional Religious Freedom Report 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328164846/https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/208434.pdf |date=28 March 2017 }}  by the US government. p. 20: «''Most ethnic Tibetans practice Tibetan Buddhism, although a sizeable minority practices Bon, an indigenous religion, and very small minorities practice Islam, Catholicism, or Protestantism.  Some scholars estimate that there are as many as 400,000 Bon followers across the Tibetan Plateau.  Scholars also estimate that there are up to 5,000 ethnic Tibetan Muslims and 700 ethnic Tibetan Catholics in the TAR.''»</ref>
|bars =
{{Bar percent|[[Tibetan Buddhism]]|Yellow|78.5}}
{{Bar percent|[[Bon]]|SlateBlue|12.5}}
{{Bar percent|[[Chinese folk religion]]|FireBrick|8.58}}
{{Bar percent|[[Islam]]<ref name="2010-Islam">Min Junqing. ''The Present Situation and Characteristics of Contemporary Islam in China''. JISMOR, 8. [https://doors.doshisha.ac.jp/duar/repository/ir/18185/r002000080004.pdf 2010 Islam by province, page 29] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427140204/https://doors.doshisha.ac.jp/duar/repository/ir/18185/r002000080004.pdf |date=27 April 2017 }}. Data from: Yang Zongde, ''Study on Current Muslim Population in China'', Jinan Muslim, 2, 2010.</ref>|Green|0.4}}
{{Bar percent|[[Christianity]]|DodgerBlue|0.02}}
}}
[[File:Tibet-6048 - Largest Sitting Maitreya Buddha.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Maitreya]] Buddha statue of [[Tashilhunpo Monastery]] in [[Shigatse]]]]

The main religion in Tibet has been [[Buddhism]] since its introduction in the 8th century AD. Before the arrival of Buddhism, the main religion among Tibetans was an indigenous [[shamanism|shamanic]] and [[animism|animistic]] religion, [[Bon]], which now comprises a sizeable minority and influenced the formation of [[Tibetan Buddhism]].

According to estimates from the International Religious Freedom Report of 2012, most Tibetans (who comprise 91% of the population of the Tibet Autonomous Region) are adherents of Tibetan Buddhism, while a minority of 400,000 people are followers the native Bon or folk religions which share the image of [[Confucius]] ([[Tibetic languages|Tibetan]]: ''Kongtse Trulgyi Gyalpo'') with [[Chinese folk religion]], though in a different light.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Te-Ming TSENG |author2=Shen-Yu LIN |url=http://www.eastasia.ntu.edu.tw/chinese/data/4-2/4-2-7/4-2-7.pdf |trans-title=The Image of Confucius in Tibetan Culture |script-title=zh:《臺灣東亞文明研究學刊》第4卷第2期(總第8期) |date=December 2007 |pages=169–207 |website=[[National Taiwan University]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304104518/http://www.eastasia.ntu.edu.tw/chinese/data/4-2/4-2-7/4-2-7.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016  }}</ref><ref>Shenyu Lin. ''[http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ret/pdf/ret_12_07.pdf The Tibetan Image of Confucius] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913230941/http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ret/pdf/ret_12_07.pdf |date=13 September 2017 }}''. Revue d'Etudes Tibétaines.</ref> According to some reports, the government of China has been promoting the Bon religion, linking it with [[Confucianism]].<ref>China-Tibet Online: [http://eng.tibet.cn/2010zj/xw/201411/t20141105_2088487.html Confucius ruled as a "divine king" in Tibet]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. 4 November 2014</ref>

Most of the [[Han Chinese]] who reside in Tibet practice their native [[Chinese folk religion]] ({{zh|labels=no |c=神道 |p=shén dào |l=Way of the Gods}}). There is a Guandi Temple of Lhasa ({{lang|zh-hans|拉萨关帝庙}}) where the Chinese god of war [[Guan Yu|Guandi]] is identified with the cross-ethnic Chinese, Tibetan, Mongol and Manchu deity [[Gesar]]. The temple is built according to both Chinese and Tibetan architecture. It was first erected in 1792 under the [[Qing dynasty]] and renovated around 2013 after decades of disrepair.<ref>World Guangong Culture: [http://www.guangong.hk/English/wenhua/std.asp?ID=2145 Lhasa, Tibet: Guandi temple was inaugurated] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090522/http://www.guangong.hk/English/wenhua/std.asp?ID=2145 |date=4 March 2016 }}.</ref><ref>China-Tibet Online: [http://eng.tibet.cn/2010wh/xw/201303/t20130313_1869432.html Tibet's largest Guandi Temple gets repaired]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. 13 March 2013</ref>

Built or rebuilt between 2014 and 2015 is the Guandi Temple of Qomolangma ([[Mount Everest]]), on Ganggar Mount, in [[Tingri County]].<ref>World Guangong Culture: [http://www.guangong.hk/English/wenhua/std.asp?ID=2454 Dingri, Tibet: Cornerstone Laying Ceremony being Grandly Held for the Reconstruction of Qomolangma Guandi Temple] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107214706/http://www.guangong.hk/English/wenhua/std.asp?ID=2454 |date=7 November 2017 }}.</ref><ref>World Guangong Culture: [http://www.guangong.hk/English/wenhua/std.asp?ID=2456 Wuhan, China: Yang Song Meets Cui Yujing to Discuss Qomolangma Guandi Temple] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094252/http://www.guangong.hk/English/wenhua/std.asp?ID=2456 |date=4 March 2016 }}.</ref>

There are four mosques in the Tibet Autonomous Region with approximately 4,000 to 5,000 [[Islam|Muslim]] adherents,<ref name="IRFR2012" /> although a 2010 Chinese survey found a higher proportion of 0.4%.<ref name="2010-Islam" /> There is [[Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Yerkalo|a Catholic church]] with 700 parishioners, which is located in the traditionally [[Catholic]] community of Yanjing in the east of the region.<ref name="IRFR2012" />

The American advocacy group [[Freedom House]] ranked the Tibet Autonomous Region as "not free" in their 2025 annual world report, giving the region a rating of -2 out of 40 for political rights and 2 out of 60 for civil liberties. This gives the region a total score of 0 out of 100, positioning it as one of the least free places on earth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tibet: Freedom in the World 2025 Country Report |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/tibet/freedom-world/2025 |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Freedom House |language=en}}</ref>