COUNTRY OVERVIEW:

Where is Tibet located?

Tibet is a plateau area in the Central Asia, the world’s highest area. With an average altitude of 4,9 km (16,000 ft.), it is the highest region on the planet and is typically referred to as the “Roof of the World.”


Population: 2.62 million (2000 population census)

Government Type: Tibet is an Autonomous Region of China, this means it is Communist.
Education and Literacy Rates: Over the past five years, 8.22 billion yuan in government funding has been invested on education to improve school facilities and raise literacy rates and the quality of education. The special annual educational subsidies for the children of Tibetan farmers and herders  increased from 353 yuan in 1985 to an average of 1,450 yuan in 2007. The literacy rate in Tibet is 13% among women, 35% among men.
Languages: Tibetan is the main language of Tibet, especially in the rural areas.
Religion: Most of the Tibetan population observes Tibetan Buddhism, which has evolved into four divisions: Ngingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelugpa sect. Religion is very important to the Tibetans with everything being centered around it. 
Birth Rate: The birth rate in the year 2002 stood at 23.7 per thousand.
Death Rate: The death rate in the year 2002 stood at 6.1% 
Life Expectancy: The life expectancy in Tibet has almost doubled in the past half century, from an average of 35.5 years to 67 years.
Ethnic Groups: Tibetans are the dominant inhabitants of Tibet (92.2% of the local population). There are also other ethnic groups, including Moinba, Lhoba, Hui, Deng and Sherpa.
Legal System: Various-level governments of Tibet sent special personnel to publicize and lecture law knowledge in villages, and disseminate education materials.
Unemployment rate: The registered unemployment rate at the end of 2004 was 4.3%.
Poverty Population: The number of people under the poverty line in Tibet has plummeted from 480,000 in 1994 to 70,000, according to officials attending the meeting on aiding the poor and development in session in Lhasa. 

Communications:
Railways

The first phase of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was completed in the early 1980s and is now carrying both cargo and passengers.

Highways

Today, a 22,000-kilometer highway network radiating from Lhasa consisting of 15 main highways and 315 subsidiary roads has been formed. Most important are the Qinghai-Tibet Highway runs 2,122 kilometers from Xining to Lhasa. 

Airports

The Lhasa Airport has scheduled fights to Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, and Kathmandu, capital of Nepal. The distance by air from Lhasa to Chengdu is more than 1,100 km.