TIBET, a dependency of the Chinese Empire, in central Asia, between China and India; area about 463,200 square miles; pop. about 2,000,000. The native name is Bod or Bodyul. Tibet is en closed by the Kuenlun and the Himalaya Mountains. These claims run E. from a mountain knot at the S. extremity of the Pamir highland, and continue to diverge from each other till they reach the meridian of Lhassa, when they draw slightly nearer to the E. and S. E., where Tibet is bounded by ranges which sepa rate it from China and Indo-China.
Topography.—Tibet is the loftiest re gion of such extent on the globe. Its table-lands vary in height from 17,000 to 10,000 feet. It has been estimated that their average height is that of the sum mit of Mont Blanc. The table-lands are loftiest in the W. and N., whence they slope gradually to the S. and E. Bon valot certified to the existence of vol canoes. The lowest lands in Tibet are the grooves in which the Indus runs W. and the Sanpo E. to the bends where they turn to the S., cross the Himalayas, and descend into India. The mountain girdle which surrounds Tibet has made it an obstacle across which conquerors from Mongolia could not enter India without making a long detour. Another conse quence of these barriers has been that Tibet has remained to the present day the region of the globe least known to geographers.
Provinces.—Tibet is divided into provinces equal in extent to European states. There are (1) Chaidam (Tsai dam), a name sometimes given to the country between the Nanling and Alten tagh chains and the Kuenlun. It includes the Koko-Nur lake and the Chaidam marsh, and its cold and scanty pastures are frequented by nomads, among whom is the Tibetan race known as the Tan guts. (2) Katchi, also described as the great N. plain, a lofty region of steppes very little known, but crossed by a road from Kiria, in Turkestan, and leading to the gold fields of Thok-Jalung, one of the hihest inhabited spots on the globe. (3) East Nari, including Khorsum and Dokthol, an elevated Himalyan country in which the Indus and Sanpo take their rise. It is a country of pastures with
a few cultivated tracts. In it is the Lake Manasarowar, surface 15,000 feet high, a sheet of water sacred alike to Tibetans and Hindus. (4) West Nari, or Little Tibet, consisting of Ladakh and Balti, now dependencies of Kashmir (Indian empire). (5) Yu-tsang, composed of the provinces of Yu and Tsang. It includes the valley of the Sanpo between the meridians of 87° and 92°, the most pop ulous and important part of Tibet. The Sanpo becomes navigable at Janglache —elevation 13,600 feet. Yu-tsang is trav ersed by a well-frequented road from E. to W. The capital of Yu is Lhassa; that of Shigatze. (6) Kham, the province drained by the upper courses of the great rivers of China, and Indo China, which run in deep valleys, making it difficult to cross the country. Two great roads traverse Kham, connecting Lhassa with Darchiendo (Ta-chien-lu), emporium of Chinese trade with Tibet.
Climate and Agriculture.—Tibet lies in the latitudes of Delhi, Cairo, Algiers, and Naples, but its inland position and elevation give it a cold, dry, and ex treme climate. On the table-lands at an elevation of 14,000 feet the thermometer in May sinks to 7° F. below zero, and over the whole country an arctic winter prevails for five or six months. Owing to the dryness of the air, it loses its con ductivity, and the inhabitants, dressed in sheepskins, give out long electric sparks on approaching conducting substances. Flesh exposed to the air does not putre fy, but dries and can be reduced to powder. There is a very short but ex cessively hot summer, more especially in the valleys of the Indus and Sanpo, where the high temperature is more op pressive to Europeans than that of the Indian plains. The N. and W. table lands are without trees. They abound in steppes, in which pasture herds of wild animals—yaks, horses, asses, goats, antelopes, etc. The pastures of the S.