Tibet Autonomous Region - China

Tibet (Chinese: 西藏; pinyin: Xī Zàng) is a plateau region in Asia, north of the Himalayas. It is home to the indigenous Tibetan people, and to some other ethnic groups such as Monpas and Lhobas, and is inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people. Tibet is the highest region on earth, with an average elevation of 4,900 metres (16,000 ft). It is sometimes referred to as the roof of the world.
During Tibet's history, it has existed as a region of separate sovereign areas, a single independent entity and as a vassal under Chinese suzerainty or sovereignty. Tibet was first unified under King Songtsän Gampo in the 7th century. At various times from the 1640s until the 1950s, a government nominally headed by the Dalai Lamas, a line of spiritual political leaders, ruled a large portion of the Tibetan region. During some of this period, the Tibetan administration was subordinate to the Qing Dynasty.
In 1913 the 13th Dalai Lama expelled Qing's representatives and troops from what is now the Tibet Autonomous Region. While the expulsion was seen as an assertion of Tibetan autonomy, Tibet's proclaimed independence was not accepted by the government of China, nor did Tibet receive foreign diplomatic recognition and in 1945 China's sovereignty over Tibet was not questioned by the United Nations.
Following a decisive invasion and battle at Qamdo in 1950, the Communist Party of China gained control of the region of Kham to the West of the Upper Yangtze River. The next year the 14th Dalai Lama and his government signed the Seventeen Point Agreement.[citation needed] In 1959, after a failed uprising in the region, he together with a group of Tibetan leaders and followers fled to India and set up the Government of Tibet in Exile in Dharamshala. Beijing and the Government-in-exile disagree over when Tibet became a part of China, and whether the incorporation into China of Tibet is legitimate according to international law. Since what constitutes Tibet is a matter of much debate (see map, right), neither its size nor population are simple matters of fact, due to various entities claiming differing areas as part of "Tibet". The modern Standard Tibetan endonym (or autonym) Bod means "Tibet" or "Tibetan Plateau", although it originally meant the central region "Ü-Tsang". The standard pronunciation of Bod, [pʰø̀ʔ], is transcribed Bhö or Pö (Tibetan Pinyin: Poi). Some scholars believe the first written reference to Bod "Tibet" was the ancient "Bautai" people recorded in the (ca. 1st century) Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and (ca. 2nd century) Geographia.
The two Standard Mandarin exonyms for "Tibet" are classical Tǔbō 土蕃 or Tǔfān 吐蕃 and modern Xīzàng 西藏 (which now specifies the "Tibet Autonomous Region"). Tubo or Tufan "ancient name for Tibet" was first transliterated into Chinese characters as 土番 in the 7th-century (Li Tai) and as 吐蕃 in the 10th-century (Book of Tang describing 608–609 emissaries from Tibetan King Namri Songtsen to Emperor Yang of Sui). In the Middle Chinese spoken during that period, Tǔbō or Tǔfān are reconstructed (by Bernhard Karlgren) as T'uopuâ and T'uop'i̭wɐn. Xizang 西藏 was coined during the Qing Dynasty period of the Jiaqing Emperor (r. 1796–1820). The People's Republic of China government equates Xīzàng with the Xīzàng Zìzhìqū 西藏自治区 "Tibet Autonomous Region".
The English word Tibet or Thibet dates back to the 18th century. While historical linguists generally agree that "Tibet" names in European languages are loanwords from Arabic طيبة، توبات Tibat or Tobatt, they disagree over the original etymology. Many sources propose Tibetan Stod-bod (pronounced tö-bhöt)[needs IPA] "Upper Tibet", some suggest Turkic Töbäd "The Heights" (plural of töbän), and a few favor Chinese Tǔbō or Tǔfān. Whatever the precise origin of the word, according to Alexandra David-Néel the Tibetans do not use it. "They call their country Pöd yul and themselves Pöd pas."