Geography of Tibet

Tibetan mountains and plateaus are the youngest mountains in the world. They are less than 4 million years old and were created along with the creation of the Himalayas.

Geographically Tibet contains three distinct regions.

1.  The northern plateaus or Chang Tang: This is the largest natural region in Tibet in comparison to other plateaus which are relatively narrow stripes. This region covers almost the half of the Tibet’s total surface area.  Surrounded by the great Karakoram Range in the west, Nan Shah range in the northeast and by the walls of Astin Tagh in the north. Despite of its huge area a very few people live in this area because of its harsh climatic condition. Climatic condition in this region is considered as one of the worst in the globe and most of part in this region is never visited by humans.

2.  The outer plateau: this is the second main geographical region of Tibet. This is a long stripe of Tibetan land with almost all the human settlements. With Himalayas in the southern boundary, the outer plateau has milder temperature and climate and hence is richer in flora and fauna.  Cities like Lhasa lie in this region and this area have climate contradicting the general image of Tibet. It has very pleasant climate. Most of the rainfalls occur in the summer and most of the year is sunny and dry. The winters are not unbearably cold and best time to enjoy the climate of this region is from April to October.

3.  The southeastern plateau: this is very small region of the Tibet, consisting only 1/10th of Tibet’s total area. With a mild climate and sufficient rain this area is almost covered by Forest.