TIBET

Although a province of the People's Republic of China since 1951, Tibet is culturally a separate nation whose peoples want to regain their historical independence. For this reason, it has been one of China's most rebellious and volatile territories. The problems that most threaten violence in Tibet concern who rules the country and who lives there. The first issue revolves around the right of Tibetans to self-rule, against the right of the Chinese government to maintain what it sees as a historical sovereignty over the region. The Dalai Lama, Tibet's highest-ranking religious leader, has acknowledged that Tibetan independence is unlikely unless China breaks up, as the Soviet Union did in 1991. Meanwhile, both a Tibetan government-in-exile and many Tibetans inside Tibet want to be governed by Tibetans who speak Tibetan and appreciate local culture and values, which they claim the Chinese do not. The influx of Chinese workers and businessmen into Tibet in search of jobs and new opportunities worries many Tibetans. They are concerned about the possibility of eventually becoming a minority population in their own country, as happened in Manchuria and Inner Mongolia. The economic success and political power of the Chinese has raised the level of ethnic tension.

Tibet lies on a plateau averaging 12,000 feet above sea level.

One of the highest large political entities in the world, Tibet is sometimes referred to as the Land of Snows, the Roof of the World, or the Third Pole. Its terrain includes not only snow-covered mountains, but also glaciers, green forests, grasslands, and salt lakes. Its climate is harsh, with vast daily and seasonal temperature swings. Tibet is part of south central Asia's landlocked Tibetan Plateau, which covers an area nearly half the size of the United States. The plateau is as large as Western Europe.

The Tibetan Plateau is the source of many of Asia's major rivers. Its Mekong River flows into Myanmar and Laos; its Salween River flows into Myanmar; its Yangtze and Yellow Rivers flow into China; its Sutlej River into Pakistan; and its Indus into India. In addition to water, the plateau also has abun-

Dant exploitable natural resources, including timber, natural gas, minerals such as coal and gold, and salt.

For centuries Tibet was a buffer zone between the two most populous nations in the world—India and China. Tibet's large and thinly populated land mass has offered China space to settle some of its burgeoning population, as well as access to enormous exploitable natural resources. Since China occupied Tibet in 1950, China and India have shared the longest disputed border in the world. Moreover, since China began supplying Pakistan with nuclear weapons during the 1990's, the nuclear tension between India and Pakistan has, in effect, been tension between India and China.