The Tibetan Plateau is also called thePlateau of Tibetor theQinghai-Tibet Plateau,或者亚洲的内陆高原。它是最大的and highest plateau in the world with an average elevation of around4,500meters (14,800 ft).
The Tibetan Plateau is known as "the roof of the world" and "the third pole". Most of its area is in China'sTibetandQinghaiprovinces. Here is interesting geographical, historical, cultural, and travel-related information so that you can know all about “the roof of the world”.
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Where is the Tibetan Plateau?
Definition:The Tibetan plateau could be defined as the high-altitude area3,000meters (9,800 feet) or more above sea level bounded by the Himalayas and other lesser-known mountain ranges in and around China.
Extent:With thePamirPlateau to its west and theLoessPlateau in the East, the Tibetan Plateau starts from the southern margin of the Himalayas and stretches northward to the northern edge of theKunlun Mountainsand theAltun Mountain.
Please scan the QR code to get recent information on Tibetan PlateauIt is about2,800km(1,700 miles) wide from east to west and up to 1,500 km (900 miles) across from north to south, with a total area of about 2.5 million square kilometers (1 million square miles).
Almost a quarter of the land area of China is theTibetan plateau. Most of the Plateau is inTibetand a part of it is in Qinghai. Not all of Tibet is part of the plateau though since there are lowlands in the southeast inNyingchiandShannan.
Politically:Other portions of the plateau area are inSichuanandXinjiangin China, as well as the Himalayas and Karakoram Range in Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Bhutan. In Pakistan, theboundarystarts east of the town of Rudok. Two northern districts of Nepal are considered part of this plateau region.
- Length: 2,800 km (1,730 miles) east to west
- Width:300–1,500 km (180–930 miles) north to south
- Total area: 2,500,000 square km (970,000 square miles)
Contact usif you are interested in a trip to China, Nepal, India, or Bhutan.
What is the Tibetan Plateau Unique For?
The Tibetan Plateau is known as "the roof of the world" as it's the highest and largest plateau on Earth. At elevation 3,000–5,000 meters (10,000–16,000 feet), it is the birthplace of several of the world's major rivers in South Asia and East Asia.
There are many of the world's highest lakes on the plateau, includingLake NamtsoandQinghai Lake.
The deepest and longest canyon in the world is the Yarlung TsangpoGrand Canyon, about 1½ hours fromLhasaby car. It is a river valley like a long trench cut across theTibetan Plateaujust north of the Himalayas leading down to lowlands in theNyingchiregion of Tibet and Bangladesh.
Thedeepest pointis 6,009 meters (19,714 feet) deep.It's deeper than any mountain in the US is tall!
Tibetan Plateau History
How was the Tibetan Plateau formed?
Theformationof the Tibetan Plateau is tied toHimalayan orogeny.The Tibetan Plateau has been lifted up twice by tectonic plate movements.
About 70 million years ago geologists estimate, the northward-movingIndian platecollided with the Eurasian plate.
The movement resulted in strongupliftof the then southern edge of theAsian continental mass, which led to the uplift of theTibetan plateau: from the Himalayas in the south to the Kunlun Mountainsand theHoh Xilarea in the north.
As the Indian plate continued to drift northward, it caused secondary crumpling of the Tibetan Plateau:Mt. Kailashand Mt.Nyenchen Tangulawere lifted up sharply.
Mt. Nyenchen Tangula
TheTibet regionwas separated from the ocean and became a large land inland plateau north of the Indian subcontinent.
TheTibetan Plateau's terrainwas once a vast plain with dense rivers and lakes and full of the lush jungle with a southern coastline. How different it is now!
Theformationof the Tibetan Plateau with severalupliftstages has left it high and dry, crisscrossed with mountain ranges, and mostly barren or grassy.
Still growing, the Tibetan Plateau's spread has slowed to an annualgrowthrate of7 cmwider per year. The "roof of the world" is getting wider and higher, whileMount Everestthe highest peak on earth rises with it.
Tibetan Imperial Age and Afterwards
It wasn't until the early 7th century that Songtsen Gampo (the first king of Tibet) unified the kingdoms on the Tibetan plateau and set up his capital inLhasa. His empire was known as the Tupo Kingdom.
Historians think that Tibetan Empire, centered inLhasa, eventually grew to cover a huge area. The Tibetan Empire at its greatest extent between the 780s and the 790s covered Kashmir and spanned far west ofKashgar, so it included present-day northern Pakistan and areas west of it.
In the opening years of the 9th century, the empire included the Tarim Basin ofXinjiangand the Himalayas, and it reached the provinces of甘肃andYunnan. The empire fell due to civil war in the 840s.
During the Ming Empire period (1368–1644), the Dalai Lamas began to rule theTibetans. The fifth Dalai Lama built thePotala Palacein Lhasa in 1645–9 to be the palace and fortress of the Dalai Lamas, cementing their central place in Tibetan history until the modern China era.
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Geography of the Tibetan Plateau
Rivers of the Tibetan Plateau
TheTibetan Plateauis known as thebirthplaceof many famous rivers. Its southern Himalayan mountains contain the headwaters of the Indus, Ganges, andBrahmaputrarivers, which flow southwards through the Indian subcontinent.
Several riversoriginateon Tibetan Plateau and flow eastwards and southeastwards. The eastwards flowing rivers are theYellow RiverI and theYangtze, which flows east through China to the Yellow Sea.
The southeastward flowing rivers are theMekongandSalweenin the Southeast Asian peninsula and theIrrawaddyRiver in Burma.
Lakes on the Tibetan Plateau
There are more than 1,500lakeson theTibetan Plateau, accounting for 50% of the total area of lakes in China. Among them, there are 1,091 lakes with an area of more than 1 square kilometer. That makes it the plateau containing the largest area and number of lakes.
Chaerhan Salt Lake on Tibetan Plateau
There are bothfreshwaterandsaltwaterlakes on the plateau.
In the northeast corner of the plateau,Qinghai Lakeis the largest inlandsaltwaterlake in China. It covers an area of 4,573 square kilometers (1,766 square miles). The lake is about 3,260 meters (10,700feet) above sea level.
The Chaerhan Salt Lake is the largest salt lake in China. At the same time, it is also one of the most famous interior salt lakes in the world.Lake Namtsoat an altitude of 4,718 meters (15,420 feet) is the biggest saltwater lake in Tibet.
Freshwaterlakes on the plateau includeLake Manasarovar,Lake Yamdrok, andLake Pangong Tso.
To find out more on10 Sacred Lakes of Tibet
- 17 Days Beijing, Xian, Tibet, Chengdu, Guilin, and Hong Kong Tour
- 4 Days Lhasa Highlights Comfort Tour
Animals of the Tibetan Plateau
Most of the plateau is grassland, and some of it is tundra-like in the arctic. Because the region is high and arid, there aren't a lot of big animals. Large animals include wolves, leopards, antelopes, and yaks. Large birds such as hawks, eagles, and vultures also live there.
The Population of the Tibetan Plateau
Most of the population of the plateau isethnic Tibetan, but there are also ethnicHanChinese,Mongols, and other ethnic groups. It is estimated that4.5 millionTibetans live on the plateau as well as a few hundred thousand other people.
Tibetans don't only live inTibet. They also live in several Chinese provinces west and north of Tibet such asQinghai. Tibet has apopulationof about 3 million, and Qinghai has a population of almost6 million.But many of these people don't live in plateau areas of these provinces.
There is such alow populationon the Tibetan Plateau because the climate there is not very suitable for human habitation. 80% of the terrain is “desert” (tundra and high mountains). The climate is dry and cold with a lack of oxygen.
Contact usto plan a trip to Qinghai also
- 14-Day Tibet Tour including Mt. Kailash and Lake Manasarovar
- 5 Days Lhasa Classics and Lake Yamdrok Tour
Elevation of the Tibetan Plateau
In the map below, you can see that thehighest prefecturesof the plateau in Tibet are in thenorthandwest.Lhasa Prefecturein the center is substantially lower andNyingchiis the lowest prefecture. The Himalayan Mountain chain is the southern boundary of the vast plateau.
How do Tibetans Survive High Altitudes?
Tibetan Plateau has an averagealtitudeof 4,500 meters; it is difficult for ordinary people to visit there. Oxygen is 35% to 40% below that at sea level.
More than 50% of the Tibetan Plateau'spopulationlive in areas around 3,500 meters above sea level, while the hardiest nomads can reside ataltitudesabove 4,800 meters.
Because they grow up there and through heredity, Tibetans have morenitrogen oxidein their blood than any other ethnic group. This helps them absorb oxygen more easily.
Low oxygen makes it difficult forpeople over 60and many other people to visit some parts of the plateau such asNgari(Ali Prefecture) in northeastern Tibet because thealtitude is high超过4500米(14800英尺)和facilities are primitive.
So, people who wish totravel to higher regionsof the plateau should acclimate first lower down. For example, travelers in Tibet couldfirst spend at least 3 daysat a place with relatively low altitude such as Lhasa for acclimatization before traveling to a higher altitude.
Even Lhasa itself gives almost everyone a case of mildaltitude sickness.
SeeHow to Deal with Altitude Sickness in Tibet.
Altitudes of major Tibet places of interest
The cultural and architecturalattractionsare mainly around the city ofLhasain a circle around it that includesShigatseand Gyantse (up to altitude 4,000 meters) within a 4-or-5-hour drive southwestLhasaandNagqu(altitude 4,500 meters) a 5-or-6-hour drive north of Lhasa.
See more onAltitudes of Major Tibet Destinations.
- 7 Days Tibet Tours by Train from Xining
- 8 Days Qinghai Lake, Zhangye, and Dunhuang Tour
Tibetan Plateau Climate
Theweatheron the plateau depends on the altitude:temperature decreases with an increase of altitude. It is generally dry and cold in winter, while cool and rainy in summer, sometimes with hail. The averageJulyhigh is 20°C (68°F) and theJanuarylow averages-6°C (21°F).
Why Is the Tibetan Plateau So Dry?
With its high altitudes, the air is thinner and thereforedrieron theTibetan plateau. Also, the warm andhumid monsoonair from the Indian Ocean is blocked by the Himalayan mountain chain. Thus theannual precipitationin the plateau's south islessthan 600 mm.
Meanwhile, the northern half of the plateau is evendrier,being further from the ocean. The Kunlun Mountain chain area is analpine desertwith very little rainfall — annualprecipitationaveraging less than 100 mm.
How has the Rise of the Tibetan Plateau Affected Climate?
Theupliftof the Tibetan Plateau is a big contributor to South and East Asia'smonsoonclimate.
Due to the high altitude of the Tibetan Plateau, theupper atmospherecan be heated more quickly, resulting in a greatertemperature differencebetween the continent and the Indian Ocean.
This adds to the strength of southwesterly monsoon winds, which bringabundant rainfallto southern Asia.
The Tibetan Plateau plays animportant rolein the climate of China and even Northern Asia. It is calculated that there would not be a Siberia-Mongolia high-pressure zone without the Tibetan Plateau.
The area ofLhasais at an elevation of around3,700meters (12,000 feet), and it is pleasant in thesummer.In thewinters, though, temperatures are well below freezing.
Thehigh altitudemakes it feel warmer in the sunshine. However,bad weatherfeels harsher at higher altitudes. Low pressure and higher wind speeds reduce oxygen levels and temperature.
In theNgari(Ali) region, during the daytime inAugust,the temperature is above 10 ℃ (50 ℉), but it may drop to subfreezing at night.
Contact usto checkTibet Climate.
Transport on the Tibetan Plateau
Constructingrailroadson the plateau isdifficultbecause of the rugged terrain andpermafrostin some areas. However, in 2006, a railway was built all the way toLhasafromXining.
Qinghai-Tibet railway
This was a major achievement: theQinghai-Tibet Railwayis thehighest railway in the world.Thescenery along the railwayis beautiful, stark, and almost otherworldly. Several times, the train goes above5000年meters (16,400 feet). The terrain is like few places in the world.
Tibetan travelis possible by plane or train, but at times, there are travel restrictions. Most people go to the innerTibetan Plateauvia Lhasa and aQinghai-Tibet trainor a flight.
See more onLhasa Transportation.
Contact usto check train prices etc. for theQinghai-Tibet railwayor other transport.
- 5 Days Lhasa Classics and Lake Yamdrok Tour
- 4 Days Lhasa Highlights Comfort Tour
Visiting the Tibetan Plateau with Us
If you are interested in visiting Tibet, our popular7-Day Tibet Tour by Train from Xiningtakes a Qinghai–Tibet train allowing you to relax while youacclimate to theelevation before seeing the Lhasa sights.
Having a knowledgeable local guide and interpreter is very useful and actually mandatory in Tibet. We can also arrange the mandatoryTibet Permitsas an approved operator for Tibet tours.
Recommended Tibetan Plateau tours that we can personalize:
MoreTibet tour ideas
Our tours are customizable. We are confident we can design an itinerary that's perfect for you. Just send us your ideas and questions. Inquiries are free and receive a response within 24 hours.
