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						Claimed by Tibetan exile groups.
						Tibetan areas designated by PRC.
						Tibet Autonomous Region (actual control).
						Claimed by India as part of Aksai Chin.
						Claimed by the PRC as South Tibet part of TAR.
						Other historically culturally-Tibetan areas.

South Tibet is a geographical region encompassing a mountainous area of the Himalayas, controlled by Qing Dynasty of China since 1793, claimed by both the Republic of China since 1912 and the People's Republic of China since 1949 but not administered as a sub-administration of the Tibet Autonomous Region. After the Sino-Indian War, it roughly corresponds to the presently Indian-administered state of Arunachal Pradesh that is disputed by and claimed by People's Republic of China.

Naming Dispute

Someone doubt South Tibet was a name fabricated by wikipedia editors,in fact many books refer this name

Geography

South Tibet refers to the valley formed by the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra) river in the south of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It stretches 1200 kilometres from Mainling in the east to Saga (Tibetan: sa dga’ rdzong ས་དགའ་རྫོང་; Chinese: Sàgā Xiàn 萨嘎县) in the west, and some 300 kilometres from the Himalaya range in the south to the Gangdisê (Kangrinboqê) and Nyainqêntanglha massifs in the north. The bottom of the valley ascends from an altitude of 2800 metres in the east to 4500 metres in the west. The Gangdisê and Nyainqêntanglha mountain ranges (sometimes referred to as "Trans-Himalaya") separate South Tibet from North Tibet (Chinese: Zàngběi 藏北).

South Tibet comprises of the administrative divisions Xigazê, Lhasa, Shannan and Nyingchi. In the south-east, part of South Tibet is claimed by China but actually controlled by India. China views these areas as parts of the counties Mêdog and Zayü in Nyingchi, parts of Cona and the south of Lhünzê in Shannan. This is the area south of the McMahon Line, which is not recognised by China as an international border. The disputed territory roughly corresponds to what India refers to as Arunachal Pradesh.

Difference between South Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh

The South Tibet is relatively smaller than the Indian controlled Arunachal Pradesh.

Connection with Tibet

South Tibet means Zangnan (藏南) in Chinese. Historically, the area had close relationship with Tibetan people and Tibetan culture, e.g. the religious Leader of the whole Tibetan district, the sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso was born in Tawang.

This region then came under the loose control of Tibet and Bhutan, especially in the Northern areas. The remaining parts of the state, especially those bordering Myanmar, came under the control of the Ahom and the Assamese until the annexation of India by the British in 1858.

Demographics

Most of the people living in South Tibet are either of Tibetan or Thai-Burmese origin (see the demographics of Arunachal Pradesh for more detail). Another 35% of the population are immigrants, including 30,000 Bangladeshi and Chakma expatriates, and immigrants from other parts of India, notably Assam and Nagaland.

See also

• Arunachal Pradesh
• Tibet

References

• Satellite Map of Zangnan Template:Zh icon
• Introduction to the geography and political problem in Zangnan Template:Zh icon
• The map of Zangnan occupied by India Template:En icon
• North East Zone Cultural Centre (Used as information reference to all related articleson tribal groups of Arunachal Pradesh)
• Urgelling Monastery

Notes

1. Yang Qinye, Zheng Du: Tibetan Geography (China Interncontinental Press 2004), ISBN 7-5085-0665-0, p. 30f.;
   Zheng Du, Zhang Qingsong, Wu Shaohong: Mountain Geoecology and Sustainable Development of the Tibetan Plateau (Kluwer 2000), ISBN 0-7923-6688-3, p. 312;
   Zàngnán 藏南 (South Tibet) territorial definition on a website of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences Template:Zh icon;
   China's Tibet - Facts and Figures: Topography (New Star Publishers / China Tibet Information Center);
   South Tibet Valley (China Tibet Information Center).
2. China-India Border: Eastern Sector (tripway.com.cn);
   Màixiàn yǐnán wèixīngtú 麦线以南卫星图 Satellite Map of the areas south of the McMahon Line (Chinese National Geography) Template:Zh icon.

External Links

South Tibet found in Google Book

• Disputed territories in Asia
• Tibet
• Geography of Tibet