西藏(Tibet)
藏文作Bod
中文作西藏（Xizang、Hsi-tsang）
西藏先前乃是国家，如今为自治区，位於中国西部，人口数约为2,400,000人（1996）。西藏首府拉萨。在1950年代之前，西藏以其佛教文化和宗教而自成一独特的整体，并试图孤离於世界的其他部分。西藏位於一座平均高於海平面16,000英尺（4,900公尺）的高原上，是世界上最高的地域。西藏周围的山脉包括崑仑山和喜马拉雅山脉；埃佛勒斯峰则高耸於边界，与尼泊尔相邻。西藏於七世纪到八世纪间以强大的佛教王国而兴起。它在十三世纪由蒙古所统治；十八世纪则由满族王朝入主。1911年至1912年中国革命以後，西藏在英国的影响下独立。中国共产党於1950年入侵并占领西藏，并於1959年严厉镇压反抗中国的叛乱。1965年，西藏在名义上成为共产中国里的自治区。它的佛教文化在中国文化大革命期间几乎陷於毁灭。从1970年代晚期以降，实施了部分宗教和经济改革，但独立运动从1980年代以後渐趋增长。西藏的精神领袖达赖喇嘛，於1959年在印度成立流亡政府，并持续尝试为西藏独立凝聚世界的舆论。
English version：
Tibet
Former country, now autonomous region (pop., 1996 est: 2,400,000), western China. The capital is Lhasa. Before the 1950s it was a unique entity with its own Buddhist culture and religion that sought isolation from the rest of the world. Situated on a plateau averaging 16,000 ft (4,900 m) above sea level, it is the highest region in the world. Its surrounding mountain ranges include the Kunlun Mtns. and the Himalayas; Mount Everest rises on its border with Nepal. Tibet emerged as a powerful Buddhist kingdom in the 7th-8th cent AD. It came under the Mongols in the 13th century and under the Manchu dynasty in the 18th century. After the 1911-12 Chinese revolution, it became independent under British influence. The Communist Chinese invaded and occupied the region in 1950 and harshly suppressed an anti-Chinese rebellion in 1959. In 1965 it was made a nominally autonomous region within Communist China. Its Buddhist culture was nearly destroyed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Some religious and economic reforms have occurred since the late 1970s, but independence movements have increased since the late 1980s. Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, set up a government-in-exile in India in 1959 and continued his attempt to rally world opinion for Tibetan independence.
