- This is about the capital city of Tibet. For other meanings of Lhasa, see Lhasa (computing) or Lhasa de Sela.
Lhasa is located in the Lhasa Valley of Tibet. Lhasa (pop. 200,000 but growing rapidly); Tibetan: ལྷ་ས, Traditional Chinese: 拉薩, Simplified Chinese: 拉萨, Hanyu Pinyin: Lāsà), sometimes called Llasa, is the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, and is the traditional capital of Tibet.
Lhasa means "Place of the Gods". Its altitude is approximately 3,650 meters (12,000 ft) above sea level.
The majority of the population is now Han Chinese.
In the first half of the 20th century several western explorers made celebrated journeys to the city, including Francis Younghusband, Alexandra David-Néel and Heinrich Harrer.
The Potala Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site; other important buildings are the Jokhang, the Norbulingka, Drepung monastery and Sera monastery.
A 1,080-km (670-mile) Qinghai-Tibet Railroad to Lhasa is currently under construction.
References
- Das, Sarat Chandra. 1902. Lhasa and Central Tibet. Reprint: Mehra Offset Press, Delhi. 1988.
Three monks chanting in Lhasa, 1993 |
