Based on the high Tibetan Plateau in the northern Himalayan range, Tibet is a self-governing region of China. It shares Mount Everest with Nepal and is known as the “Roof of the World” because of its lofty summits. The hilltop Potala Palace, where the Dalai Lama once spent the winter, and Tibet’s most revered shrine, Jokhang Temple, with its golden statue of the young Buddha, is located in the nation’s capital, Lhasa.
The three largest lakes in Tibet are Lakes Siling, Nam, and Dangre Yong (Tibetan: Tangra Yum), all situated centrally northwest of Lhasa. South of Lhasa, there are two other big lakes: Yamzho Yun (Yangzho Yong) and Puma Yung (Pumo). Located in western Tibet, near the Nepali border, are the revered Buddhist and Hindu lakes of Lake Mapam and Lake La’nga.
Although Tibetans describe their country as the “Land of Snows,” Gangs-ljongs or Kha-ba-can, the weather is typically dry. Low humidity makes fog virtually nonexistent.
While it is colder at the upper elevations, it is milder and more pleasant in the southeast and lower valleys.
Trees and other bigger plants are absent from the wind-swept Qiangtang.
Common plant species include willows, poplars, various conifers, teak, rhododendrons, oaks, birches, elms, bamboo, sugarcane, babul trees, thorn trees, tea bushes, gro-ba (small white trees that grow primarily in hilly regions), ‘om-bu (a bushy tree that grows near the water with red flowers).
Tibet is home to more than 100 animal species, 40 reptile species, and 50 amphibian species. Tigers, leopards, bears, wild boars, goats, stone martens (a type of cat), langurs (long-tailed monkeys), lynx, jackals, wild buffaloes, pha-ra (little members of the jackal family), and gsas are among the mammals that live in the forest areas (spotted cats that are smaller than leopards). There are brown bears, bighorn sheep, mountain antelope, musk deer, wild asses, wild yaks, snakes, scorpions, lizards, and dre-tse in the high meadows and dry bush areas (members of the wolf family). Fishes of different species, frogs, crabs, otters, and turtles, are among the aquatic life.