TIBET

Cuando los y las tibetanas se refieren a "Tíbet" están hablando de la entidad que comprende las tres provincias de U-Tsang, Kham y Amdo. Las dos provincias tibetanas de Amdo y Kham ahora están en gran medida incorporadas en las provincias chinas de Qinghai y Sichuan. El territorio tradicional de Tíbet representa una cuarta parte de la masa continental de la República Popular de China.

Cuando China habla sobre "Tíbet", se refiere sólo a la Región Autónoma del Tíbet (TAR), una región administrativa creada por la ocupación china en 1965.

fuente: www.tibet.net

Extensión: El tamaño total del Tíbet (las tres provincias tradicionales) es de 2,5 millones de Km2 Capital: Lhasa	Altitud media: 4.000 metros sobre el nivel del mar Temperatura media:  Enero: 14ºC; Julio: -5ºC
Población: Hay alrededor de 6 millones de tibetano/as, de los cuales aproximadamente 2,7 millones viven en la Región Autónoma y el resto en las áreas tibetanas fuera de la TAR. El número de habitantes china/os mayoritariamente de etnia Han en esta zona, según el Gobierno Tibetano en el exilio, es de alrededor de 7,5 millones. Además, aproximadamente 120.000 tibetano/as viven en el exilio.	Provincias: U-Tsang, Kham y Amdo
	Situación jurídica: Ocupado
	Idioma: Tibetano. El idioma oficial en Tíbet tras la ocupación es el chino mandarín
Gastronomía tradicional: Tsampa y té tibetano	Religión Mayoritaria: Budismo tibetano. Otras religiones: Bon, el Islam, y el Cristianismo.
Recursos naturales: Litio, Uranio, Hierro, Cromo, Oro, gas natural, plantas medicinales…	Fauna autóctona: Antílope tibetano, yac salvaje, oveja azul, la gacela tibetana, el panda gigante, el panda rojo, el mono dorado.
Economía: La comunidad Tibetana se dedica fundamentalmente al sector agrícola y ganadero. La comunidad china en cambio, ocupa los cargos públicos y puestos de funcionarios en el gobierno; y se ha adueñado del comercio y el sector servicios.	Ríos principales: En Tíbet nacen varios de los principales ríos del continente asiático: Yarlung Tsangpo, que se convierte en Brahmaputra en India Machu, convertido en río Amarillo en China Drichu (Yangtse en China) Senge Khabab, convertido en Indo en India Phungchu (Arun en India) Gyalmo Ngulchu, que se convierte en Salween en Birmania; y Dzachu, conocido como Mekong en Tailandia, Vietnam, Camboya, Laos
Países limítrofes: India, Nepal, Bután, Birmania East Turkestan y China

 

students for a free Tibet

Dear Mike,

Early this morning, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake followed by a number of powerful aftershocks struck Kyegundo in Kham, eastern Tibet. Media sources have reported nearly 600 people killed and more than 10,000 injured. Tibetans with contacts in the area have heard the death toll may be as high as 4,000.

All of us at Students for a Free Tibet send our heartfelt condolences to the families who have lost loved ones in the earthquake. Our thoughts and prayers are with those in Kyegundo and the surrounding area. We will continue to post updates on SFT's facebook page and twitter.

How you can help:

1) Donate to organizations working in the region to help support emergency relief efforts:

• Tibetan Village Project: http://www.tibetanvillageproject.org/ (Note: you can also donate via Causes at: http://www.causes.com/causes/472609)
• Tibet Relief Fund: http://www.tibetrelieffund.co.uk/
• Machik: http://www.machik.org/index.php
• Tibet Foundation: http://www.tibet-foundation.org/news/urgent_emergency_appeal_-_kyekudo_yushu_earthquake/

2) Help spread the word. The media is reporting that this awful tragedy occurred in western China. Please help educate everyone that the earthquake struck in Tibet, not China.

• Change your Facebook status and tweet: Quake in Tibet. Please help. Donate here: http://tibetanvillageproject.org/ (Please RT);
• Read and share a moving blog post about the earthquake with reactions from Tibetans in Tibet on High Peaks Pure Earth;
• Read and share the statement on the earthquake issued by the five leading Tibetan exile organizations in Dharamsala, India (including SFT India);
• Write to the editor of your local newspaper and ask that he/she correctly cite the location of the earthquake as Tibet (Kyegundo, Kham province, eastern Tibet).

Fears over potential dam burst: The BBC has reported that a massive dam at the headwaters of three rivers in the area has been damaged and that people have fled to the mountains in fear that the dam might burst. A crack in the dam wall has reportedly prompted Chinese officials to drain the reservoir. The Chinese government has plans to build over a dozen more dams in this earthquake prone area. Read more on the Tibetan Plateau blog: http://tibetanplateau.blogspot.com/2010/02/dams-on-upper-reaches-of-yangtze-mekong.html

Also, according to media reports 85% of the buildings in the town have collapsed and the Red Cross is reporting that 70% of schools have been destroyed. The area is home to Tibetan nomads and farmers who have traditionally lived on the grasslands of the plateau. A Newsweek blog post from today documents the Chinese government's massive push to forcibly settle Tibetan nomads into concrete housing blocks like the kind we see lining the streets of Kyegundo. China plans to settle all the nomads in eastern Tibet within five years.

For updates and ways to take action, keep checking the SFT blog: http://blog.studentsforafreetibet.org

With hope,

Tendor, TenDolkar, Mary Kate, Schuyler, Kate and all of us here at SFT HQ

Read more:

His Holiness the Dalai Lama sends his condolences to the earthquake victims: http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/520-his-holiness-offers-his-condolences-to-the-victims-of-the-earthquake-in-kyigudo

Statement by U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/pressreleases?id=1629

World News Blog (The sensitivity behind the latest Chinese earthquake): http://blogs.channel4.com/snowblog/2010/04/14/the-sensitivity-behind-the-latest-chinese-earthquake/

BBC (China earthquake kills hundreds in Qinghai): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8619593.stm

NPR (Earthquake In China Kills 400; Thousands Injured): http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125930694

Free Tibet (UK based Tibet Support Group): http://www.freetibet.org/newsmedia/earthquake-eastern-tibet

New York Times (Strong Quake Kills Hundreds in Western China): http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/world/asia/15quake.html