English

Proper noun

Tibet

1. A plateau region in Central Asia, where the Tibetan people traditionally live, encompassing what is now Tibet Autonomous Region (also called Xizang), most of Qinghai, the western half of Sichuan, a small part of Yunnan and a small part of Gansu in the Peoples Republic of China, and also the country of Bhutan, and the Indian regions of Sikkim and Ladakh.
2. A independent kingdom formerly existed in Central Asia where Tibet Autonomous region is.
3. A common shorthand name for Tibet Autonomous Region, previously mostly coterminous with the independent portion of Tibet until 1950.

Usage notes

In Tibetan, བོད (Bod) properly refers to the entire plateau region that is translated to English as Tibet or Tibet Plateau, of which Tibet Autonomous Region (Hanzi: 西藏自治区, Pinyin: Xizang Zizhiqu) only forms one part. In international media, Tibet is often used as the shorthand name for Tibet Autonomous Region entity. In modern Chinese of the People's Republic of China, 西藏 Xizang refers to Tibet Autonomous Region (including P.R.C.-claimed Arunachal Pradesh in India), but is named after Tibetan དབུས་གཙང (Dbus-gtsang or Ü-Tsang), one of the traditional provinces of Tibet that includes the capital Lhasa. Today in the complex politics surrounding Tibet, the use of Tibet for the entire plateau can be offensive to Chinese people particularly in the People's Republic of China, while the use of Tibet exclusively for Tibet Autonomous Region can be offensive to Tibetan people. Additionally, when the term Tibet Plateau is used consistently instead of Tibet to refer to བོད (Bod), it can also be considered insensitive to Tibetan people.