Everything about The Tibetan Plateau totally explained
The
Tibetan Plateau, also known as the
Qinghai-Tibetan (Qingzang) Plateau is a vast, elevated
plateau in
Central Asia covering most of the
Tibet Autonomous Region and
Qinghai Province in the
People's Republic of China and
Ladakh in
Kashmir. It occupies an area of around 1,000 by 2,500 kilometers, and has an average elevation of over 4,500 meters. Sometimes called "the roof of the world," it's the highest and biggest
plateau, with an area of 2.5 million square kilometers (about four times the size of
Texas or
France).
The Tibetan Plateau is surrounded by towering mountain ranges. It is bordered to the northwest by the
Kunlun Range which separates it from the
Tarim Basin, and to the northeast by the
Qilian Range which separates the plateau from the
Gobi Desert. Near the south the plateau is transected by the
Yarlung Tsangpo River valley which flows along the base of the
Himalayas, and by the vast
Indo-Gangetic Plain. To the east and southeast the plateau gives way to the forested gorge and ridge geography of the mountainous headwaters of the
Salween,
Mekong, and
Yangtze rivers in western
Sichuan and southwest Qinghai. In the west it's embraced by the curve of the rugged
Karakoram range of northern
Kashmir.
Description
The plateau is a high-altitude arid
steppe interspersed with mountain ranges and large brackish lakes. Annual precipitation ranges from 100 mm to 300 mm and falls mainly as
hailstorms. The southern and eastern edges of the steppe have grasslands which can sustainably support populations of
nomadic herdsmen, although
frost occurs for six months of the year. Proceeding to the north and northwest, the plateau becomes progressively higher, colder and drier, until reaching the remote Changtang region in the northwestern part of the plateau. Here the average altitude exceeds 5,000 meters (16,500 feet) and year-round temperatures average −4 °C, dipping to −40 °C in winter. As a result of this extremely inhospitable environment, the Changtang region (together with the adjoining Kekexili region) is the least populated region in Asia, and the third least populated area in the world after
Antarctica and northern
Greenland.
For extensive parts of the plateau,
permafrost occurs.
Nomads
One of the greatest advances in human culture is the development of nomadic
pastoralism, the adaptation by nomadic people to survival on the world's
grassland by raising
livestock rather than
crops which are unsuitable to the terrain.
Nomads currently surviving on the Tibetan Plateau and in the
Himalayas are the remainders of nomadic practices historically once widespread in
Asia and
Africa.
Gallery
Image:TibetanPlateau.jpg|Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province and Sichuan Province of China lie on the Tibetan Plateau.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tibetan Plateau'.
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