Tibetan Studies - Maps & Images of Tibet

Edited by Dr T. Matthew Ciolek

[Est.: 7 Apr 1995. Last updated: 2 Nov 2008.]

The purpose of this document is to provide central access point to online maps and graphics depicting Tibet and Tibetan culture.

The document is a part of the Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library and of the Tibetan Studies WWW Virtual Library. Please mail tmciolek@ciolek.com if you know of relevant networked resource not in this page. Conversely, please notify maintainers of this document if you feel that any of the URLs listed on this page is no longer good enough to be registered here. Your feed-back will be gratefully appreciated.

1. The Tibetan National Flag [graphics & commentaries] (www.ciolek.com, Australia)
2. Tibet in relation to the rest of the world [maps]
3. Tibet and the surrounding regions [maps]
4. Regions and Towns in Tibet [maps]
5. Historical Maps of Tibet and Qinghai [maps]
   • [Additional images of maps are available from Tibet Maps (images.google.com, US); also some useful references can be found in an archive of 1994 email exchanges in Tibet Maps - FAQ (ANU, Australia)]
6. Gazetteers, maps, and atlases of Tibet [maps]
7. Images of Tibetan Countryside [photographs]
8. Images of Tibetan People [photographs]
9. Images of Eminent Tibetans [photographs]
10. See also photographs in the section Guide to Tibetan Art (Ohio State U, US)

Tibet in relation to the rest of the world

• Tibet and the World
  [2Kb GIF file. Copyright (c) 1995 andrew--at--dorje.demon.co.uk]

Tibet and the surrounding regions

• Tibet and the Neighbours
  [6Kb GIF file. Copyright (c) 1995 andrew--at--dorje.demon.co.uk]
• Buddhism On The Silk Road (International Dunhuang Project, The British Library, UK)
  [Site contents: Buddhism in India and Central Asia; The Buddhism of the Kushana Empire; The Buddhism of Khotan [incl. a map]; Chinese Buddhism on the Silk Road]
• Tibetan Buddhism on the Silk Road [incl. a map]; Other Followers of Buddhism (The Kucheans, The Sogdians, The Uighurs, The Tanguts);
  [The site (est. Oct 2001), illustrated with detailed maps and timelines, aims at a general audience. It forms a part of the International Dunhuang Project (IDP) (idp.bl.uk). All images are from The British Library collection, or from the photographs of Aurel Stein.]

Regions and Towns in Tibet

• Tibet and its regions
  [9Kb GIF file. Copyright (c) 1995 andrew--at--dorje.demon.co.uk]

Historical maps of Tibet and Qinghai

• Eastern Tibet borders ca. 750 CE. (Tibet Environmental Watch, US)
  [Eastern extent of the Tibetan empire in the era of the Yarlung kings and the Tang Dynasty (ca. 7th - 9th c.)]
• Eastern Tibet borders ca. 1644 CE. (Tibet Environmental Watch, US)
  [Eastern extent of the Tibetan empire from the Late Yarlung Period to the Beginnings of Chinese Expansion into Eastern Tibet]
• Eastern Tibet borders ca. 1800 CE. (Tibet Environmental Watch, US)
  [The Western Extent of the Manchu Empire during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)]
• Eastern Tibet borders ca. 1940 (Tibet Environmental Watch, US)
  [Extension of China's administrative and political hegemony along traditional trade routes from Amdo and Kham towards Central Tibet (1940-1950)]
• Chinese Administrative Regions: Eastern Tibet ca. 1996 (Tibet Environmental Watch, US)
  [PRC's Administrative Control of Eastern Tibet]
• Missionary Map of Tibet (1897) (www.ciolek.com, Australia)
  [245Kb GIF, Black & White file. The map shows international boundaries, cities, settlements and major trade routes. Sourced from: Shaw, F. Becker. 1897. Missionary Map of Tibet (dotted lines indicate trade routes) / The Scandinavian Alliance Mission has also Tibetan Missionaries in Ghoom, India, in Baksadnar, Bhutan, and in Guntak, Sikkim. In: "The Siege of Tibet," The Missionary Review of the World, vol. X (n.s), February 1897, pp. 91-95 (The Map is printed opposite p. 92)]
• A Map of Tibet
  [63Kb GIF, Black & White file. Copyright (c) 1995 mvw--at--vwmaps.com]
• The historic map of Tibet prior to the Chinese invasion
  [31Kb JPEG, Black & White file. Copyright (c) 1996 info--at--tibet.com
  A Feb 1996 note by info--at--tibet.com: 'What the Chinese now call "Tibet", or Xizang in Chinese, refers exclusively to the so-called "Tibet Autonomous region" founded in 1965, consisting of UTsang (Central and South Tibet) and small part of Kham (south eastern Tibet). The major portion of Kham and Amdo (north eastern Tibet) is incorporated into the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Gansu, Quinghaiand Yunnan. The term "Tibet" here will mean the whole of Tibet including the regions of Amdo, Kham and UTsang, that is, the Cholkasum in Tibetan'.]
• Map of Tibet (and Qinghai) (Purdue U, US)
  Four un-referenced, low-resolution maps: (1) Map of present Tibet, (2) Map of Tubo Dynasty; (3) Map of Tibet in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, (4) Map of Tibetan Distribution published online by the pro-PRC Tibet Study Association (formerly America-Tibet Association), West Lafayette, IN, US.
  [A note (8 Aug 1995) by: andrew (andrew--at--dorje.demon.co.uk)
  Both maps (Map of present Tibet, Map of Tibetan Distribution) show the PRC territorial claim to the North East Frontier Area NEFA - the border zone east of Bhutan and west of Burma. This area is currently governed by India and was ceeded by Tibet to British India under the Simla Convention in 1914. As negotiations were conducted by the then Tibetan Govt. the Chinese have never recognised this boundary. On all western maps the de-facto border is shown.
  On the first map a boundary is shown called Old Provincial Boundary. This was the Chinese claim under the undratified part of the Simla Agreement and was also the de-facto border between 1912 when Chao Er Feng and his Qing Army was forced from Lhasa after the 1910 expedition, and c1918 when the same army was forced back east as far as Gandze.
  On the second map the 'Tibetan distribution' stops at Derge which is incorrect as can be seen by anyone who has been in the area roughly west of Kanding. Also there is no shading in the Yellow River bend area... an obvious error.
  However, the maps appear to have been scanned in from old books and not drawn with some particular aim in mind']
  A note from Nov 2008:These maps appear to have been removed from the Net, and they do not have their copies preserved at the Internet Archive (www. archive.org) and its Wayback Machine.
• Maps of Tibet (The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK)
  [Interactive maps of Central Tibet and Lhasa. * Maps of Tibet (Where is Tibet? Central Tibet - showing the photographers' travels, Lhasa map - an overview from Dekyi Lingka to the Barkhor); * Index of Tibetan Places (By Region, Alphabetically); * Maps of Tibet photographed by Bell (Map of Lhasa, Map of Tibet, Map of Tibet - with relief, Darjeeling to Lhasa and Reting route);]
• Maps of Tibetan Trade Routes (OWTRAD Dromographic Digital Data Archives, www.ciolek.com, Australia)
  [The collegion of digital charts includes: tmcCNm0680a.html, tmcCNm0680b.html, tmcCNm0680c.html (Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan, 680 CE-1950 CE, 'Tea and Horse' routes tmcCNm1920.html (NW China,1920 CE, major roads and caravan routes) tmcCNm1950.html, tmcCNm1950a.html (Tibet, 1900-1950 CE, trade and transportation routes)]

Gazetteers, maps, and atlases of Tibet

• THDL Gazetteer of Tibet and the Himalayas (Tibetan & Himalayan Digital Library (THDL), U. of Virginia, US).
  ["The Gazetteer is designed to provide information about all varieties of places in Tibet and the Himalayas, in past and present times - nations, provinces, counties, monasteries, villages, mountains, natural regions and more. The current 2.0 [i.e. Oct/Nov 2006 - ed.] release includes administrative units in contemporary China that have ethnic Tibetan populations, with detailed information only for the subunits of the Tibet Autonomous Region. We are now working on release 3.0 which will include details for all five provinces in China with Tibetan populations [i.e. TAR, Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu and Yunan], and all politicial districts of Nepal as well. In the subsequent phase we will begin to incorporate our extensive data on Tibetan monasteries."]
• Tibetan Townships Database (Diamond Bay Research, US)
  [Tibetan Placenames datasets have been produced by the China Historical GIS Project CHGIS for a digital gazetteer in cooperation with the Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library (U. of Virginia). The source file is available from CHGIS upon request. Coverage: PRC prefectures of Ali, Changdu (Chamdo), Lhasa, Linzhi Naqu, Rigaze (Shigaze), and Shannan. In mid 2001 the database did not provide Tibetan names, nor their long-lat coordinates.]
  See also Asia Maps & GIS Web Resources (Harvard U., US)
• The Tibet Map Institute [also operating from www.tibetmap.org address] (www.tibetmap.com, France)
  [The site, (not to be confused with the PRC-run travel site www.tibetmap.net) has as an objective the mapping of the Tibetan area using (i) Toponyms given by travellers, cartographers, etc (ii) Landsat satellite photos The aim is to give a picture of Tibet before establishment of the Chinese Administration.
  Presently [March 2003] 80 maps (including more then 7000 place-names) are available from Ngari to Kham (between 28 to 33 degree north and 79 to 99 degree east). Each A3+ map covers 1 by 1 degree of long/lat. with a scale of 1:310 000 (33x45cm). Each A3 map covers 1 by 1 degree of long/lat. with a scale of 1:360 000 (30x42cm). They are named 2788.5 in Chumbi valley. 2885 to 2898 2983 to 2998 3080 to 3098 3179 to 3198 3279 to 3298 Maps are available with different toponym characters: currents names, Wylie transliteration or Tibetan. Current names are in the Classical Tibet maps. A reduced map of central Tibet (scale=1,200,000) is also available.]
• Search Topographic Maps: Tibet (MicroGlobe LLC, US)
  [Over 120 freely downloadable ex-Soviet military topographical maps in scales 1:1M, 1:500k, 1:200k. The site publishes Russian language maps in GIF format, including:
  500k--i47-1 3.51 Mb 1:500 000 - Tibet, Ngoring Hu, Gyaring Hu, Donggi Cona
  500k--i47-2 5.32 Mb 1:500 000 - Tibet, Tangnag, Zhongxin Zhan, Rabyog
  500k--i47-3 5.32 Mb 1:500 000 - Tibet, Dainkog, Mainda, Beca
  500k--i47-4 5.14 Mb 1:500 000 - Tibet, Huang He, Namda, Xia Zanggor
  500k--i48-1 4.84 Mb 1:500 000 - Tibet, Lou-Chih, Ching-Shui-Kung, Tao-Chiang
  500k--i48-3 5.25 Mb 1:500 000 - Tibet, Huang He, Huang-Chiao-Kuan, Yu-Pa-Tu
  500k--j44-1 4.36 Mb 1:500 000 - Tibet, Kyrgyzstan, Wu-T-Ai, Xakur
  500k--j44-2 4.74 Mb 1:500 000 - Tibet, Tongguzbasti
  500k--j44-3 6.64 Mb 1:500 000 - Tibet, Karakoram, Ya-Erh-Ku-Shih-Miao, Yang-Ko-A-Li-Ko]
• A page of the web site by US Embassy in Beijing provides details of related printed publications:
• Qinghai Tibet Atlas
[Qinghai Xizang Gaoyuan Dituji], ed. By Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geography. Published 1990 by Kexue Chubanshe [Science Publishing House]. This large format, 240 page atlas of Qinghai Province and the Tibetan Autonomous Region contains 140 pages including full-color maps on the geography, topography, population distribution, residential density, nationalities distribution, locations of Tibetan cities in various historical periods, political divisions, transportation, locations of scientific stations, geology (including geological structure, earthquake history, warm spring and volcano, satellite imagery, oil and natural gas), glaciers, solar irradiation distribution, temperature map, climate map, river system, hydrology, soils, wetlands, grassland/vegetation, forests, rare birds, crops, domestic animals, solar power and wind power, agricultural regions, and regional transportation networks.
• Tibet Autonomous Region Atlas
[Xizang Zizhiqu Dituji], by the Tibet A.R. Survey Bureau, Beijing, July 1996, Zhongguo Ditu Chubanshe. Address: Baizhifang Xijie No. 3, Beijing 100054, CHINA. Administrative boundarie correct as of March 1996. This is a small format 170-page hardcover atlas. For each county a one page essay introduces population, geography, climate, mineral resources, hydrology, and road network.
• Place Names of The Tibetan Autonomous Region [Xizang Diming], ed. By Wu Zhenhua, published in 1995 by China Tibetan Studies Publishing House [Zhongguo Zangxue Chubanshe]. The book gives place names in Tibetan and Chinese, together with postal codes and a Chinese explanation of the origin of the name, down to the township and village level, also including some passes, rivers, and other special features. The book is 592 pages long, with about five entries per page, and has an index.
• Maps of Lhasa and Tibet (Amnye Machen Institute, Dharamsala, India)
• Tibet and Adjacent Areas Under Chinese Communist Occupation 1:3,200,000
  4,076 names of village, cities, monasteries, counties, prefectures and provinces, lakes, rivers, roads railways, airports and border crossing points, besides other features are clearly indicated. The map clearly reveals through colour codes how the Chinese administration has divided this whole area into various 'ethnic' groupings namely Tibetan, Chang, Mongols, Uighur, Tadjik, Kasak, Hui, Monggur (Hor) Salar, Dongxiang, Bao'an, Yi (Lolo), Miao, Nashi (Jang), Lisu, Bai, Pumi, Drung, Nu and Chinese. The outline of all the Tibetan ethnic designated areas reveals a close correspondence to the claims made by the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamshala. ISBN 81-86227-16-4 "
• Map of Lhasa City 1:12,500
  Over 590 names, located by grid and numbered references, the map provides the correct names and exact locations of all monuments, temples, monasteries, schools, hospitals, hotels, shopping centres, etc., and also the various offices of the Chinese Communist occupation administration of the 'Tibet Autonomous Region' and Lhasa city. Also included are military bases, offices and depots, and Public Security and Armed Police offices and posts. Prisons and labour camps are featured in detail. In addition to road, street, lane and place names, all the mountains surrounding Lhasa have been identified and delineated with precise contour lines.
  1995, Map 5 colours, Index (English and Tibetan) 64 pages, ISBN 81-86227-10-5

Maps of Lhasa

• Lhasa map (Tibet Heritage Fund, US)
  [A series of three maps showing the state of the entire urban area of Lhasa in 1948, 1980 and 1998. These are reproduced below. * A series of three map showing highlighting the number of pre-1948 buildings existing in the old city of Lhasa in 1948, 1985 and 1998. * A map showing The Lhasa Historic City Conservation Plan, showing 25 historic building earmkarked for preservation ]

Images of Tibetan Countryside

• Asian & Pacific Studies - Historical Photographs (RSPAS, ANU, Australia)
  [* Digital Himalaya Project (Dept of Social Anthropology, U. of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK); * Himalayan Art Resources (HAR); - Photographic Archives (Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, New York, NY, US); * Historical Photos of Central Asia - Images of Life in Central Asia (Thomas Cole Antique Rugs and Textiles, San Francisco, CA, US); * Photos of Tibet in the early 1940's (Art History, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, US); * Thomas H. Hahn Docu-Images - Tibetan lands and people (hahn.zenfolio.com, US); * The Tibet Album: British Photography in Central Tibet 1920-1950 (The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK); * Vanished Kingdoms: The Wulsin Photographs of Tibet, China, and Mongolia, 1921-1925 (Burke Museum, U. of Washington, Seattle, US); ]
• Pictures from Tibet (www.iem.pw.edu.pl, Poland)
  [1992 B&W photographs by NGFZH--at--livid.uib.no: Chinese Tanks in Lhasa, march 1989 * Potala * Rongbuk Temple, 1990 * Rongbuk Temple * Tibetan Herd Camp * A Village in Rongbuk Valley * The Yarlunzanho River * Picture from Lhasa * Main Street of Lhasa * Mt. Everest]
• Jokang Temple (perso.wanadoo.fr, France)
  [A colour photograph of the Jokang temple in Lhasa]
• Lhasa Archive Project (Tibet Heritage Fund, US)
  [Documentary pictures from Lhasa: Alleyway in conservation area * Children in alleyway * Conservation zone map * Doorway * Restored house * Tramsikhang demolition * Windows]
• Pictures of Tibet and Qinghai (Purdue U, US)
  [The resource provides ostensibly non-political, but de-facto pro Chinese, information about Tibet. The pictures section contains 1980s and '90s annotated colour photographs of: Potala and Jokhang [7 pictures] * Lhasa city & Norbulingka [6 pictures] * Xigatse (Shigatse) and surrounding areas (incl. Tashilhunpo, Xianu, Palchor temples, Yumbu Lakhar palace, lake Yamdrok, Mt.Everest [8 pictures] * herdsmen & villagers of Nagqu (Nachuka) and Northern Tibet [10 pictures] * antelopes, wild asses and yaks in the Changtang National Reserve [5 pictures] * temples in Xining (Sining) & Qinghai [4 pictures]
• Tibet Photo Gallery Page (infonws0.kouku-k.ac.jp, Japan)
  [Several un-unnotated, large, colour GIF files with images of Potala, Lhasa, Samye, Gogkang Temple, Yangbajing]
• The Tibetan Frontier: Journeys in The Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau (Indigo Gallery, Nepal)
  [Photographs by Daniel Miller - Dancing With Yaks: People of Dolpo, Namdo Valley, Dolpo, Nepal. 1978. Masked Dancer: Festival in Sakten, Eastern Bhutan. 1990. Princess of the Pastoralists: Lady from Sakten, Eastern Bhutan. 1989. Sacred Ground: Chortens near Dawu Village (Kham), Sichuan Province. 1996]

Images of Tibetan People

• Life in Tibet (The Chinese Univ of Hong Kong, HK)
  [18 photographs (by the Photographic Society, New Asia College) from the exhibits in the Virtual Gallery of The Chinese University of Hong Kong]
• Monks and other folks (San Jose State U, US)
  [1988 photographs: Potala Shrine with Photo of the Dalai Lama * Monks in front of Potala - Lhasa * Tashilumpo Monks - Shigatse * Tibetan Man with Bell and Drum * Shaman Dancer - Tashilumpo * Tibetan Women - Lhasa * Prayer - Gogkang Temple - Lhasa * Pilgrims Prostrations - Gogkang Temple]
• Portrayals of Some Tibetan Women (www.grannyg.bc.ca, Canada)
  [Photographs by Brian Harris: Nuns at Monastery Door * Pilgrim Receiving Blessed Tea * Reciting Prayers in a Monastery Courtyard * Two Nuns Laughing * Young Nomad Women]
• Photos of Tibet in the early 1940's (Skidmore College, US)
  ["These photos were taken in Tibet by members of the Tolstoy expedition of 1942-43. Two U.S. Army officers, Lt. Col. Ilya Tolstoy and Capt. Brooke Dolan were sent to Tibet from India to explore the possibility of getting military supplies to Chiang Kai-shek's Republican Chinese government, via Tibet."
  Site contents: Over 230 B&W PHOTOGRAPHS: * The Americans (The Expedition Scenes of Travel, Camping, Tolstoy and Dolan); * Tibetan Art (Painters and Carvers, Mural paintings, Sculpture, Chortens (stupas), Temples and other architecture, The Potala, Gyantse, Yemar, Textiles: Carpets and Cloth); * Tibetan Religion (The Ch'am/Masked Dance Festival, Monks and Monastic Life, The Regents Procession, The Potala, Gyantse, Other monastic sites, Pilgrims and Prostration); * Tibetan Society (Nomadic Pasturalists, Ordinary Tibetans, Pilgrims and Prostration, The Tibetan "Army", Urban Scenes, The Wealthy and Aristocrats); * The Chinese (The Chinese Army, On the Road to Gansu, Scenes of Western China); * Miscellany (A Postcard from Heinrich Harrer); THE TOLSTOY-DOLAN EXPEDITION (Bibliography, Background Notes). [A 1999 web site by Dr Rob Linrothe, Associate Professor and Director of Art History at Skidmore College. In addition to the Tibet Photographs site of he also published the following web pages: * Karsha's Chuchikjyal Temple, Zangskar, 1996 (http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/asianstudies/new2/linrothe/Karsha/Chuchikjyal.html); * Tibetan Art at Skidmore, 1998 (http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/asianstudies/new2/linrothe/TibetArtDisplay/Display.html); * Monks and monasteries in Amdo, 1998 (http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/asianstudies/new2/linrothe/Qinghai/TongrenSi.html); * Petroglyphs near Karsha, in Zangskar, 1998 (http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/asianstudies/new2/linrothe/Petroglyphs/RockArt.html); * QuickTime video of Ladakh and Mangyu chorten, 1994. (http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/asianstudies/new2/linrothe/Mangyu/Webpage.html) - ed.]

Images of Eminent Tibetans

• His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama (Carleton U, Canada)
  [Cover "A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night". Photo by Raphaelle Demandre (85 Kb Colour)]
• His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama (Carleton U, Canada)
  [81 Kb GIF. B & W photo by Alison Wright. Published by Snow Lion Publications]
• His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama (www.bekkoame.or.jp,Japan)
  [29 Kb GIF. Colour photo (July/24th/1994 Jispa,India) by Takao Miyatani (miyatani--at--can.bekkoame.or.jp)]
• Tibetan Religious Teachers (www.dzogchen.org,US)
  [B & W photographs & short biographical notes of: HH the XIV Dalai Lama * HH Gyalwa Karmapa XVI * HH Karmapa XVII * HH Dudjom Rinpoche * Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche * Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche * Kalu Rinpoche * Tulku Pema Wangyal Rinpoche, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche & Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche * Kalu Rinpoche with the Superimposed image of his Reincarnation, Yangsay Rinpoche * Jatral Rinpoche * Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche]

andrew--at--dorje.demon.co.uk, Merrick Lex Berman, Jim Casilio. C. Davis, J. Fletcher, J. Johnson, J. Lebow, Hanno Lecher, Pamela Logan, D. Martin, C. Meehan, Stephen Mikesell, D. Miller, T. Miyatani, S. Tenzin, Dr Susan Whitfield, M. Winkler, Martin von Wyss.

Copyright © 1995-present by T. Matthew Ciolek. This Web page may be linked to any other Web pages. Contents may not be altered.

URL http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVLPages/TibPages/tib-maps.html