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Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê (; Nepali: ''सिगात्से''), is a

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China ...

of the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of � ...

of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the historical Tsang region of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

Overview

The administrative center of the

is the

Samzhubzê District Samzhubzê District (also spelled Sangzhuzi District, Samdruptse District) is a district in the Tibet Autonomous Region of the China, and the administrative center of the prefecture-level city of Shigatse ( Tibetan Pinyin: Xigazê). Prior to 2 ...

. It is roughly equivalent to the historical Shigatse urban center, the second-largest city in Tibet, located about southwest of Lhasa and home to the Tashilhunpo Monastery, traditionally the seat of the

Panchen Lama The Panchen Lama () is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high lamas, h ...

. Some of the towns in the prefecture are: Gyantse (

Gyantse County Gyantse County officially Gyangzê County (; ) is a county of Xigazê in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Its main settlement is Gyantse Town known for its monasteries. Town and townships 1 town and 18 townships: * Gyangzê (Gyantse) Town (, ) * ...

), Tingri ( Tingri County), and Nyalam (

Nyalam County Nyalam County (; Tibetan: gnya' lam rdzong) is a county in Tibet's Shigatse Prefecture. It borders on Nepal. The land area of the county is . The population as of 2003 was 10,000. The postal code for the county is 858300. The county seat is in ...

). On 11 July 2014 Shigatse Prefecture was upgraded into a

(the same status as

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...

Transport

Rail

The Lhasa–Xigazê Railway connects

Xigazê Railway Station Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê (; Nepali: ''सिगात्से''), is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the histori ...

with

and further connects with Qinghai via Qinghai–Tibet Railway. It takes about 3 hours to travel between Lhasa and Shigatse by train. It is possible to get back to Lhasa within the same day by train.Travel" ChinaTour.net
Accessed 21 April 2013

Air

Shigatse Peace Airport Shigatse Peace Airport , Shigatse Heping Airport, or Shigatse Air Base, is a dual-use military and civilian airport serving Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is located in Jangdam Township, from Shigatse. ...

began operations on 30 October 2010 after an

Airbus A319 The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a maximum range of . Final assem ...

landed safely, making it Tibet's fifth commercial airport. It is located 43 kilometres from

at Jangdam Township at an elevation of 3,782 metres. The airport will be capable of supporting 230,000 passengers annually by 2020.

Road

China National Highway 318 China National Highway 318 (G318) runs from Shanghai to Zhangmu on the China-Nepal border. It is the longest China National Highway at in length and runs west from Shanghai towards Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan, and ends in Tibet Au ...

and

China National Highway 219 China National Highway 219 (G219; Chinese: '' Guódào219'') is a highway which runs along the entire western and southern border of the People's Republic of China, from Kom-Kanas Mongolian ethnic township in Xinjiang to Dongxing in Guangxi. ...

are the main roads in and out of Shigatse.

Counties

Climate

Shigatse has an elevation-influenced

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: ''Dwb'').

Gallery

File:Sakya monastery.jpg,

Sakya Monastery Sakya Monastery (), also known as Pel Sakya (; "White Earth" or "Pale Earth") is a Buddhist monastery situated in Sa'gya Town (ས་སྐྱ་), Sa'gya County, about 127 km west of Shigatse in the Tibet Autonomous Region. History ...

File:Shigatse Prefecture.jpg, Mountains in Shigatse Prefecture File:A monastery in tibet.jpg, Monastery along the road from Shigatse to

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

File:Chooyu.jpg, Cho Oyu from Tingri File:Shigatse abbot 1910.png, Photo of the Shigatse abbot taken around 1910 File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_135-S-17-14-34,_Tibetexpedition,_Shigatse,_Truppenparade.jpg,

Tibetan Army The Tibetan Army () was the military force of Tibet after its ''de facto'' independence in 1912 until the 1950s. As a ground army modernised with the assistance of British training and equipment, it served as the ''de facto'' armed forces of th ...

soldiers circa 1938 on parade. They are equipped with Lee-Enfield rifles.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Prefecture-level divisions of Tibet