Most of Himalaya mountain range, one of the youngest ranges of mountains in the world, is only four million years old, lies inside Tibet. Its most famed peak, Mt. Everest, is on Nepal’s border with Tibet. The average elevation is around 3 km in the south and 4 km in the north.

Geographically, UNESCO and ‘Encyclopedia Britannica’ count Tibet to be part of the Central Asia, while some academician organizations count it part of the South Asia. Tibet was formerly an independent kingdom but nowadays is a part of the People’s Republic of China, with a small part, depending upon definitions, regimented by India.

Some major rivers have their source in the Tibetan Plateau, include Yangtze, Mekong, Yellow River, Indus River, Ganges, Brahmaputra River, Salween and the Yarlung Tsangpo River. The Brahmaputra, Indus rivers spring up from a lake (Tib: Tso Mapham) in Western Tibet, near Mount Kailash. That mountain is a holy pilgrimage for both Tibetans and Hindus. The Hindus believe the mountain to be the residence of Lord Shiva. The Tibetan name for Mount Kailash is Khang Rinpoche. Tibet has many high-altitude lakes named in Tibetan as tso or co. These include Lake Manasarovar, Pangong Tso, Namtso, Yamdrok Lake, Lhamo La-tso, Siling Co, Lumajangdong Co, Lake Rakshastal, Lake Puma Yumco, Lake Paiku, Dagze Co and Dong Co.