Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) or Xizang Autonomous Region (Tibetan: བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས།, Wylie: Bod rang skyong ljongs, ZYPY: Poi Ranggyong Jong; Chinese: 西藏自治区; pinyin: Xīzàng; Wade–Giles: Hsi1-tsang4) is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was created in 1965 on the basis of an administrative region (Tibet Area and western Xikang) which had been incorporated into the PRC in 1951.
Within the People's Republic of China, "Tibet" or "Xīzàng" (Chinese: 西藏) is identified with the Tibet Autonomous Region (Chinese: 西藏自治区), while ethno-cultural Tibet (including the TAR and parts of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces) is colloquially known as "Tibetan areas" or "Zàngqū" (Chinese: 藏区). The current borders of Tibet were established in the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty and includes about half of ethno-cultural Tibet. The TAR is the second-largest province-level division of China by area, spanning over 1,200,000 square kilometres (460,000 sq mi), after Xinjiang, and mostly due to its harsh and rugged terrain, is the least densely populated provincial-level division of the PRC.
Tibet (i/tɨˈbɛt/; Tibetan: བོད་, Wylie: Bod, pronounced [pʰø̀ʔ]; simplified Chinese: 藏区; traditional Chinese: 藏區; pinyin: Zàngqū) is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas, in the People's Republic of China. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people. Tibet is the highest region on earth, with an average elevation of 4,900 metres (16,000 ft).