Located in northern Himalayas, Tibet is a plateau region with an average elevation of 4,900m(16,000ft), widely known as the roof of the world. It is home to indigenous Tibetan people, Monpas, Lhobas, considerable Han people and Hui people and also some other ethnic groups.

Although the economy of Tibet is dominated by subsistence agriculture, tourism has become the new fast-developing industry in Tibet recently. The dominent religion in Tibet is Tibetan Buddhism, though there are Muslim and Christian minorities. Tibetan Buddhism is a primary influence on the art, music, and festivals of the region. Tibetan architecture reflects Chinese and Indian influences. Staple foods in Tibet are roasted barley, yak meat, and butter tea.

The modern Standard Tibetan autonym - Bod means "Tibet" or "Tibetan Plateau". Although it originally meant the central region "U-Tsang". The standard pronunciation of Bod, is transcribed Poi in Tibetan Pinyin(Similar with Chinese Pinyin and English letter). Some scholars believe the first written reference to Bod "Tibet" was the ancient "Bautai" people recorded in the (ca. 1st century) Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and (ca. 2nd century) Geographia.

The two Standard Mandarin exonyms for "Tibet" are classical Tubo and Tufan and modern Xizang(Tibet Autonomous Region).

The English word "Tibet" or "Thibet" dates back to the 18th century. While historical linguists generally agree that "Tibet" names in European languages are loanwords from Arabic Tibat or Tobatt.

Although the boundaries between 'Tibetan' and certain other Himalayan languages is uncleared, The Tibetan language is generally classified as a Tibeto-Burman language of the Sino-Tibetan language family.The language is spoken in numerous regional dialects which, although sometimes mutually intelligible, generally cannot be understood by the speakers of the different oral forms of Tibetan. It is employed throughout the Tibetan plateau and Bhutan and is also spoken in parts of Nepal and northern India, such as Sikkim. In general, the dialects of central Tibet (including Lhasa), Kham, Amdo and some smaller nearby areas are considered Tibetan dialects. Other forms, particularly Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Sherpa, and Ladakhi, are considered by their speakers, largely for political reasons, to be separate languages.

Although spoken Tibetan varies according to the region, the written language, based on Classical Tibetan, is consistent throughout. This is probably due to the long-standing influence of the Tibetan empire, whose rule embraced (and extended at times far beyond) the present Tibetan linguistic area, which runs from northern Pakistan in the west to Yunnan and Sichuan in the east, and from north of Qinghai Lake south as far as Bhutan. The Tibetan language has its own script which it shares with Ladakhi and Dzongkha, and which is derived from the ancient Indian Brāhmī script.