Shigatse,officially known as Xigazê (Tibetan:གཞིས་ཀ་རྩེ་,Wylie:gzhis ka rtse,ZWPY:xigazê) or Rikaze (Chinese:日喀则;pinyin:Rìkāzé),[1][2] 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 182,000km2 (70,271sqmi),corresponds to the historical Ü-Tsang region of Tibet,and is most notable for containing the Chinese half of Mount Everest.
The administrative center of the prefecture-level city is the SamzhubzêDistrict. It is roughly equivalent to the historical Shigatse urban center,the second-largest city in Tibet,located about 280km (170mi) southwest of Lhasa and home to the Tashilhunpo Monastery,traditionally the seat of the Panchen Lama.[3]
In the eighth century,the Tibetan Empire of Tibetan King Chisong Dezan invited Indian monk Padmasambhava into Tibet to build the Samye Mighur Lhundrub Tsula Khang,passing through the place of Rikaze where the practice of preaching,and predicated Lhasa as the center of snowy plateau followed by Nianmai (Shigatse). In the eleventh century the Sakya dynasty,Nianmai has initially begun urbanization.
In October 1959,Rikaze prefecture was established.[5] In 1970,Rikaze Prefecture was abolished and Rikaze District was established.[6] On 26 June 2014,by the State Council of the People's Republic of China agreed,the original Rikaze area abolished,the establishment of prefecture-level Shigatse city,the original county-level Shigatse city merged into the Sangzhuzi District. This was the second prefecture-level city established in the Tibet Autonomous Region.[7]
On 18 December 2014,prefecture-level Shigatse City was officially established.[8][9]
Population
According to the 2020 Chinese census,the resident population of the city was 798,153.[10] Compared to 703,292 in the 6th Chinese Census,there was a total increase of 94,861 or 13.49% in ten years,with an average annual growth rate of 1.27%. Among them,the male population was 416,384,accounting for 52.17% of the total population,while the female population was 381,769,accounting for 47.83% of the total population. The sex ratio of the total population (100 females) was 109.07. The population aged 0–14 years was 209,900,accounting for 26.3% of the total population;the population aged 15–59 years was 516,838,accounting for 64.75% of the total population;and the population aged 60 years and above was 71,415,accounting for 8.95% of the total population,of which the population aged 65 years and above was 8.95%. 8.95% of the total population,of which 44,772 were aged 65 and above,accounting for 5.61% of the total population. The population living in towns and cities was 184,323,or 23.09% of the total population,while the population living in villages was 613,830,or 76.91% of the total population.
Highland Barley Germplasm Bank
Shigatse,a major agricultural center in Tibet,houses a "Highland Barley (Qingke) Germplasm Resource Bank." This facility collects,preserves,and studies the genetic diversity of Qingke,a staple barley crop crucial for food security and adapted to the high-altitude conditions of the Tibetan Plateau.[11]
Ethnicity
Of the city's resident population,42,501,or 5.32%,were Han Chinese;748,443,or 93.77%,were Tibetans;and 7,209,or 0.9%,were other ethnic minorities. Compared with the 2010 Chinese Census,the Han population increased by 16,691,or 64.67%,and accounted for 1.66 percentage points of the total population;the populations of various ethnic minorities increased by 78,170,or 11.54%,and accounted for 1.66 percentage points of the total population. Among them,the Tibetan population increased by 76,779,an increase of 11.43%,accounting for a decrease of 1.73 percentage points in the proportion of the total population.[10]
Ethnic composition of Shigatse (November 2010)[12]
Shigatse Peace Airport began operations on 30 October 2010 after an Airbus A319 landed safely,making it Tibet's fifth commercial airport. It is located 43 kilometres from SamzhubzêDistrict at Jangdam Township at an elevation of 3,782 metres. The airport will be capable of supporting 230,000 passengers annually by 2020.[14]
↑Powers, John (2016). The Buddha party: how the People's Republic of China works to define and control Tibetan Buddhism. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp.Appendix B, page 16. ISBN9780199358182. OCLC967694121.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
