Shigatse

Overview

The administrative center of the prefecture-level city is the Samzhubzê District. It is roughly equivalent to the historical Shigatse urban center, the second-largest city in Tibet, located about 280 km southwest of Lhasa and home to the Tashilhunpo Monastery, traditionally the seat of the Panchen Lama.

Some of the towns in the prefecture are: Gyantse (Gyantse County), Tingri (Tingri County), and Nyalam (Nyalam County).

On 11 July 2014 Shigatse Prefecture was upgraded into a prefecture-level city (the same status as Lhasa).

History

In the eighth century, the Tibetan Empire of King Trisong Detsen invited the Indian monk Padmasambhava into Tibet to build the Samye monastery, passing through the place of Rikaze where the practice of preaching, and predicated Lhasa as the center of snowy plateau followed by Shigatse. In the eleventh century during the Sakya dynasty, Shigatse had initially begun urbanization.

In October 1959, Rikaze prefecture was established. In 1970, Rikaze Prefecture was abolished and Rikaze District was established. 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.

On 18 December 2014, prefecture-level Shigatse City was officially established.

Population

According to the 2020 Chinese census, the resident population of the city was 798,153. 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.

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.

Transport

Rail

The Lhasa–Shigatse Railway connects Shigatse Railway Station with Lhasa and further connects with Qinghai via Qinghai–Tibet Railway. It takes about three hours to travel between Lhasa and Shigatse by train. It is possible to get back to Lhasa within the same day by train.

Air

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

Shigatse Tingri Airport opened in December 2022.

Road

China National Highway 318 and China National Highway 219 are the main roads in and out of Shigatse.

Counties

Climate

Shigatse has an elevation-influenced monsoonal humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dwb, Trewartha Dclo) When using the -3 C isotherm, Shigatse has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen climate classification: Cwb, Trewartha Dolo).

|Jan record high C = 18.6 |Feb record high C = 18.8 |Mar record high C = 22.9 |Apr record high C = 23.9 |May record high C = 28.5 |Jun record high C = 28.2 |Jul record high C = 28.2 |Aug record high C = 26.2 |Sep record high C = 24.4 |Oct record high C = 22.2 |Nov record high C = 21.1 |Dec record high C = 17.3 |year record high C = |Jan record low C = −21.3 |Feb record low C = −19.4 |Mar record low C = −14.4 |Apr record low C = −9.5 |May record low C = −4.9 |Jun record low C = 0.6 |Jul record low C = 2.2 |Aug record low C = 0.5 |Sep record low C = −1.6 |Oct record low C = −9.8 |Nov record low C = −15.5 |Dec record low C = −18.6 |year record low C= | script-title=zh:日喀则 - 气象数据 -中国天气网 | access-date = 10 April 2023}}

Gallery

File:Sakya monastery.jpg|Sakya Monastery File:Shigatse Prefecture.jpg|Mountains in Shigatse Prefecture File:A monastery in tibet.jpg|Monastery along the road from Shigatse to Mount Everest 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 soldiers circa 1938 on parade. They are equipped with Lee-Enfield rifles.

References

References

2. Powers, John. (2016). "The Buddha party : how the People's Republic of China works to define and control Tibetan Buddhism". Oxford University Press.
3. 国家测绘局地名研究所. [[SinoMaps Press]]. (1997)
4. ''Mapping the Tibetan World''. Yukyasu Osada, Gavin Allwright, and Atushi Kanamaru. 1st edition 200. Reprint 2004. Kotan Books, Japan, pp. 109, 113.
5. Li. Zhe. link
6. (1972). "Translations on People's Republic of China". Joint Publications Research Service.
7. (2020). "辞海". 上海辞书出版社.
8. (2015-04-03). "国务院批复西藏设立第四个地级市". 中国政府网.
9. (August 2025). "西藏海拔最高地级市挂牌成立 助力藏西南经济发展_中华人民共和国国务院新闻办公室". www.scio.gov.cn }}{{Dead link.
10. "西藏海拔最高市日喀则市挂牌成立". paper.people.com.cn.
11. "日喀则市第七次全国人口普查主要数据公报".
12. "(西藏自治区)2024年日喀则市国民经济和社会发展统计公报-红黑统计公报库".
13. 西藏自治区第六次全国人口普查领导小组办公室、西藏自治区统计局、国家统计局西藏调查总队. (2012). "《西藏自治区2010年人口普查资料》". [[China Statistics Press]].
14. [http://chinatour.net/tibet/shigatse/"Shigatse Travel" ChinaTour.net] {{webarchive. link. (16 August 2015 Accessed 21 April 2013)
15. "Tibet's Xigaze Airport begins operations - People's Daily Online".
16. (12 December 2022). "公司动态：公司重点保障项目——日喀则定日机场顺利通过行业验收". 中航质.
17. "IIRF Strategic Yearbook 2022-23". Notion Press.
18. Bakshi, A.. (2001). "Silk Road on Wheels: Travels Through Central Asia and Tibet". Odyssey Books.
19. Bhattacharya, A.. (2017). "Journeys on the Silk Road Through Ages—Romance, Legend, Reality". Repro Knowledgcast Limited.
20. link. [[China Meteorological Administration]]