Index to the 1981 TAR map

A previous Tibetan Plateau blog post shared a downloadable link to a detailed map of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). The map was published by the TAR Bureau of Cartography in 1981.

We have more good news: there is an exhaustive index for the 1981 TAR map available online here. This 500+ page index is compiled by Gregor Verhufen (Thank you Gregor!) in 1995.

 


The 1981 TAR map and the 1995 index to the map, together, undoubtedly constitute one of the richest and most helpful sources of information on (close to 9000!) Tibetan names of places, rivers, mountains, glaciers and lakes.

The map and the index, however, does not have names of Tibetan places outside TAR. Those interested in information on Tibetan places outside TAR are advised to refer to Steven Marshall and Susette Cooke's report, TIBET: Outside the TAR, which, hopefully, is still available for sale through the International Campaign for Tibet. Parts of the Marshall and Cooke's report are available here.

Readers are requested to share these resources with researchers and other people interested in Tibet.

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Tibetan language map of Tibet Autonomous Region

The Tibetan Plateau blog is pleased to make the most detailed Tibetan language map of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) we have seen so far available for download.
 
Although this is a relatively old map, published in 1981 by the TAR Bureau of Cartography, it is the best we have seen in terms of detail, showing settlements down to the level of villages below the township level. The map also shows roads, railway lines, hydro-dams and environmental features such as glaciers, desert, lakes and springs. Here are examples of the amazing level of detail in the map. The scale of the map is 1: 1000000.


A warning before you download the map: this is a huge (25 MB) JPEG file. If your computer has sufficient storage space and other resources, you can download the map here.

We hope that this map will be useful for students, researchers and others who are interested in Tibet.

With thanks to all the readers for their interest and support.

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