section_path: Abstract
section_name: Abstract
paragraph_text: The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Hanyu Pinyin, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the Tibet Area, a former administrative division of the Republic of China.
  
  The current borders of the Tibet Autonomous Region were generally established in the 18th century and include about half of cultural Tibet, which was at times independent and at times under Mongol or Chinese rule. The TAR spans more than 1,200,000 km 2 (460,000 sq mi) and is the second-largest province-level division of China by area. Due to its harsh and rugged terrain, it has a total population of only 3.6 million people or approximately 3 inhabitants per square kilometre (7.8/sq mi).