Central Tibetan Administration
| ||||
| Official language | Tibetan | |||
| Headquarters | Dharamsala, India | |||
| Head of State | Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama | |||
| Head of Government | Professor Venerable Samdhong Rinpoche | |||
| National Anthem | Tibetan National Anthem, (Link) | |||
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), officially the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, is a government in exile headed by Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, which claims to be the rightful and legitimate government of Tibet. It is commonly referred to as the Tibetan Government in Exile.
Tibet is under the administration of the People's Republic of China, a situation that the Central Tibetan Administration considers an illegitimate military occupation. The position of the CTA is that Tibet is a distinct nation with a long history of independence. The current policy of the Dalai Lama, however, is that he does not seek full independence for Tibet, but would accept an autonomous status similar to that now held by Hong Kong.
The CTA is headquartered in Dharamsala, India, where the Dalai Lama settled after fleeing Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. It claims jurisdiction over the entirety of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai province, as well as parts of the neighboring provinces of Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan - all of which is termed "Historic Tibet" by CTA.
The CTA exercises many governmental functions in relation to the Tibetan exile community in India, which numbers around 100,000. The Administration runs schools, health services, cultural activities and economic development projects for the Tibetan community. It also provides welfare services for the hundreds of Tibetans who continue to arrive in India each month as refugees after having crossed from China, usually via Nepal, on foot. [citation needed] The government of India allows the CTA to exercise effective jurisdiction in these matters over the Tibetan communities in northern India.
The CTA is not recognized as a government by any country, but it receives financial aid from governments and international organisations for its welfare work among the Tibetan exile community in India. This does not imply recognition of the CTA as a government.
In 2001 the worldwide Tibetan exile community conducted a democratic election for the position of Prime Minister (officially Kalon Tripa; Tibetan: བཀའ་བློན་ཁྲི་པའ་). The election was won by Lobsang Tenzin, a 62-year-old Buddhist monk and scholar who is usually known by the titles Professor Venerable Samdhong Rinpoche. [1]. This was the first democratic election in the history of the Tibetan people.
External links
- Official website of the Central Tibetan Administration
- Official website of the London Office of the Government of Tibet in Exile
- The Office of Tibet in New York
- The Office of Tibet in Pretoria, South Africa
- Map of Tibet - includes both historical provinces and current Chinese administrative divisions
- Faith in Exile a video by the Guerrilla News Network
