Tibet |
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I. Basic Data |
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1. Name: Tibet Autonomous Region 2. Area: 1,228,400 million square kilometers 3. Population: 2.62 million (the 2000 population census) 4. Capital: Lhasa 5. Geography: Tibet Autonomous Region, as the main part of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, is located in the southwestern border area of China between east longitude 78° 25' - 90° 06' and north latitude 26° 50' - 36° 53'. It has a common boundary with some other provinces or autonomous regions such as Yunnan, Sichuan, Qinghai and Xinjiang. It is bounded on the west by the Kashmir Zone, and borders on some countries and areas in South and Southeast Asia, namely Myanmar (Burma), India, Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal. 6. Natural Resources: Tibet has a diversified physiognomy, with mountains, desert, grassland and forests, and is one of the largest grassland and forest areas in China. But its soil resources are unevenly distributed. Tibet has a large quantity of plants and animals resources. Numerous rivers and lakes produce 2 billion-kilowatts of electricity, accounting for 30% of the whole country's output. There is considerable terrestrial, solar and wind energy. Up to 90 kinds of mineral resources have been discovered, and 30 kinds of them have proven reserves, but the province has difficulty in exploiting the potential deposits. Additionally, Tibet is rich in tourism resources. 7. Economy: The Tibetan economy has developed in recent years. In 2000, the GDP was 11.746 billion Yuan, the total gross output value of industry and farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery was 6.95 billion Yuan, and the per capita GDP 4,559 Yuan. The total value of imports and exports in Tibet in 2000 reached 130.29 million US dollars. Government revenue was more than 6,898.05 million Yuan, and the output of grain was about 962,243 tons. At present, farming and animal husbandry are the major industries in Tibet. The gross output of farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery accounted for 73.67% of the total gross output value of industry and farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery in 2000. But productivity is very low, and manual farming and animal husbandry are still the primary pattern. Although in some areas near cities, a few machines are used for agricultural purposes, manpower and animal power are still applied in plowing the land. So agricultural production is neither high nor stable. In Tibet, the industry sector is quite small in size and diversity; it is characterized by extensive management at low efficiency. 8. People's life: Based on the statistics at the end of 2000, about 1.2418 million people worked as employees, accounting for 47.40% of the total population in Tibet. The total wage bill of staff and workers was 2,320.07 million Yuan, and the per capita yearly wage was 14,976 Yuan. The annual per capita net income of rural residents was 1,331 Yuan. The annual per capita disposable income of urban residents was 6,448 Yuan. Per capita consumption of all residents on average was 1,823 Yuan, for rural residents 1,144 Yuan, and urban residents 4,737 Yuan. In terms of health facilities, for every 10,000 persons there were 17.62 hospital beds and 20.94 doctors. 9. Education: At the end of 2000, Tibet had four universities with 5,475 enrolled students and 813 teachers, about 110 secondary schools with 61,817 students and 5,048 teachers, and 842 primary schools with 313,807 pupils and 13,181 teachers. Tibet's people have a relatively lower educational level than that of other provinces or regions, with a large number of illiterates and semi-illiterates. In 2000, The illiterate rate was 32.50% which was the highest in China. The weakness in the educational infrastructure and the lack of advanced and intermediate professionals and staff are major problems in Tibet. In 2000, the enrollment rate of school-age children was 85.80% and which was the lowest in China. |
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II. Population Situation |
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1. Size and Distribution At the end of 2000, the total population in Tibet was 2.62 million. With diversity in terms of distribution, most people live in rural areas, and fewer in cities and towns. The population of the Tibetan nationality accounts for over 90% of the population, but that of the Han nationality and other ethnic groups is very small. Affected by nature, geographic conditions and climate, 80% of the population in Tibet is distributed mainly over the valley along the middle reaches of the Brahmaputra River valley and the deep valleys along three rivers (Lantsang River, Lujang River and Yangtse River) which are located in the eastern part of Tibet. There are few people in the northern part of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau because of its harsh climate. The southeastern part of Tibet is covered by primeval forests; there population density is low, transportation is inadequate and other conditions unfavorable. In 2000, the population density of Tibet was only 2.1 persons per square kilometer. 2. Population History From 1952, Tibet's population history can be classified into four periods as follows: The first period, 1952 - 1958 : was characterized by high mortality and low fertility. The total number of the population in Tibet was slightly increased in this period. The second period, 1959 - 1969 : may be defined as the relatively high growth period. The population increased to 1.4805 million in 1969, i.e. 0.2743 million more than that in 1959. The third period 1970 - 1985 : was a period of rapid increase in population growth. The crude birth rate (CBR) fluctuated at 25 per 1,000, and the natural growth rate (NGR) continued at 18 per 1,000. The population increased to 1.9948 million in 1985. In the present period, 1986 to now : population growth and CBRs and NGRs dropped a little, but they are still higher in China. In 2000, the CBR was 17.60 per 1,000 and the NGR was 11.00 per 1,000. Population Structure by Sex and Age The sex ratio of the total population in Tibet was lower than in the other provinces and regions. From 1951, the sex ratio of 94 or 95 women per 100 men remained the same for a long time. But after 1980 the sex ratio tended to increase slightly. In 2000, the sex ratio was lower with 102.62. The age composition in Tibet can be described as the Expansive Pattern with large number of people in the young ages: in 2000, 0.82 million were aged 0 - 14, about 31.2% of the total. The number of people aged 15 - 64 was 1.68 million, about 64.3%. The elderly 65 years old and above numbered 0.12 million, accounting for 4.5% of the total population. The total dependency ratio was 55.95%, with the youth dependency ratio being 48.81% and the elderly dependency ratio 7.14%. Fertility Level and Changes From 1951, the fertility level in Tibet changed significantly, but still the fertility rates were high. Since the middle of the 1980s, the fertility level has tended to drop. In 2000, the CBR was 17.60 per 1,000, and the NGR was 11.00 per 1,000. Based on mid-term and long-term population projections by region and by parity fertility levels, it is estimated that the total population of Tibet would be increasing continuously for a relatively long time (several decades), and the yearly increments would tend to rise. Mortality and Life Expectancy After the Democratic Reform in Tibet, mortality declined by a large margin. The decrease in the mortality rate has slowed down since 1970. The mortality rate had fallen from 28 per 1,000 in the 1950s to 6.60 per 1,000 in 2000. The model of age-specific death rates is in the stage of transferring from the traditional "U-shaped" model to the modern "J-shaped" model. The death rates for males were higher than those for females. There was a wide gap between urban and rural people in the death rates. Mortality at all ages in Tibet was much higher than the national average. The death rates in each age groups in rural areas were higher than those in urban areas. The infant mortality rate was very high in Tibet with a great difference between the sexes. But the infant mortality rate had fallen from 430 per 1,000 in 1951, 91.8 per 1,000 in 1990 to 35.3 per 1,000 by the year 2000. In 1990, life expectancy in Tibet has reached 59.64 years, 57.64 for male and 61.57 for female. Marriage Status, Family Size and Type The 1990 census showed that unmarried people aged 15 and above numbered 465,000, accounting for 32.78% of the total. The percentage of unmarried men was higher than that of unmarried women, with 251,200 men and 213,800 women remaining unmarried; the unmarried rate in Tibet was higher than that in other provinces, it was higher in urban than in rural areas. The unmarried rate of Tibetans was a little bit lower than that of the Han people in Tibet, but the proportion of single persons who never married during their lifetime was higher among Tibetans than other nationalities. Early marriage was more common among people with less education. The percentage of widows was higher than that of widowers. The differences in widowhood rates between urban and rural areas were obvious. The percentage of widowed illiterates and semi-literates was relatively high; as the education level increased, the percentage of persons widowed decreased. The percentage divorced was higher in the older ages, and the divorce rate increased as persons aged, more so among women than men. The percentage of divorced illiterates and semi-literates was the highest, and that of divorced blue-collar workers was higher than that of white-collar workers. In 1999, among the 1.604 million population in the 15 and above group, unmarried people accounted 28.87%, the first marriage having spouses people accounted 64.03%, the non-first marriages having spouses people accounted 0.25%, the divorced people accounted 0.56%, and the widowed people accounted 6.30%. In terms of family size, there were great differences among regions based on data from the 2000 census. The size of households in cities was smaller than that in counties, and the household size in pasture areas was smaller than that in farming areas. The composition of households was relatively even distributed, with a slightly higher percentage in the extended families. Looking at family type, two-generation families comprised the majority. The composition of family type varied from one ethnic group to another, and there were differences in composition of family type according to urban and rural areas. In 2000, the average size of family households in Tibet was 4.77 persons, 3.03 for urban and 5.45 for rural. Aging of the Population The age structure of Tibet's population is generally young. In 1990, the elderly over 60 years old accounted for 7.4% of the total population, with those over 65 years old accounting for 4.63%. The growth rate of older people was faster than the increase rate of the total population, with a high percentage of the aged population living in farming areas. In terms of age structure of the aged population, the younger elderly were in the majority, but the number of persons over 80 years old had risen up to 10,500, accounting for 14.04% of the total aged population by 1990. The education level of the aged population in Tibet was a little lower than that of other regions, with 89.44% of the aged population being illiterate or semi-literate. The percentage widowed in the elderly group was as high as 53.15%. The percentage of employed persons among the elderly was 25.66% in 1990. In 2000, the population at age 65+ accounted 4.50% of the total population, increasing 0.13% than that in 1990. Population Quality The educational composition of Tibet's population has changed dramatically and the education level has improved since 1949. According to the 1990 and 2000 censuses, the education structure of Tibet's population had been changing, with an increase in the number of people with higher education and a decrease in the number of illiterates and semi-illiterates. The illiterate population was 0.98 million in 1990 but 0.85 in 2000. The illiterate rate was 44.43% in 1990 but 32.50% in 2000, down 11.93%. But compared with other regions, the education level in Tibet was still very low, although it is improving slowly. There was a striking difference in education levels between the sexes, as well as between urban and rural areas in Tibet. Most people with a high education lived in the cities. The percentage of illiterates and semi-illiterates in farming and pasturing areas was much higher than the province as a whole. On the average the educational level of females was lower than males, so were the number of illiterates and semi-illiterates. Differences in educational level also exist among ethnic groups, with the Han majority having a higher education level than Tibetans. Migration and the Floating Population Before the 1970s, the migration between Tibet and other provinces was almost dictated by the government as being work-site movements, job assignments and accompanying family moves, but after the 1980s, the migrants actively moved more for studying or training, for marriage or joining family, for visiting friends or relatives and retirement. Migration in Tibet was characterized by great fluctuations, regional differences between rural and urban areas, with the majority of them being Han people. Migration within Tibet is usually related to the regional distribution of the total population and the development of transportation. In 2000, the net migration rate was 4.35%. Population, Resources and the Environment There are abundant resources in Tibet, which is especially rich in solar energy, water, and minerals. But investment and the infrastructure are limited, because it is very hard to explore and use these resources in the short term. The environment of Tibet is prone to natural disasters, and is characterized by bad living conditions and little pollution in residential habitats. |
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III. Family Planning |
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Since the family planning program started in 1975 in the Tibet Autonomous Region, with the attention of the government, the support of the people and hard working family planning workers, a series of working approaches based on the situation of Tibet have been taken. These include the program for integrating family planning with the maternal and child health care, and poverty alleviation. To arouse people's consciousness about family planning, Tibet's government has provided people with information, education and communication (IEC) on family planning policies, national and local situations in population as priority concerns of the family planning work, as well as provided knowledge about contraception, and maternal and child care to the couples who needed it. To increase the awareness of the province's limited resources, the Tibet government has paid great attention to analysis of population trends. At the beginning of the 1950s, the government believed social and economic development was positively related to the size of the population, so it carried out a policy of encouraging population growth. In the past 40 years, Tibet's population has rapidly increased, reaching 2.62 million in 2000. With the population increasing in the face of decreasing resources per capita, Tibet's natural resources have become comparatively deficient. Through long-term education and publicity about population and family planning, a deep understanding of per capita resource availability has been strengthened in people's mind. Encourage the people to adopt family planning voluntarily. A large number of rural women in Tibet used to have little knowledge about contraception and childbearing because of the influence of the traditional norms. Therefore, lectures and training classes on sanitation, health care and physiology were provided to women of childbearing age in the farming and pasturing areas to increase awareness of health care. Allow variations in implementation of the family planning program based on the local situation. Compared with other provinces or regions in China, Tibet has quite a different history, culture and economic conditions. When carrying out family planning, the Tibet government was sharing the experiences of other provinces or regions for reference based on the situation in Tibet. They summarized a series of population policies and regulations for the Tibet Autonomous Region, and provided classified guidance to the people with different situations. In providing quality services in family planning, and introducing contraceptive methods, the Tibet family planning program put great efforts into meeting the needs of different clients. The program in Tibet has focused on counseling services about the use of contraceptive methods. For the people who want to use contraceptives, concrete guidance and proper suggestions would be provided before they adopt a specific method. The family planning program has been integrated with the maternal and child health care program to improve the quality of the population. Based on the situation in the Tibet Autonomous Region, family planning at the grassroots level provided a series of services integrated with medical and health work. The public health sectors at all levels in Tibet have put family planning services in their work list to include dissemination of family planning information and knowledge, contraceptive services, counseling on healthy births and child care as well as the provision of contraceptive supplies. At the grassroots level, the family planning and medical health work were always carried out simultaneously as a package. In rural areas, the family planning program has been integrated with the poverty alleviation program to help family planning adopters built their happy, small families. While transferring the stress of family planning work into the farming and pasturing areas, the Tibet government put great efforts into the work in 18 poverty-stricken counties. The target of "few births, quickly rich and civilization reaching a well-off" status demands that every couple bear three or four children and keep an interval between them of three years or more. In order to improve the capacity of services to meet the clients' needs, the government has tried to increase their inputs of personnel, finance and substance in the poverty-stricken counties. Some new and convenient contraceptive methods such as Norplant have been introduced and spread out in rural areas. Combining the objectives and tasks of family planning, the action project on "integration of family planning and poverty alleviation in 1996 - 2000" was framed to help the poor people to eliminate poverty and become rich. Great achievements in family planning work could be summarized as follows: (1) During the thoroughgoing and painstaking education program, the cadres and masses have recognized the impact of the family planning program on Tibet's prosperity. It benefits socio-economic development, poverty alleviation, improving population quality and increases the quality of life. Most people realized that family planning should be coordinated with social and economic development, which lays a good foundation for family planning work. (2) The Tibet Autonomous Region carries out the family planning policy earnestly, although there have been difficulties under complicated conditions. The government at all levels in Tibet has implemented family planning policies and principles, and provided family planning education and services to the masses. In eliminating the difficulties, they have identified appropriate approaches for family planning based on Tibet's situation. The cadres, workers and urban residents have become more willing to practice family planning. According to statistics, the planned birth rate of cadres and workers in Tibet was 98.71% in 1997. The fertility of cadres and workers has got into the right track in following plans and policies. (3) With the spread of family planning services and the changing of childbearing concepts, more and more people have become more willing to accept contraceptive methods. In 1997, there were 507,000 women of reproductive age; among them about 296,900 women or their husbands were currently using contraceptive methods in Tibet. The contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) for all women of childbearing age was 58.56%, and the CPR of women farmers and herders was 53.55%. The CPR among Tibetan cadres and workers and urban residents was 81.5% and the CPR among the Han cadres and workers was 92.22%. The scientific and modern fertility concepts have replaced the blind and uncontrolled birth phase. In 2000, the CPR for married women was 71.08% and family planning rate was 99.52% in Tibet. (4) In deeply implementing the family planning program in Tibet, its rapid population growth has been curbed since 1990. The achievement can be attributed mainly to changes in fertility concepts, the spread of contraceptive knowledge and enhancement of family planning services at the grassroots level. The family planning work has made a certain contribution to socio-economic development, poverty alleviation, becoming better off financially and improving population quality. Comparison between 1990 and 1982, growth in persons was 0.30 million, growth rate was 16.04% and annual growth rate was 1.88%, but between 2000 and 1990, they were 0.42 million, 19.3% and 1.72%. |
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