| Xigazê | |
| Native Name: | Chinese: 日喀则市 |
| Other Name: | Shigatse |
| Nickname: | Gateway to Everest |
| Settlement Type: | Prefecture-level city |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | People's Republic of China |
| Subdivision Type1: | Autonomous region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Tibet |
| Subdivision Type2: | County-level divisions |
| Seat Type: | Municipal seat |
| Seat: | Samzhubzê District |
| Coordinates: | 29.267°N 88.881°W |
| Area Total Km2: | 182000 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 798153 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type2: | GDP |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Total |
| Demographics2 Info1: | CN¥ 16.7 billion US$ 2.7 billion |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Per capita |
| Demographics2 Info2: | CN¥ 22,469 US$ 3,608 |
| Timezone: | China Standard |
| Utc Offset: | +8 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Iso Code: | CN-XZ-02 |
| Order: | st |
| Showflag: | p |
| Tib: | གཞིས་ཀ་རྩེ་ |
| Wylie: | gzhis ka rtse |
| Zwpy: | Xigazê |
| P: | Rìkāzé |
| Bpmf: | ㄖˋ ㄎㄚ ㄗㄜˊ |
| W: | Jih4-ka1-tsê2 |
| Gr: | Ryhkatzer |
| Myr: | R̀kādzé |
| Tp: | Rìhkazé |
Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê, or Rikaze (;),[1] [2] is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of 182000km2, corresponds to the historical Ü-Tsang region of Tibet.
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 280km (170miles) southwest of Lhasa and home to the Tashilhunpo Monastery, traditionally the seat of the Panchen Lama.[3]
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).[4]
In the eighth century, the Tibetan Empire of Tibetan King Chisong Dezan invited Indian monk Padmasambhava into Tibet to build the Samye Mighur Lhundrub Tsula Khang, passing through the place of Rikaze where the practice of preaching, and predicated Lhasa as the center of snowy plateau followed by Nianmai (Shigatse). In the eleventh century the Sakya dynasty, Nianmai has initially begun urbanization.
In October 1959, Rikaze prefecture was established.[5] In 1970, Rikaze Prefecture was abolished and Rikaze District was established.[6] 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. [7]
On 18 December 2014, prefecture-level Shigatse City was officially established.[8] [9]
According to the 2020 Chinese census, the resident population of the city was 798,153.[10] 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.
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.
| Ethnic Group | ! width="55" | Han ! | ! width="55" | Hui ! | ! width="55" | Kazakh ! | ! width="55" | Dongxiang ! | ! width="55" | Hmong ! | Other Ethnic Groups | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 671664 | 25810 | 2669 | 1434 | 703 | 250 | 162 | 138 | 98 | 66 | 298 | |||||
| Proportion of total population (%) | 95.50 | 3.67 | 0.38 | 0.20 | 0.10 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.04 | |||||
| Proportion of ethnic minority population (%) | 99.14 | --- | 0.39 | 0.21 | 0.10 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.04 |
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.[12]
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.[13]
Shigatse Tingri Airport opened in December 2022.[14]
China National Highway 318 and China National Highway 219 are the main roads in and out of Shigatse.[15] [16] [17]
| Map | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Simplified Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Tibetan | Wylie | Population | Area (km2) | Density (/km2) | |||||
| City proper | ||||||||||||
| Samzhubzê District | Chinese: 桑珠孜区 | bsam 'grub rtse chus | 120,374 | 3,654 | 32.94 | |||||||
| Rural | ||||||||||||
| Namling County | Chinese: 南木林县 | rnam gling rdzong | 74,930 | 8,113 | 9.23 | |||||||
| Gyantse County | Chinese: 江孜县 | rgyal rtse rdzong | 63,503 | 3,859 | 16.45 | |||||||
| Tingri County | Chinese: 定日县 | ding ri rdzong | 50,818 | 13,859 | 3.66 | |||||||
| Sa'gya County | Chinese: 萨迦县 | sa skya rdzong | 47,304 | 7,510 | 6.29 | |||||||
| Lhatse County | Chinese: 拉孜县 | lha rtse rdzong | 49,286 | 4,505 | 10.94 | |||||||
| Ngamring County | Chinese: 昂仁县 | ngam ring rdzong | 51,472 | 20,105 | 2.56 | |||||||
| Xaitongmoin County | Chinese: 谢通门县 | bzhad mthong smon rdzong | 42,280 | 13,960 | 3.02 | |||||||
| Bainang County | Chinese: 白朗县 | pa snam rdzong | 42,551 | 2,806 | 15.16 | |||||||
| Rinbung County | Chinese: 仁布县 | rin spungs rdzong | 27,826 | 2,123 | 13.10 | |||||||
| Kangmar County | Chinese: 康马县 | khang dmar rdzong | 20,522 | 6,165 | 3.32 | |||||||
| Dinggyê County | Chinese: 定结县 | gding skyes rdzong | 20,319 | 5,816 | 3.49 | |||||||
| Zhongba County | Chinese: 仲巴县 | 'brong pa rdzong | 22,147 | 43,594 | 0.50 | |||||||
| Yadong County | Chinese: 亚东县 | gro mo rdzong | 12,920 | 4,306 | 3.00 | |||||||
| Gyirong County | Chinese: 吉隆县 | skyid grong rdzong | 14,972 | 9,009 | 1.66 | |||||||
| Nyalam County | Chinese: 聂拉木县 | gnya' lam rdzong | 17,568 | 7,903 | 2.22 | |||||||
| Saga County | Chinese: 萨嘎县 | sa dga' rdzong | 14,036 | 12,411 | 1.13 | |||||||
| Kamba County | Chinese: 岗巴县 | gam pa rdzong | 10,464 | 3,936 | 2.65 | |||||||
Shigatse has an elevation-influenced humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dwb).