The name Tibet may refer to the Tibet Autonomous Region or a wider cultural and historical Tibet known as Greater Tibet. The area of Tibet, as well as its political status and its relationship with Chinese and Mongolian empires has fluctuated throughout the centuries. However, it has been an independent and singular political entity from VII AD to the mid XX century.

In 1950, soon after the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, the Himalayan country was occupied by the Chinese army, which defeated the Tibetan forces. The invasion and the international community's silence forced the Tibetan leaders to sign the 17 Point Agreement, which certified Tibet's submission to Beijing.

The Chinese occupation, referred to as "liberation" and "democratic reform" by the communist regime, set out to brutally modify the property of land and the power of the lamas, as well as to attack the Buddhist religion. These, added to the deadly consequences of the Great Leap Forward, caused unrest among the population. The instability ended up in popular risings in Kham, Amdo and later on in Lhasa. In March 1959, mass protests in the streets of the Tibetan capital in support of the Dalai Lama led to the Chinese military intervention with heavy weaponry and thousands of people barricading themselves in the city.

An indefinite number of people died and thousands fled the country, including the Dalai Lama, who settled in Dharamsala (India) and established there the Tibetan government in exile.

The 60's were the darkest years for Tibetans due to the Cultural Revolution, which resulted in the assassination, imprisonment or torture of thousands of Buddhist monks and Tibetan citizens. Tibetan cultural and societal assets such as Buddhist monasteries, holy books and other works of art were also attacked and persecuted.

Even though Chinese policies against Tibet were not as vehement in the last quarter of the XX century, the Tibetan religious, cultural and political rights have been invariably infringed. Besides, Beijing set up a new colonization policy with the transfer of Han population into the country aiming at altering Tibet's demographic makeup.

The Tibetan cause has had a great support outside China, primarily because of the work of the XIV Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, who leads an outstanding international campaign for which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

The Tibetan question drew worldwide attention again in the summer of 2008, when people raised against the Beijing Olympic Games, and in 2009, the year in which Tibetans commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's exile.

Politically speaking, current discussions regarding Tibet focus on the autonomy issue. The Dalai Lama has said a number of times that his goal is not independence but a sufficient autonomy for the Tibetan culture to survive. Beyond his authority, though, it seems that there is an increasing number of Tibetans demanding full independence as the only way out to a conflict that it is not considered as such by China.