The Tibetan Plateau covers an area of 2.5 million sq km, comprising about one -fourth of China's total land area. With an average altitude of about 4,000 m, it is the world's high-est plateau, and is thus called the "Roof of the World."
Geologists and other earth scientists from home and abroad have been conducting extensive research on how the Tibetan Plateau was formed. Some scientists have even suggested that the true knowledge of the plateau's forma-tion process could bring about a revolution in the study of landmass formations of the world.
The climate on the Tibetan Plateau is typical of high al-titude plateaus: strong sunlight, low temperatures with greater diurnal range and smaller annual range, thin ain and low oxygen levels.
Tibetans are the largest ethnic group on the Tibetan Pla-teau, accounting for more than 90 percent of the total popu-lation. The Tibet autonomous region is also home to Han, Mongolian, Monba and Lhoba ethnic groups.
Qaidam can be broadly divided into the Qaidam Basin and the Qinghai Lake Basin. The Qaidam Basin is a rela-tively low area on the northern part of the Tibetan Plateau. Qaidam in Mongolian means "salt marsh," which the basin actually is.
