Since the Chinese annexation of Tibet in 1949, as many as 1.2 million Tibetans have been killed through executions, torture and starvation while more than 6,000 of Tibet's temples and monasteries have been defaced or destroyed. When tensions peaked and violence broke out in 1959, the Dalai Lama, spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, was left with little choice but to flee his homeland along with 80,000 Tibetan refugees. The following year, as more Tibetan refugees arrived, the Indian government allowed political asylum in Dharamsala for the Dalai Lama and Tibetan refugees to set up an administration in exile. Today, the Himalayan hill town of Dharamsala has become the center of the Tibetan exile world amongst its 140,000 refugees.



Worldwide distribution : 140,000
India: 100,000; Nepal: 25,000; USA & Canada: 7,000; Bhutan: 1,600;
Switzerland: 1,540; Taiwan: 1,000; Other countries: 3,860

Government
Democratic with popular and electoral college voting

Cabinet Ministries
Education, Finance, Health, Home Affairs, Information & International Relations, Religion & Culture, and Security

Head of State
His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Seat of Government
Dharamsala, Northern India

Military & Police
None

Government Income
Annual voluntary tax, business revenue, donations

Economy
Sweater-selling, agriculture, agro-industrial, handicrafts, handicraft exports, carpet weaving