In 2001 it had a population of 47,500. Several famous Buddhist figures were born here, including the Kelzang Gyatso, the 7th Dalai Lama, Tsultrim Gyatso, the 10th Dalai Lama, four of the Pabalas, and has strong connections with the epic hero Gesar of Ling, as well as the 5th Jamyang Xaiba of Labrang.

During the 1950s the region around Litang was one of the main areas of Tibetan armed resistance to the Chinese occupation. A resistance group called "Four Rivers, Six Ranges" was active in the area. In 1956 the monastery in Litang was bombed by the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

Litang Town itself is located at an altitude of 4,014 metres. It is on open grassland and surrounded by snow-capped mountains and is about 400 meters higher than Lhasa, making it one of the highest towns in the world.

In August, 2007, a horse-racing festival at Litang was the scene of an impromptu anti-government political speech by Runggye Adak, which was followed by protests calling for his release. A crackdown officially described as "patriotic education campaign" followed in autumn of 2007, including several politically motivated arrests and attempts to force local Tibetans to denounce the Dalai Lama.

Administrative Divisions

• Urban Town：Litang Town。
• Townships：君坝乡、哈依乡、觉吾乡、莫坝乡、亚火乡、绒坝乡、呷柯乡、奔戈乡、村戈乡、禾尼乡、曲登乡、喇嘛垭乡、章纳乡、上木拉乡、下木拉乡、中木拉乡、濯桑乡、甲洼乡、藏坝乡、格木乡、拉波乡、麦洼乡、德巫乡。

Notes

External links

• Official website of Litang County

Further reading

• Tsering Shakya: The Dragon in the Land of Snows. A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947, London 1999, ISBN 0-14-019615-3