China's 1996 population survey put the population of the Tibetan Autonomous Region at 2.44 million. Like the Han Chinese (and almost all the other ethnic minorities of China), the Tibetans are classified as belonging to the Mongoloid family of peoples. They probably descended from a variety of nomadic tribes who migrated from the north and settled to sedentary cultivation of Tibet's river valleys. About a quarter of Tibetans, however, are still nomadic. There are considerable variations between regional groups of Tibetans. The most recognizable of these are the Khampas of eastern Tibet who are generally larger and a bit more rough-and-ready than other Tibetans and who wear red or black tassels in their long hair. Women from Amdo are especially conspicuous because of their elaborate braided hairstyles and jewellery.

There are pockets of other minority groups, such as the Lhopa (Lhoba) and Monpa, in the south-east of Tibet, although these make up less than 1% of the total population. A more visible ethnic group are the Hui Muslims. Tibet's original Muslim inhabitants were largely traders or butchers (a profession that most Buddhist abhor), although most of the recent migrants are traders and restaurant owners from southern Gansu province. The Tibetans' closest ethnic cousins are Qiang, who now live mostly in northern Sichuan province. Tibetans are also closely related to the Sherpas of Nepal and the Ladakhis of India.

Tibetan and (Mandarin) Chinese are the two main languages of Tibet. Tibetan is spoken by over seven million people throughout the Himalayan region, although there are considerable local variations, Lhasa-ke is the standard honorific dialect, although this is barely understood by speakers of Kham-ke and Amdo-ke in the east and north-east of the country respectively, Very few Tibetans outside Lhasa speak English, although most Tibetans in China now speak at least basic Chinese.

A basic understanding of Buddhism is essential to getting beneath the skin of things in Tibet. Buddhism's values and goals permeate almost everything Tibetan. Exploring the monasteries and temples of Tibet and mixing with its people, yet knowing nothing of Buddhism, is like visiting Rome and knowing nothing of Christianity To be sure, it might still seem an awe-inspiring experience, but much will remain hidden and indecipherable.

For those who already do know something of Buddhism, who have read something of Zen, for example, Tibet can be baffling on another level. The grandeur of the temples, the worship of images and the fierce protective deities that stand in doorways all seem to belie the basic tenets of an ascetic faith that is basically about renouncing the self and following a path of moderation.

Tibetan Buddhism's reaction with existing Shamanistic Bön spirit worship and the Hindu pantheon created a huge range of deities, both wrathful and benign (although these are all merely aspects of the human ego). Apart from a whole range of different Buddha aspects, there are also general protector gods called dharmapalas and personal meditational deities called yidams (either male herukas or female dakinis), which Tantric students adopt early in their spiritual training. Yet for all its confusing iconography the basic tenets of Buddhism are very much rooted in daily experience. Even high lamas and monks come across as surprisingly down-to-earth.

Buddhism is perhaps the most tolerant of the world's religions. Wherever it has gone it has adapted to local conditions, like a dividing cell creating countless new schools of thought. Its basic tenets have remained very much the same and all schools are bound together in their faith in the value of the original teachings of Sakyamuni (Sakya Thukpa), the Historical Buddha.

Closely linked to Bön and Buddhism is the folk religion of Tibet, known in Tibetan as michös, or 'the dharma of man', which is primarily concerned with spirits. These spirits include nyen, which reside in rocks and trees; snake-bodied spirits known as lu or naga, which live at the bottom of lakes, rivers and wells; sadok, lords of the earth, which are connected with agriculture; tsen, air spirits which shoot arrows of illness and death at humans; and dud, demons linked to the Buddhist demon Mara. The religious beliefs of the average Tibetan are a fascinating mélange of Buddhism, Bön and this folk religion.