CONTEXTTibet knew its first famine during 1960-62, as a result of the Chinese invasion of 1950. The food shortage occurred because Chinese colonizers settled massively, increasing the population, and because of the changes imposed on Tibetan traditional agriculture by Maos Great Leap Forward. Death RollAccurate estimations and data about Tibetan victims of the Chinese genocide are hard to find, given that China provides biased information. However, associations like Friends of Tibet estimate that out of the 1.2 million deaths, 343,151 were caused by famine. Unfortunately, no further information is available on the gender, age or/and class of the victims. II. ECOLOGICAL CHANGES Tibet was ecologically stable before the communist Chinese invasion in 1950. The vegetation was sparse, but the land supported a diverse wildlife and famine was unknown. Because Tibetans followed the Buddhist principle that forbids them to disturb the earth, they exploited few resources. This fragile ecology was irreversibly destroyed as a result of the Chinese incursion, as they deforested parts of the plateau to build hydroelectric plants, for example. GeographyTibet is located on the highest plateau (about 472,000-sq mi.) in the world at a height of 12,000 feet, in the Himalayas. India borders the country, south and west, Nepal and Bhutan, south, and China, north and east. ClimateThe famine in Tibet was not linked to a particular natural disaster, since it was man-made. However, the climate is dry and cold with an average annual temperature of 34 F. Therefore the soil is frozen eight to ten months a year and resources are limited. III. SOCIO ECONOMIC CONDITIONS Land Tenure Before the Chinese invasion, Tibet had a feudal land tenure system, which structure resembled the one in Europe during the Middle Age, but was not as inhumane. The land belonged to the state (30%), to monasteries (40%), and to nobility. It was then divided between big landowner...
