Changpa

Changpa of the Tibet Autonomous Region

The homeland of the Changpa is a high-altitude plateau known as the Changtang, which forms a portion of western and northern Tibet extending to southeastern Ladakh, and Changpa means "northerners" in Tibetan. Unlike many other nomadic groups in Tibet, the Changpa are not under pressure from settled farmers as the vast majority of land they inhabit is too inhospitable for farming.

Most of the Tibetan Changtang is now protected by means of nature reserves consisting of the Chang Tang Nature Reserve, the second-largest nature reserve in the world, and four new adjoining smaller reserves totalling 496,000 km² (191,507 sq. miles) of connected Nature Reserves, which represents an area almost as large as Spain and bigger than 197 countries. Since the reserves were established, there has been a welcome increase in the number of endangered species. The protected areas stretch across parts of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Xinjiang and Qinghai in China.

The Changpa of Ladakh are high-altitude pastoralists, raising mainly yaks and goats. Among the Ladakh Changpa, those who are still nomadic are known as Phalpa and they take their herds from the Hanley Valley to the village of Lato. Hanley is home to six isolated settlements, where the sedentary Changpa, the Fangpa, reside. Despite their different lifestyles, both these groups intermarry. The Changpa speak Changskhat, a dialect of Tibetan, and practice Tibetan Buddhism.

Only a small part of Changthang crosses the border into Ladakh, in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is, however, on a historically important route for travelers journeying from Ladakh to Lhasa, and now has many different characteristics due to being part of India. Historically, the Changpa of Ladakh would migrate with their herds into Tibet, but with the Chinese takeover of Tibet, this route has been closed.

As of 2001, the Changpa are classified as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian government's reservation program of affirmative action.