(1) Historical geography

In mid-13th century, Xizang was governed under the administrative jurisdiction of the central government, with Shigatse being home to 60,000 households.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Gaxag (Tibetan name of the local government of Xizang) government renamed Shigatse as Jizong. After the peaceful liberation of Xizang, the Shigatse and Gyalze temporary working committees were established respectively in 1951.

In 1960, the Shigatse and Gyalze commissioner's offices were each established; in 1964, they merged into the Shigatse Commissioner's Office; in 1978, it was renamed the Shigatse Prefecture Administrative Office, and on June 26, 2014, the State Council formally approved the establishment of Shigatse as a prefecture-level city.

Located in the southwestern part of Xizang, Shigatse is about 800 kilometers long from east to west and 220 kilometers from north to south.

It is adjacent to Lhasa and Lhokha to the east, the Ngari area to the west, Nepal, Bhutan, and India to the south, and Nagchu to the north, and covers an area of 179,240 square kilometers, with an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters.

It also boasts the world's highest peak - Mount Everest, the world's highest "hanging lake"- Changzhi Glacier Lake, Tashilhunpo Monastery, the Gyangze Anti-British Site and other national key cultural units. There are 15 cultural relics and 131 autonomous region-level key cultural protection units.

(2) Population division

Shigatse is an ethnic minority area dominated by Tibetans. The permanent population of the city was 8145,000 in 2024. In addition, there are dozens of other ethnic groups in the area, including Han, Hui, Tujia, Manchu, Miao, Zhuang in the territory.

In 2014, the Shigatse area and county-level cities were abolished, and the prefecture-level city was established, covering an area encompassing the Samdrubze district, Namling county, Gyalze county, Dingri county, Sa'kya county, and Lhaze county, including 204 towns and 1,673 villages.

(3) Economic and social development

In 2024, the regional GDP reached 46.43 billion yuan ($6.42 billion), an increase of 6.4 percent over the previous year. Among them, the added value of the primary industry was 7.57 billion yuan, an increase of 13 percent; the added value of the secondary industry was some 13.65 billion yuan, an increase of 7.1 percent, and the added value of the tertiary industry was about 25.19 billion yuan, an increase of 4.3 percent.