Lhasa is the provincial seat of Tibet Autonomous Region. In Tibetan, Lhasa means Holly Land or Buddhist Land. It has long been the political, economic, cultural and religious center of Tibet, with the splendid and majestic Potala Palace as the symbol of old ultimate integrated authority of politics and religion. Based on the advantages of natural resources and leveraging the comparative superiority, Lhasa exerts great efforts in developing its five unique industries, namely excavation, processing of agricultural and animal husbandry products, Tibet traditional medicine, new-type building materials and folk handicrafts. In 2007, Lhasa’s GDP totaled RMB 12 billion, with a per capita GDP of RMB 19,589 against the permanent-resident population of 460,000.

拉萨，西藏自治区首府，”拉萨”在藏语中为“圣地”或“佛地”之意，长期以来就是西藏政治、经济、文化、宗教的中心，金碧辉煌、雄伟壮丽的布达拉宫，是至高无上政教合一政权的象征。拉萨在发展特色工业上，依托资源优势，发挥比较优势，大力发展以采掘业、农畜产品加工业、藏医药业、新型建材业、民族手工业为主的五大特色工业。2007年全市国民生产总值为120亿元，常住人口为46万，人均GDP达到19589元。

Situated on the alluvial plains in river valleys, Lhasa is one of the cities at the highest elevation in the world. With more than 3,000 hours of sunshine annually, it is thus called the “sunshine city”. Lhasa is surrounded by the omnipresent thermal springs that are economically valuable and therapeutically useful. The Qusan Hot Spring in Doilungdêqên County and the Dejong Hot Spring in Maizhokunggar County are well-known all over Tibet. The north of Lhasa is prosperous in animal husbandry, the middle is famous for the Lhasa River Valley and the south is dominated by the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River which fosters one of the good agricultural areas in Tibet with rich production of qingke, wheat, oilseeds and pulse.

拉萨市区地处河谷冲积平原，是世界上海拔最高的城市之一。年日照时数3000小时以上，故有“日光城”美称。拉萨周围具有经济价值和医疗作用的地热温泉遍地，堆龙德庆县的曲桑温泉、墨竹工卡县的德中温泉享誉整个藏区。拉萨北部牧业兴旺，中部是著名的拉萨河谷，南部属雅鲁藏布江中游，为西藏较好的农业区之一，盛产青稞、小麦、油菜籽和豆类。