Lhasa...

"Traditionally, the city is the seat of the Dalai Lama and the capital of Tibet, and is one of the highest capitals in the world. It is the location of the Potala and Norbulingka palaces (both are included as World Heritage Sites), and is the birthplace of Tibetan Buddhism. The Jokhang in Lhasa is regarded as the holiest centre in Tibet. Lhasa literally means "place of the gods", although ancient Tibetan documents and inscriptions demonstrate that the place was called Rasa, which means "goat's place", until the early 7th century."

"At an altitude is 3,490 metres (11,450 feet), Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world, covering a flat river valley in the Himalaya Mountains. The air only contains 68% of the oxygen compared to sea level.
Lhasa and the prefecture covers an area of close to 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi). It has a central area of 544 km2 (210 sq mi) and a total population of 500,000; 250,000 of its people live in the urban area. Lhasa is home to the Tibetan, Han, and Hui peoples, as well as several other ethnic groups, but overall the Tibetan ethnic group makes up a majority of the total population."

"Lhasa features a cold steppe climate. Due to its very high altitude, Lhasa has a cool, dry climate with frosty winters. It enjoys 3,000 hours of sunlight annually and is sometimes called the "sunlit city" by Tibetans."

Text in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lhasa