A woman (L) receives medical checkup at a hospital in Dagze County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on April 9, 2007. The population in Tibet increased from 1.228 million in 1959 to 2.8708 million in 2008, according to the white paper titled "Fifty Years of Democratic Reform in Tibet" released on March 2, 2009 by the Information Office of the State Council, or China's Cabinet. The past 50 years have seen the fastest population expansion in the region for centuries. [Xinhua]

Girls of the Tibetan ethnic group attend a festival in Nyingchi, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on July 17, 2008.[Xinhua]