Who Tibetans are, what language they speak, what Tibetan people are known for, and the food, festivals and greetings you will meet in Tibetan communities in Canada. བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས། Tashi delek, and welcome!
What ethnicity is Tibetan?
Tibetans are an East Asian ethnic group, the indigenous people of the Tibetan Plateau, the high plateau north of the Himalayas often called “the roof of the world”. There are about 7.7 million Tibetans worldwide. Most live on the plateau, today largely within China (the Tibet Autonomous Region and parts of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan), and large exile communities live in India and Nepal, with smaller ones in North America and Europe, including about 9,350 in Canada.
Tibetans traditionally come from three regions: Ü-Tsang (central and western Tibet, including Lhasa), Kham (the east) and Amdo (the northeast). Each has its own dialect, dress and customs. Neighbouring peoples such as the Sherpa of Nepal, the Ladakhis and the Bhutanese share many Tibetan roots, languages and Buddhist traditions, but are distinct communities.
What are Tibetan people known for?
- Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama. Tibet’s monasteries, meditation and philosophy are known around the world, and the 14th Dalai Lama is one of the world’s best-known spiritual leaders.
- Living on the roof of the world. Tibetans have lived for thousands of years at 4,000 metres and higher. Scientists have found genetic adaptations, such as a variant of the EPAS1 gene, that help Tibetans thrive with less oxygen.
- Warm hospitality. Guests are welcomed with butter tea and a white silk scarf called a khata, a sign of respect and good wishes.
- Art and colour. Thangka scroll paintings, sand mandalas, carved prayer wheels and the five-colour prayer flags seen on Tibetan homes and shops.
- Food. Momo dumplings, thukpa noodle soup, tsampa (roasted barley flour) and salty butter tea.
- Resilience and community. Since 1959, Tibetans in exile have kept their language, faith and culture alive through schools, monasteries and community centres around the world, including in Toronto.
What language do Tibetans speak?
Tibetans speak Tibetan, which belongs to the Tibetic group of the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The three main spoken forms are Central (Ü-Tsang, the Lhasa dialect), Kham and Amdo. Tibetan has its own alphabet, created in the 7th century from an Indian script, and the same written language is used for Buddhist texts across the Himalayas. In Canada, many families speak Tibetan at home alongside English or French, and children learn to read and write it at weekend classes.
| Say | Tibetan | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Tashi delek | བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས། | Hello / good luck and blessings |
| Thuk-je-che | ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ། | Thank you |
| Kale phe | ཀ་ལེ་ཕེབས། | Goodbye (to someone leaving) |
| Kale shu | ཀ་ལེ་བཞུགས། | Goodbye (to someone staying) |
| Losar tashi delek | ལོ་གསར་བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས། | Happy Tibetan New Year |
What religion are Tibetans?
Most Tibetans practise Tibetan Buddhism, which has four main schools: Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug. A smaller number follow Bön, Tibet’s older indigenous tradition, and there are small Muslim and Christian communities. Daily practice often includes prayers, circling (kora) temples and stupas, lighting butter lamps and turning prayer wheels. Find a temple or Dharma centre near you in our Buddhist centres directory.
Tibetan festivals and sacred days
- Losar (Tibetan New Year): the biggest celebration of the year, with family visits, khapse pastries and prayers. Losar 2027 falls on Sunday, 7 February 2027, beginning the Fire Female Sheep year 2154. Losar 2028 is on 26 February 2028.
- Saga Dawa Düchen: celebrates the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing; in 2027 it falls on 18 June.
- Birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama: 6 July, celebrated during Tibetan Heritage Month in Ontario.
- Lhabab Düchen, Chökhor Düchen and Ganden Ngamchö: other important sacred days through the year.
See every date, with today’s Tibetan date, on our Tibetan calendar, and add it to your phone calendar with one tap. Community celebrations in Toronto are listed on Events.
Tibetan food to try
- Momo: steamed or fried dumplings filled with beef, chicken or vegetables, served with spicy sauce.
- Thukpa and thenthuk: hearty noodle soups.
- Shabhaley: fried bread pockets filled with seasoned meat.
- Tsampa: roasted barley flour, Tibet’s traditional staple.
- Po cha (butter tea) and sweet milk tea.
Hungry? Find Tibetan restaurants and momo takeaway in Parkdale and across Canada.
What do Tibetan prayer flags mean?
Prayer flags, called lungta (“wind horse”), are printed with prayers and mantras. Tibetans believe the wind carries their blessings to everyone it touches. The five colours, always in the same order, stand for the elements: blue for sky and space, white for air and wind, red for fire, green for water and yellow for earth. You will see them across the top of this website too.
Questions people often ask
What ethnicity is Tibetan?
Tibetans are an East Asian ethnic group indigenous to the Tibetan Plateau, with about 7.7 million people worldwide. They speak Tibetan, a Tibeto-Burman language, and most practise Tibetan Buddhism.
What are Tibetan people known for?
Tibetans are known for Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama, for living at very high altitude, for warm hospitality with butter tea and khata scarves, for thangka art and prayer flags, for momo dumplings, and for keeping their culture alive in exile.
How do you say hello in Tibetan?
Say “Tashi delek” (བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས།). It means good luck and blessings and is used as hello. “Thuk-je-che” means thank you.
When is Losar 2027?
Losar, the Tibetan New Year, falls on Sunday, 7 February 2027 and begins the Fire Female Sheep year 2154 in the Tibetan (Phugpa) calendar.
What is a khata?
A khata is a white silk scarf offered as a sign of respect, welcome and good wishes: to guests, teachers, at weddings, graduations, Losar and farewells.
Are Sherpas Tibetan?
Sherpas are a distinct ethnic group of Nepal whose ancestors came from eastern Tibet. They share a Tibetan-related language and Tibetan Buddhism, but they are a separate community from Tibetans.
Learn more
Read about Tibetans in Canada: how many there are, where they live and how they came here. Then explore the Tibetan Directory, the Tibetan calendar and community events.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Tibetans” · The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Tibetan Canadians” · Losar and sacred-day dates calculated with the Phugpa method (S. Janson, Tibetan Calendar Mathematics), as on our Tibetan calendar.