Drongpa County or Zhongba County is a county of Shigatse Prefecture in China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Located in the western part of Central Tibet (sometimes referred to as "western Tibet"), it is the birthplace of the Tsangpo River (Brahmaputra). Zhongba is said to mean "place of wild yaks" in Tibetan. The county seat is at Labrang, which is also called the "Drongpa Township".

Geography

Drongpa County is the largest county in the Shigatse Prefecture by geographical area. It has a population of approximately 18,000 and covers 43,594 square kilometers. It is prone to earthquakes and suffered a large one, 6.8 on the Richter scale, on 30 August 2008. Although the temblor left a 10 km north-south crack at the epicenter located at 31° north and 83.6° east, and houses were damaged and roads blocked by falling rocks, there were no reported injuries. The county is dotted with lakes such as Taro Tso, Nganglha Ringtso and Rinchen Shubtso. Drongpa County shares the Tibet Autonomous Region's southern border with most of western Nepal's Karnali and Dhaulagiri Zones with a border crossing into Mustang District leading through the former Lo Kingdom to its historic capital Lo Manthang.

Administration divisions

Zhongba County is divided into 1 town and 12 townships.

Maps

Transport

China National Highway 219