Lhassa (' the Seat of the Gods'), the capital of Tibet, and a sacred city of the Buddhists, is situated in a fertile plain, 45 miles NE. of the junction of the Ki-chu with the Yaro San-po, 11,910 feet above the sea, and surrounded by mountains from 2000 to 4000 feet higher. The densely packed city proper is surrounded with a wall, outside which lie extensive suburbs, the houses standing in gardens, ranged on each side of broad, tree-shaded streets. The monasteries, some fifteen in number, are scattered over the plain and in the suburbs. Just outside the central city on the north-west stands a conical hill, Potala, which is thickly encrusted with palaces and temples, their roofs all gilded ; this is the abode of the Grand Lama. Lhassa is not only the centre of the Lamaist form of Buddhism, but is an important trading centre. The resident population, exclusive of many thousands of monks, is about 15,000 ; sometimes augmented by a floating population of 40,000 pilgrims and traders. Its mysteries were first fully revealed to the British expedition which forced its way hither in 1904, and concluded a treaty here. See Tibet, and the works on Lhassa by Landon, Candler, and Waddell (all in 1905).