Editor's Note: Ngari, sited at an average elevation of 4,500 meters, is often mentioned as "roof on the roof of the world".

The Ngari Prefecture is located in the western part of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, at the center of the Changtang Plateau on the northern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It begins at Zhamai Mountain, west of the Tanggula Mountains, in the east, bordering on Nagqu, and stretches to the western section of the Himalayas in the west and southwest, bordering on India and Nepal. It joins the middle section of the Kangdese Mountains, neighboring the Zongba and Sagar counties of the Xigaze Prefecture, and ends on the southern side of the Kunlun Mountains in the north, neighboring the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

It covers a vast stretch of land and has a sparse population. The border totals 1,116 km, with 57 passageways linking the prefecture to other places. The prefecture stretches 600 km from east to west and measures 550 km from north to south, covering a total area of 34,500 square km.

Ngari is where the Himalayas, Kangdese and Kalakunlun ranges meet, about 4,500 meters above sea level on an average. Its general terrain is high in the north and south and low in the middle. The average annual temperature is zero degree. The four large rivers, Shiquanhe, Xiangquanhe, Maquanhe and Kongquehe, which originate from the Kangdese and Himalayas, flow northwest, southwest and southeast separately into India and Nepal, becoming the upper reaches of the Indus River, Sutlei River, Brahmaputra River and the Ganges, which finally join the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. Ngari has therefore been described as "on the roof of the world and at the head of waters." Here, there are rolling mountains and vast stretches of field. Lakes dot the vast territory.

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