Kamba County, also known as “Gampa County“, is a county under Shigatse City; it means “a place near the snow mountain” in Tibetan. The county seat Kamba Town is located slightly to the south in the middle of the county, and it is at the bottome of a valley surrounded by mountains in the east, north and west with altitude of 4580 meters. It is 307 kilometers east of Shigatse City and 580 kilometers away from Lhasa City.
Kamba County is located in the northern foot of the middle section of the Himalayas. It borders Yadong County and Bainang County in the east, Sakya County in the north, Dinggye County in the west, and the snow-capped mountains of Sikkim in the south.
Best time to travel June, July, August, September
Local climate Plateau temperate semi-arid monsoon climate zone
Most popular sites
Kamba Castle is an ancient castle made of adobe bricks. Its majestic body can be viewed from northeast of Kamba County. This place has always been an important frontier defense of Kamba Zong, and being in it is like walking into a medieval European castle. Although the castle has been broken after 600 years of wind, rain and war, the broken walls on the dangerous hillside still stand.
Chorten Nyima Monastery, is located in the Himalayas about 40 kilometers southwest of Kamba County. It has a history of 1,200 years.
Three Pagodas, on the hillside west of Chorten Nyima Monastery, there are three sutra pagodas, namely “Sun Vajra Pagoda”, “Shepherd Pagoda”, and “Female Shepherd Pagoda”, The bottom of all pagodas are full of stones with buddhism scriptures carved. When believeres come, they will reverently circle the three Pagodas three times in a clockwise direction to express their prayers to Buddhas.
Geography and climate
Kamba County is about 75 kilometers long from east to west, 93 kilometers wide from north to south, with a total area of 4,100 square kilometers. The border is 97 kilometers long.
Kamba County is a high mountain landform of Himalayas, with an average elevation of 4,700 meters. The plateau hills in the territory account for about seven tenths of the land area, and the natural vegetation is sparse, mostly barren hills; the river valley beach land accounts for about three tenths of the land area.
Its terrain is high in the north and low in the south, with an elevation difference between 170 meters and 200 meters. The highest point is the hills on both sides of Kangsang Tongba at the junction of Sikkim and Kamba, with an elevation of 6763 meters, and the lowest point is 8 kilometers northeast of Linga Village, which is about 4375 meters above sea level
Population and ethnicity
As of 2002, Kamba County has a total population of 9,431 people, with a population density of 2.2 people per square kilometer. Tibetans account for 99.5% of the total population; Han people account for 0.16% of the total population. There are also a small number of Hui people and Mongolian.
Brief History
During Tubo kingdom, the area of Kamba was under the jurisdiction of “Tsang”.
In the middle of 14th Centure, Pazhou regime implemented Zong system, Kamba Zong was established, and it is located in the northeast of current Kamba couty
In 1960, Kamba Zong was changed to Kamba District, and it was under jurisdiction of Dinggye County of Shigatse Prefecture
In 1962, Kamba District was changed to Gamba County and was under jurisdiction of Gyangtse Prefecture.
In 1964, Kamba County was abolished, and being merged into Dinggye County, still under jurisdiction of Shigatse Prefecture.
In 1965, Kamba County was restored, and being under jurisdiction of Shigatse Prefecture as well
In 2014, Shigatse Prefecture was abolished and the prefecture-level Shigatse City was established, and Kamba County has been under jurisdiction of Shigatse City since then
