Standard Tibetan is spoken in Tibet, part of the Peoples Republic of China, by an estimated 7.5 million persons. It is based on Lhasa, a dialect of Ü-Tsang, which is a member of the Central Tibetan Language group. Thus, “Central Tibetan” is taken as a synonym for the Tibetan language. Its written form is based on a classical tradition, and varies markedly from daily speech. Tibetan is written in an Indic script unique to Tibetan. Speakers of different dialects may not understand each other’s spoken words, but the Tibetan script is universally understood. Internationally, Tibetan is written in Latin characters, using the Wylie Romanization system.