Geographical names and the entities they represent act as a fundamental cornerstone across
numerous disciplines. However, inconsistent geographical names and arbitrarily defined regional
geographical scales are common, hindering cross-disciplinary communication and synthesis. The
Pan-Tibetan Highlands, comprising the Tibetan Plateau, Himalaya, Hengduan Mountains and
Mountains of Central Asia, is a case in point. To rectify these inconsistencies of terminology, we
employed a multi-disciplinary approach to standardize the nomenclature of the Tibetan Plateau and
the three adjacent mountain regions, defining their spatial extent using historical and contemporary
perspectives. A literature meta-analysis indicated that ‘Tibetan Plateau’, ‘Himalaya’ and
‘Hengduan Mountains’ are the most suitable names for these regions in terms of both priority
(earliest use) and popularity, whereas ‘Mountains of Central Asia’ emerges as appropriate for the
mountain chains to the west of the Tibetan Plateau. The new term ‘Pan-Tibetan Highlands’ is
proposed to replace the less precise and arguably misleading ‘High Mountain Asia’ for these
regions collectively. Additionally, new geographical boundaries, applicable back through time, are
proposed for each region, based on geological and geomorphological features. Using these new
boundaries, the Pan-Tibetan Highlands area is 3.95 × 106 km2 with a mean elevation of 3824 m,
while the Tibetan Plateau is smaller (1.82 × 106 km2) and higher (4465 m) than commonly
assumed. Across the Pan-Tibetan Highlands, the proportion of protected areas is far below the
proposed 30% anticipated in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework target with only a few
exceptions. Additionally, the Hengduan Mountains showed the highest vascular plant species
richness and endemism, followed by Himalaya, Mountains of Central Asia and the Tibetan
Plateau. The obvious conservation gap in the Pan-Tibetan Highlands calls for urgent researchbased optimization of conservation networks. Our approach benefits quantitative spatial analysis
by providing well-defined geographical scales for various fields, aiding cross-disciplinary
comparisons and synthesis.
Geographical names and the entities they represent act as a fundamental cornerstone across
numerous disciplines. However, inconsistent geographical names and arbitrarily defined regional
geographical scales are common, hindering cross-disciplinary communication and synthesis. The
Pan-Tibetan Highlands, comprising the Tibetan Plateau, Himalaya, Hengduan Mountains and
Mountains of Central Asia, is a case in point. To rectify these inconsistencies of terminology, we
employed a multi-disciplinary approach to standardize the nomenclature of the Tibetan Plateau and
the three adjacent mountain regions, defining their spatial extent using historical and contemporary
perspectives. A literature meta-analysis indicated that ‘Tibetan Plateau’, ‘Himalaya’ and
‘Hengduan Mountains’ are the most suitable names for these regions in terms of both priority
(earliest use) and popularity, whereas ‘Mountains of Central Asia’ emerges as appropriate for the
mountain chains to the west of the Tibetan Plateau. The new term ‘Pan-Tibetan Highlands’ is
proposed to replace the less precise and arguably misleading ‘High Mountain Asia’ for these
regions collectively. Additionally, new geographical boundaries, applicable back through time, are
proposed for each region, based on geological and geomorphological features. Using these new
boundaries, the Pan-Tibetan Highlands area is 3.95 × 106 km2 with a mean elevation of 3824 m,
while the Tibetan Plateau is smaller (1.82 × 106 km2) and higher (4465 m) than commonly
assumed. Across the Pan-Tibetan Highlands, the proportion of protected areas is far below the
proposed 30% anticipated in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework target with only a few
exceptions. Additionally, the Hengduan Mountains showed the highest vascular plant species
richness and endemism, followed by Himalaya, Mountains of Central Asia and the Tibetan
Plateau. The obvious conservation gap in the Pan-Tibetan Highlands calls for urgent researchbased optimization of conservation networks. Our approach benefits quantitative spatial analysis
by providing well-defined geographical scales for various fields, aiding cross-disciplinary
comparisons and synthesis.
