Lhasa (Tibetan: ལྷ་ས་; Wylie: lha sa; Lhasa dialect IPA; Simplified Chinese: 拉萨; Traditional Chinese: 拉薩; Pinyin: Lāsà), sometimes spelled Llasa, is the traditional capital of Tibet and the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China.
The city is the traditional seat of the Dalai Lama and the Potala and Norbulingka palaces and in Tibetan Buddhism is regarded as the holiest centre in Tibet.
Lhasa literally means "place of the gods", although ancient Tibetan documents and inscriptions demonstrate that the place was first called Rasa, which means "courtyard place" or "goat place".
The city is part of a township-level prefecture, the Lhasa Prefecture consisting of 7 small counties: Lhünzhub County, Damxung County, Nyêmo County, Qüxü County, Doilungdêqên County, Dagzê County,Maizhokunggar County.