The Tibetan Plateau or Himalayan Plateau is a vast elevated plateau in Central Asia and East Asia, covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province in western China, as well as part of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir state of India. With an average elevation exceeding 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) i.e. approximately 4.5kms, the Tibetan Plateau is sometimes called “the Roof of the World” and is the world’s highest and largest plateau, with an area of 2,500,000 square kilometres (970,000 sq mi).