implications for the downstream riparian countries of India and Bangladesh. Climate and vegetation The Himalayas in the south dictate the climatic conditions in the prefecture. The warm and moisture laden winds from the Indian Ocean cause the precipitation in the region and results in a temperate climate. It has short cool summers with winters being long, dry and windy. There is a wide variation in temperature between day and night. The average temperature lies between . The average annual precipitation reported varies from and 90% of this rainfall occurs during the monsoon months from June to September. The annual wind speed is /sec and December to March are the windy months. The forest area in Shannan is reported to be 1.55 million ha, which is 5% of the total forest cover in Tibet. The forest resource in terms of volume has been assessed as 38.8 billion cum. The forest has rich variety of plant species; 1000 species of trees, precious wood and herbal plants have been identified. Afforestation programmes have been pursued vigorously with the result that a forest belt of stretch has been created in the Zetang City, on the bank of the Yarlung River which helps in erosion control due to wind and river action. Thirty apple orchards set up in the prefecture produce 1,000 tonnes of fruit each year. Administrative sub-divisions Shannan is marked by China with a geographical area of distributed over 1 district and 11 counties with a total population of 330,000. However, a large part of the counties of Lhunze () and Cona (), covering an area of and collectively known as part of South Tibet, are shown by the Chinese government to be Tibetan Autonomous Region's territory (although currently in the control of India) and hence marked disputed. The details of the names of the county, its transliterated names in Simplified Chinese, Hanyu Pinyin, Wylie, Tibetan, population (as of 2003), area and density of population are given in the following table. Demographics The population of the city was 330,100 in 2007. Tibetans accounted for 96% of Shannan's total population. There are 14 ethnic groups, including Tibetans, the Han, the Menba, and the Luoba, living in the area. Economy The economy of the city has undergone substantial progress in recent years following the reform policy and opening of the area by the Tibet Autonomous Region to development support from China and other countries. The