The Tibet Area was a province-level administrative division of the Republic of China and early People's Republic of China. The Republic of China never had any real control over the area, which was de facto controlled by the Ganden Phodrang government in Lhasa. When the Republic was originally founded in 1912, the Kashag controlled about the same area as the Tibet Area, but later also took control of the western portion of Sikang Province; thus for the most of the Republic of China period, Lhasa controlled an area which was near identical to the contemporary Tibet Autonomous Region. The People's Republic of China invaded Chamdo in 1950 and incorporated the Dalai Lama-controlled regions in 1951. Following the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the State Council of the PRC ordered to replace the Kashag government with the "Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region" which was established in 1956. The current Tibet Autonomous Region was eventually established in 1965.