Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, the Great Fifth Dalai Lama (1617–1682), was a political and religious leader in seventeenth-century Tibet. Ngawang Lozang Gyatso was the ordination name he had received from Panchen Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen who was responsible for his ordination. He was the first Dalai Lama to wield effective political power over central Tibet, and is frequently referred to as the "Great Fifth Dalai Lama".

Lobsang Gyatso (birthname: Künga Nyingpo) was born in 1617 in Tsang to a family with traditional ties to the Sakya and Nyingma orders. His famous noble Zahor family had held their seat since the 14th century at Taktsé Castle, the former stronghold of the Tibetan kings. His father, Dudul Rabten, was arrested in 1618 for being involved in a plot against the royal government of the king of Tsang at almost the same time the Gelug had secretly chosen his son as the reincarnation of Yonten Gyatso, the 4th Dalai Lama. According to the 14th Dalai Lama it was Sonam Choephel, the chief attendant of the Fourth Dalai Lama, who discovered the incarnation. Dudul Rabten escaped and tried to reach eastern Tibet but was rearrested and never saw his son again before he died in 1626 at Samdruptse, the king of Tsang's castle in Shigatse. Lobsang Gyatso's family were all ordered to live at the court at Samdruptse, but his mother, fearing the king, returned with her son to her family's home, Narkatse castle, in Yardrog.

The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Sino-Mongolian word далай (dalai) meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ bla-ma (with a silent "b") meaning "chief, high priest".

In religious terms, the Dalai Lama is believed by his devotees to be the rebirth of a long line of tulkus who are considered to be manifestations of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara. Traditionally, the Dalai Lama is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. The Dalai Lama is often thought to be the leader of the Gelug School, but this position belongs officially to the Ganden Tripa, which is a temporary position appointed by the Dalai Lama who, in practice, exerts much influence. The line of Dalai Lamas began as a lineage of spiritual teachers; the 5th Dalai Lama assumed political authority over Tibet.

For certain periods between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lamas sometimes directed the Tibetan government, which administered portions of Tibet from Lhasa. The 14th Dalai Lama remained the head of state for the Central Tibetan Administration ("Tibetan government in exile") until his retirement on March 14, 2011. He has indicated that the institution of the Dalai Lama may be abolished in the future, and also that the next Dalai Lama may be found outside Tibet and may be female. The Chinese government was very quick to reject this and claimed that only it has the authority to select the next Dalai Lama.

The 14th Dalai Lama (religious name: Tenzin Gyatso, shortened from Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, born Lhamo Dondrub, 6 July 1935) is the 14th and current Dalai Lama, as well as the longest lived incumbent. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, and is also well known for his lifelong advocacy for Tibetans inside and outside Tibet. Tibetans traditionally believe him to be the reincarnation of his predecessors and a manifestation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion.

The Dalai Lama was born in Taktser, Qinghai (also known to Tibetans as Amdo), and was selected as the rebirth of the 13th Dalai Lama two years later, although he was only formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama on 17 November 1950, at the age of 15. He inherited control over a government controlling an area roughly corresponding to the Tibet Autonomous Region just as the nascent People's Republic of China wished to assert central control over it. There is a dispute over whether the respective governments reached an agreement for a joint Chinese-Tibetan administration.