Abstract: Objective To evaluate clinical characteristics and onset patterns of knee osteoarthritis in patients with knee osteoarthritis of nomadic people in extremely cold region in Ali area of Tibet Autonomous Region. Methods The knee osteoarthritis patients in Ali area of Tibet Autonomous Region were investigated, and their medical materials such as gender, age, height, body mass and joint symptoms were recorded, and the erythrocyte sedimentation was examined and X-ray knee examinations in anterioposterior and lateral positions were performed. Results In these 97 included knee osteoarthritis patients, the ratio of male to female was 1∶1.55. Onset average age was(46.3±13.4)in females, and( 51.3±12.8)in males, with the peak age of onset accumulating in 40~49 years, and 50~59 years, respectively. The proportions of males and females with body mass index(BMI)<28 kg/m² were 10.5%, 6.8%, respectively. Immediate symptoms of joints included swelling joints in 13 patients, tenderness in 72 cases and restriction of joints movement in 61 cases. The X-ray findings showed a change in knee with grade Ⅲ or Ⅳ, which accounted for 56.7%. The morbidity rates was 64.9% in medial femur-tibia joint, 3.1% in lateral ones, and 4.1% in patellofemoral - joint. There were 4.1%of patients stopping housework or graze, 9.3% of patients with obvious work load alleviation and 7.2% of patients with more than half work load alleviation. Conclusion Female patients are slightly more than male patients with knee osteoarthritis, and their onset age is earlier than the males in Kangle Residents in Ali area of Tibet Autonomous Region. BMI has no significant effect on morbidity rate of knee osteoarthritis. The X ray findings of knee joints show that morbidity rate of medialfemur-tibia joint is significantly higher than that in lateral and patellofemoral joints, the life of partial patients is significantly influenced by knee osteoarthritis, and their quality of life is reduced.