The Dalai-lama is the head of state, spiritual leader of Tibet. It is the title of a lineage of religious leaders from the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. As a monk and a lama, he is recognized by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lamas were Tibet's political leaders from the 17th century until 1959, residing in Lhasa. The current Dalai Lama, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, is the official leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile or Tibetan Central Administration. In 2011, he article interested in resigning the leadership of the Tibetan government but his ministers denied his resignation, claiming that they had no one worthy to replace him.
Dalai, in Mongolian, means 'ocean', and lama is the Tibetan word for 'master', 'guru', and is often referred to as the 'Ocean of Wisdom', a title given by the Mongolian regime to Altan Khan (1507-1582) and now specialized to each incarnation of its lineage. The Dalai Lamas are like the manifestation of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion, whose name in Tibetan is Chenrezig. After the death of a Dalai Lama, it's researching a search for his disciples to discover his rebirth or tulku.