The Dalai Lama has become one of the world’s most recognizable figures while leading a Tibetan diaspora through their struggle for autonomy and opposition of China’s control of Tibet. He has not named a successor, but he says they will be born in the “free world” — outside China.

The statement puts to rest speculation that the Dalai Lama may be the last of Tibet's spiritual leaders, ending a line that stretches back centuries.

The Dalai Lama says he'll have a successor, after all, ending years of speculation that he might be the last person to hold the role and meaning he'd be reincarnated.