Facts

Bhutan or Druk Yul – the Land of the Thunder Dragon – as the Bhutanese themselves call their country, is a small kingdom in the heart of the Himalayas. In the hot southern lowlands, on the edge of the great Indian plains, Bhutan has a common boundary with India; and in the snow and ice-covered high Himalayas a boundary with China.

Bhutan is fiercely proud of its independence and of the fact that the country has never been colonised. Through the centuries Bhutan and her small population have been almost wholly self-sufficient. Bhutan’s history has been handed down from generation to generation as a combination of oral tradition and classical literature.

Bhutanese society is deeply influenced by the Buddhist religion which is a strong and living element of everyday life. The official language is Dzongkha which is related to Tibetan. In the south of the country various Indian and Nepali dialects are spoken.

After a long period of almost total isolation, Bhutan has, since the end of the 1800’s and particulary during the last few decades, slowly established contacts with the outside world and begun a careful and selective adaptation to it.

With heights ranging from 300 m above sea level in the south to over 7 000 m in the north, the terrain and natural vegetation vary widely from hot lowlands and dense, tropical forest to Arctic tundra. Bhutan is crossed from north to south by a series of steep-sided valleys with strident rivers fed by the snows and ice in the north and running out into the great Indian rivers in the south. In the forests in the south there are elephants, rhinos and tigers; in the north there are bears and snow leopards.

Bhutan has an area of approximately 47 000 km2 and a population of the order of 600 000, the majority of whom live in the valleys. The capital is Thimphu, with a population of some 20 000, and the international airport – the country’s only airport – is in Paro approximately two hours’ drive from Thimphu.

Communications with the outside world are, by air, from Paro to Bangkok, Calcutta, Delhi, Dhaka and Kathmandu and by road to India. Druk Air is Bhutan’s international airline and operates modern jet aircraft. Flying to Bhutan is an exiting and unforgettable experience. Communications in Bhutan are by road. Physical conditions make road building and maintenance both difficult and expensive. The roads are narrow and winding and follow narrow ledges cut into the steep hill slopes. Landslides are frequent in the monsoon season and often causes blockages. There is one main road from east to west; there are three main roads between Bhutan and India but no road connections with China.

Telephone communications are being rapidly developed.

Over 70% of Bhutan is covered by forest: tropical in the south and oak and pine further north giving way to tundra in the far north. The government has formulated a rigorous programme for protecting and preserving these valuable natural resources. The amount of cultivatable land is small and is found along the narrow valley floors and on the terraced hill slopes. Subsistence agriculture dominates, but commercial agriculture is increasing with outlets to the huge markets in India and Bangladesh. Irrigation is common.