Bhutan is a landlocked country in South Asia located at the eastern end
of the Himalayas. It is bordered to the north by China and to the south, east
and west by India. To the west, it is separated from Nepal by the Indian state
of Sikkim, while further south it is separated from Bangladesh by the Indian
states of Assam and West Bengal.
In the early 17th century, when the lama and military leader Shabdrung Ngawang
Namgyal, fleeing religious persecution
in Tibet, unified the area and cultivated a distinct Bhutanese identity. Later,
in the early 20th century, Bhutan came into contact with the British Empire and
retained strong bilateral relations with India upon its independence.
Bhutan's landscape ranges from subtropical plains in the south to the sub-alpine
Himalayan heights in the north, where some peaks exceed 7,000
meters (23,000 ft). Its total area was reported as
approximately
46,500 km2 (18,000 sq mi) in 1997 and 38,394 square
kilometers (14,824 sq mi) in 2002. Bhutan's state religion is Vajrayana
Buddhism and the population, now (as of 2012/2013) estimated to be nearly
three-quarters of a million, is predominantly Buddhist. Hinduism is the
second-largest religion.
In 2008, Bhutan made the transition from absolute monarchy to constitutional
monarchy and held its first general election. As well as being a member of the United
Nations, Bhutan is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) and hosted SAARC's sixteenth summit in April 2010.
Capital :
|
Thimphu
|
Area:
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38,394square km
|
National Bird:
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Raven
|
National Animal:
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Takin
|
National Flower:
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Blue poppy
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National Language:
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Bhutanese
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National Sport
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Archery
|
National Dance:
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Cham
|
Chief Minister:
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Raja
Ugyen Dorji
|
Major Occupation:
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Agriculture
|
Time Zone:
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BTT (UTC+6)
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