Facts about BHUTAN »
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.
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