Bhutan Travel Guide - Key Facts

South Asia (between Assam in northeast India and China).

GMT + 6.

38,364 sq km (14,812 sq miles).

2.3 million (2006 estimate). It should be noted that population estimates vary hugely for Bhutan - some are as low as around 810,000.

59.4 per sq km.

Thimphu. Population: 35,000 (UN estimate 2003).

Bhutan is located in the eastern Himalayas, bordered to the north by China and to the south, east and west by India. The altitude varies from 300m (1,000ft) in the narrow lowland region to 7,000m (22,000ft) in the Himalayan plateau in the north, and there are three distinct climatic regions. The foothills are tropical and home to deer, lion, leopards and the rare golden monkey as well as much tropical vegetation, including many species of wild orchids. The Inner Himalaya region is temperate; wildlife includes bear, boar and sambar, and the area is rich in deciduous forests. The High Himalaya region is very thinly populated, but the steep mountain slopes are the home of many species of animals, including snow leopards and musk deer.

Constitutional Monarchy.

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck since 2006.

Prime Minister Jigme Thinley since 2008.

Bhutan is a Buddhist kingdom with close links between the monarchy and the priesthood. Since the 1950s Bhutan has established some representative political institutions, including an indirectly elected 150-member National Assembly (Tshogdu Chhenmo) and elected village herdsmen.

In 1998, Druk Gyalpo (‘Dragon King') Jigme Singye Wangchuk gave up some of the monarch's absolute powers and the Assembly elected a cabinet for the first time. King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck took over when his father abdicated in December 2006.

In March 2008, the party of the former Prime Minister, Jigme Thinley, won a landslide victory after a move to democratic rule was proposed by Bhutan's royal family.

Dzongkha is the official language. A large number of dialects are spoken, owing to the physical isolation of many villages. Sharchop Kha, from eastern Bhutan, is the most widely spoken. Nepali is common in the south of the country. English has been the language of educational instruction since 1964 and is widely spoken.

The Tantric form of Mahayana Buddhism (Drukpa Kagyu) is the state religion; the majority of Bhutanese people follow the Drukpa school of the Kagyupa sect. Those living in the south are mainly Hindu.

220 volts AC, 50Hz.

The lifestyle, manners and customs of the Bhutanese are in many respects unique to the area. The strongest influence on social conventions is the country’s state religion, and everywhere one can see the reminders of Buddhism and the original religion of Tibet, Bonism. There are no rigid clan systems and equal rights exist between men and women. The majority of the Bhutanese live an agrarian lifestyle. In 1989, it was made compulsory for citizens to wear national dress in public; the men wear a gho, a robe resembling a dressing gown with upturned white silk cuffs and knee-high socks, whilst the women wear a kira, a sari-like garment that is furnished with ornate brooches and worn over a wrap-around skirt. Bhutan has outlawed the sale of tobacco products, and also banned smoking in public places. The political leaders of the country have also been religious leaders historically. For years the country has deliberately isolated itself from visitors, and has only recently opened up to the outside world, a policy which is now to some extent being reversed. But Bhutan continues to bear the hallmarks of seemingly peculiar customs borne from legacy and legend. Giant phalluses can often be seen painted onto walls, etc, in order to ward off evil spirits. Dogs are regarded as being the highest animal lifeform, with the best chance of being reborn as humans. They are treated with reverence and often run freely and noisily through villages. Climbing some of the Himalayan peaks is banned due to the belief that the mountains are the repository of the gods. Similarly, swimming, or even throwing stones into rivers, is forbidden: it is thought to disturb the souls of deities.