Bhutan at glance

  • Total Area 38,394 square kilometers
  • Geography Landlocked between China in the north and India in the south.
  • Altitude 100m above sea level in the South to over 7,500 m. above sea leve in the North.
  • Population 646,851 (2006)
  • Language Bhutan’s official language is Dzongkha while English is widely spoken
  • Religion Mahayana Buddhism in its Tantric form
  • Capital Thimphu
  • Political System Democratic Constitutional Monarchy
  • Time 6 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
  • Currency Ngultrum (at par with Indian rupee) 1US$ = Nu.38.75 (Jan, 2008)
  • Terrain It can be divided into three major parts:
  • Geographic regions from North to South; the high Himalayas of North, the hills and valleys of the central and the foothills and plains of the South.
  • Forest coverage 72.5% of the land area
  • Cultivated area 7.8% of total land
  • Altitude 100 m above sea level in the south to over 7,500 m above sea level in the north
  • Longitude 88 45’ – 92 10’ East
  • Latitude 26 45’ – 28 15’ North
  • Life expectancy 66 yrs
  • Local time 6 hrs ahead of GMT and half an hour ahead of Indian Standard Time (IST)