Monday, June 4, 2012

Country Profiles: Bhutan

Bhutan is located in Asia. Bhutan is a fascinating country that actually focuses on Gross National Happiness: Gross National Happiness Commission. With an area of 38,394 sq km, it is roughly half the size of the U.S. state of Indiana.

Bhutan shares a border with China and India. It is landlocked and mostly mountainous with some fertile valleys and savanna.



People who live in Bhutan are called Bhutanese, which is also an adjective used to describe something from this country. It is estimated that there will be 716,896 people in Bhutan by July 2012. The ethnic groups that reside in Bhutan are mostly Bhote (50%) with some Nepalese (35%) and other indigenous or migrant tribes (15%). Several languages are spoken there besides the official language of Dzongkha (24%), including Sharchhopka (28%) and Lhotshamkha (22%). Lamaistic Buddhists make up approximately 75% of the population, while Indian- and Nepalese-influenced Hinduism make up an additional 25%.

The country's official name is Kingdom of Bhutan. The capital is Thimphu, and the country is made up of 20 districts. Though Bhutan became a unified kingdom (under its first hereditary king) in 1908, a constitution was not ratified until July 2008. The constitution can be found here. The current rule is King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. Information about the leaders of Bhutan's government can be found here. The currency is the ngultrum (BTN), which stands at 52.85 BTN per USD as of 2011.



All of this information was gathered from the CIA World Factbook. For more information, check out these resources...

Bhutan Government Site

Bhutan, CIA World Factbook

Background Notes: Bhutan, U.S. Department of State

2011 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Bhutan, U.S. Department of State.

You can also check out the Country Studies tab on our Fed Docs libguide here for more resources on all of the countries.


Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Urban and Transportation Studies, Engineering

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