About BT
Official Name
The official name of the country is the Kingdom of Bhutan.
Location
Bhutan is a landlocked country located in the Eastern Himalayas of South Asia. It is bordered by China to the north and India to the south, east, and west.
Capital
The capital city of Bhutan is Thimphu, which is the largest city in the country.
Population
Bhutan has a population of approximately 770,000 people, making it one of the smallest countries in Asia by population.
Languages
The official language of Bhutan is Dzongkha, although English is also widely spoken and used in government and education.
Ethnic Diversity
Bhutan is home to several ethnic groups, with the Ngalops and Sharchops being the two main ethnic groups. There are also smaller ethnic communities, such as the Lhotshampas, who have Nepali origins.
Geography
Bhutan is characterized by rugged terrain, including mountains, valleys, and forests. The country is known for its stunning landscapes and biodiversity, with a range of ecosystems from subtropical to alpine.
Economy
Bhutan has a mixed economy with agriculture, forestry, and hydropower being the main sectors. The country has been transitioning from a primarily agrarian economy to one that focuses on sustainable development and Gross National Happiness (GNH) rather than Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Currency
The currency of Bhutan is the Bhutanese Ngultrum (BTN), which is pegged to the Indian Rupee (INR).
Government
Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. The King of Bhutan is the head of state, while the Prime Minister is the head of government. The country has undergone significant political reforms in recent years, including the introduction of a new constitution in 2008.
Culture
Bhutan has a rich cultural heritage influenced by Buddhism, which plays a central role in society. The country is known for its unique architecture, traditional dress (such as the gho for men and kira for women), and festivals (known as tshechus) that celebrate Bhutanese culture and religion.
National Items of Bhutan
Takin
The Takin (Budorcas taxicolor) is the national animal of Bhutan. Known for its unique appearance and majestic presence, it symbolizes the rich biodiversity and cultural heritage of Bhutan.
Blue Poppy
The Blue Poppy (Meconopsis grandis) is the national flower of Bhutan. Its rare and delicate beauty represents the pristine natural environment and the country's commitment to conservation.
Himalayan Cypress
The Himalayan Cypress (Cupressus torulosa) is the national tree of Bhutan. Known for its tall and elegant stature, it symbolizes strength, resilience, and the natural beauty of Bhutan's forests.
Rice
Rice is a staple food in Bhutan and plays a central role in the country's agriculture and cuisine. It represents sustenance, prosperity, and the agricultural traditions of Bhutan.
Raven
The Raven is the national bird of Bhutan. It holds significant cultural and religious importance, symbolizing protection, power, and the deep spiritual heritage of the country.
Kira and Gho
The Kira for women and Gho for men are traditional Bhutanese garments. They symbolize the cultural heritage and traditional attire of the Bhutanese people.
Druk (Thunder Dragon)
The Druk, or Thunder Dragon, is a national symbol of Bhutan, often depicted on the national flag. It represents the country's identity, power, and the spiritual significance of dragons in Bhutanese culture.
Dzong
A Dzong is a traditional fortress monastery unique to Bhutan. Dzongs symbolize the architectural heritage, religious significance, and administrative importance in Bhutanese society.
Ema Datshi
Ema Datshi, a dish made with chili peppers and cheese, is considered the national dish of Bhutan. It represents the rich culinary traditions and unique flavors of Bhutanese cuisine.
Dochula Pass
Dochula Pass is a mountain pass with 108 memorial chortens (stupas) in Bhutan. It symbolizes the country's historical significance, natural beauty, and spiritual heritage.
The national anthem of Bhutan is called "Druk tsendhen" in Dzongkha. Here are the lyrics in Dzongkha and their English translation:
༄༅། །འབྲུག་ཙན་དན་ལ་སྟེ།
འཛིན་ལས་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ཀྱི་མི་འདུག
སྲུང་བའི་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་གང་གི་དབྱངས་ཅན་མཁས།
འབྲུག་བའི་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་སྟེ།།
ལྷག་པར་ཕྱིར་ལོ་ལྟ།
འབྲུག་པའི་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ཀྱི་སྐུ་གསུམ་གང་ཞིག་རེ་ཞུ།
འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ཀྱི་རིགས་རང་གྲོལ་རིགས་རང་བཞུགས།
འབྲུག་དང་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་སྟེ།།
In the kingdom of Druk, where cypresses grow,
The protector who guards the teachings of the dual system
He, the precious and glorious ruler,
Causes dominion to spread, while his unchanging person abides.
He, who crowned with a lotus, spreads a mind of compassion
Is the king of the Drukpas, the precious and glorious ruler,
May the teachings of the great Drupa, the protector,
Continue to the end of time.
