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Situated along the southern
slopes of the great Himalayan range between 26
degrees 5minutes and 28 degrees 5 minutes north
latitude and 88 degrees and 92 degrees east
longitude, the kingdom of Bhutan, with an area of
18,000 square miles and a population of about
650,000, lies like a picturesque fairyland between
Tibet to the north India to the south, east and
west.
The British emissary Captain R. Boileau Pemberton,
who visited the country a century and half ago,
dramatically described Bhutan’s topography: “with
the exception of the narrow strip of land at the
foot of the mountains, the whole of (sic) territory
presents a succession of the most lofty rugged
mountains on the surface of the globe… the
consequence is that the traveler appears to be shut
out on every side from the rest of the world.”
The area now occupied by the Bhutan Himalaya is
described as the site of the shallow Tethys Sea
millions of years ago; during the Tertiary period,
powerful forces of earth, water and ice transformed
into a land of irregular mountain masses. Concurrent
elevation and erosion during a period of millions of
years formed the present mountain system.
Geographers divide Bhutan into three distinct zones:
southern, central and northern. Southern Bhutan
consists of low foothills covered with dense
tropical forests. The subtropical monsoon climate of
this region is hot and humid and the average
temperature is 20 centigrade.
Central Bhutan, where the majority of the population
lives and where the capital, Thimphu is located,
lies at the foot of the majestic northern mountains
and consists mainly of the fertile valleys at the
altitude’s ranging from 3500 to 10,000 feet. In
these valleys are grown a wide variety of crops
including rice, wheat and maize while on the
surrounding slopes thrive fruits such as apples,
plums and peaches. The central zone is rich in
forest of oak, pine and fir. With the exception of a
few valleys like Punakha and Wangdue Phodrang
situated comparatively low altitudes, valleys are
extremely cold during winter, when the temperature
drops to –10 or lower. Strong winds sweeping through
the valley increases the cold.
Mainly nomadic yak herdsmen sparsely populate the
valley of northern region, which are at heights of
between 11,000 and 18,000 feet. The zone forms part
of the great Himalayas, with high peaks along the
Tibetan borders, the most prominent among which are
the Jomolhari in the west (24,000 feet) and Masagang
(23,000 feet) and Tshering Gang (21,400 feet) in the
north. The tree line is generally at 13,000 feet,
with coniferous of pine and fir.
Bhutan abounds in a rich variety of wildlife,
including elephants, rhinos, tigers, musk deer, snow
leopards, brown bear, red pandas, takins and blue
sheep and there is a widespread belief in the
existence of the elusive Yeti.
The people of Bhutan are of three ethnic groups: the
Sharchops, believed to be the earliest inhabitants,
who live largely in eastern Bhutan; the Ngalops who
live mostly in western Bhutan and the people of
Nepalese origin some of whom settled in southern
Bhutan toward the end of the nineteenth century.
While a number of dialects are spoken in different
parts of the country, Dzongkha is the national
language of Bhutan. |
