Bhutan Info

Bhutan Info

Bhutan is a very mountainous and landlocked nation, situated within the eastern Himalaya. Mountain peaks in the north reach up to over 7000 meters, the highest point being the Kula Kangri at 7553 meters. Gangkhar Puensum, at 7541 meters, is the highest unclimbed mountain in the world. The southern part of the country has a lower altitude, and contains several fertile and densely forested valleys that flow down into the Brahmaputra river in India. Over 70% of the country is forested. The majority of the population lives in the central highlands. The country's largest city, the capital Thimphu (population 50,000 [1] (http://www.smec.com.au/media/latest/bhutan.htm)), is located in the western part of these highlands. The local climate varies from tropical in the south to cool winters and hot summers in the central valleys, with severe winters and cool summers occurring in the Himalayas.
About half of the population are indigenous Bhutanese, known as the Ngalop, who are closely related to Tibetan tribes. Major ethnic groups are the Sharchop, also of Tibetan descent, and the Lhotshampa, of Nepali descent, are economic immigrants from the 1950s. While Dzongkha is the official language, many local languages are spoken, some, in remote areas, with only a few fluent speakers.
The official religion of Bhutan is the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism, which is adhered by 75% of the population. A further 20-25% of the Bhutanese are Hindus.
Head of state is the King or Druk Gyalpo, presently Jigme Singye Wangchuck. Although his title is hereditary, he can be removed by a two-thirds majority vote from the parliament, the unicameral National Assembly or Tshogdu. This body has 154 seats, and is composed of locally elected town representatives (105), religious representatives (12) and members nominated by the king (37), all of whom serve a three-year term.
Executive powers of the monarch were transferred to the council of ministers or cabinet (Lhengye Shungtsog) in 1998. Candidates to the council of ministers are nominated by the king, elected by the National Assembly, and serve fixed, five-year terms.
Government policies are framed around the core idea of preserving traditional culture and values. This has, however, generated some dissent from some southern Bhutanese of Nepalese descent (lhotsampa), who are reluctant to abide by the rules and regulations of the Buddhist majority.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 71 | | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100