Geographical co-ordinates The Kingdom of Bhutan covers a land area of 46,500 square kilometers. The land lies between latitudes 26o 45’ N and 28o 10’ N and between longitude 88o 45’ E and 92o 10’ E. The country has a maximum latitudinal distance of 170 kilometers and maximum longitudinal distance of 300 kilometers.
Bhutan is landlocked. It is bordered by India in the south, and by the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China in the north and north- west. Bhutan’s borders are largely natural ones. The border with Tibet is traditional following the watershed of the Chumbi Valley in the north- west and the crest of the Himalayas in the north. The southern borders India in general and follows the line made by the Himalayan foothills with the semi- tropical savannah plains. The immense beauty of the Himalayas is contained in its diverse landscape.
Topography Bhutan is almost entirely mountainous with flat land limited to the meandering border river valleys. The land rises from approximately 300 meters above the sea level in the south to the towering Himalayan mountains in the north of over 7,400 meters high. The densely populated central valleys are separated from the south by a 2,000 meter high chain of mountain within a distance of less than 175 km. Bhutan has three major landform features: the southern foothills: the inner Himalayas and the higher Himalayas. The southern foothill rises from the plains to heights of about 1,500 meters extending to the north by about 20 kilometers. Southern Bhutan consists of a heavy network of steep hills covered with large tract of dense forest and jungles. Central Bhutan consisting of inner Himalayas rises gradually to about 3,000 meters. This region contains the broader river valleys- Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Wangdiphodrang, Bumthang and Trashigang which comprise the economic and cultural heartland of the country. An infinite variety of plants, flowers and trees including apples, peaches and plums grow in the fertile valleys. ‘Rice is the principal crop and large tracts of forest including birch, pine, chestnut and oak cover Central Bhutan. The northern region comprises the main Himalayan range of high snow- capped mountains which separate Bhutan from Tibet. The Kula Gangri and the Gangkar Punsum (both over 7,500 metres) and Jomolhari (7314 metres) are the highest peaks in the Bhutan Himalaya. The slopes of the mountains are covered with birch, magnolia and rhododendron while for many months of the year the summits are capped with snow. |
