Map of Bhutan
Bhutan is a country in Asia with its capital at Thimphu, home to about 796,682 people across 38,394 km². The interactive map below plots 4 cities and towns, 1 rivers and 1 mountain summits recorded for Bhutan in YearMaps.
- Population
- 796,682
- Area
- 38,394 km²
- Capital
- Thimphu
- Continent
- Asia
Interactive Map of Bhutan
Centred on Thimphu at 27.4730° N, 89.6390° E. Use the layer panel to switch on rivers, dams, ports, peaks and historical borders.
About Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, located in the Eastern Himalayas, bordering China's Tibet Autonomous Region to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 800,000 (800,871) and a territory of 38,394 square kilometres (14,824 sq mi), Bhutan ranks 133rd in land area and 160th in population. It is a democratic constitutional monarchy with a king as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of government. The Je Khenpo is the head of the state religion, Vajrayana Buddhism.
The Himalayan mountains in the north rise from the country's lush subtropical plains in the south. In the Bhutanese Himalayas, there are peaks higher than 7,000 metres (23,000 ft) above sea level. Gangkhar Puensum is Bhutan's highest peak and is the highest unclimbed mountain in the world. The wildlife of Bhutan is notable for its diversity, including the Himalayan takin and golden langur. The capital and largest city is Thimphu, with close to 15% of the population living there.
Bhutan and neighbouring Tibet experienced the spread of Buddhism, which originated in South Asia during the lifetime of Buddha. In the first millennium, the Vajrayana school of Buddhism spread to Bhutan from the southern Pala Empire of Bengal. During the 16th century, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal unified the valleys of Bhutan into a single state. He defeated three Tibetan invasions, subjugated rival religious schools, codified the Tsa Yig legal system, and established a government of theocratic and civil administrators. Namgyal became the first Zhabdrung Rinpoche and his successors acted as the spiritual leaders of Bhutan, like the Dalai Lama in Tibet.
Bhutan came under increasing British influence from the British Empire. Bhutan ceded the Bengal Duars to British India during the Duar War in the 19th century. The Wangchuck dynasty emerged as the monarchy and pursued closer ties with Britain in the subcontinent. In 1910, the Treaty of Punakha assured British advice in foreign policy making a protectorate arrangement of a sort although Bhutan never officially became a protectorate. The arrangement continued under a new treaty with India in 1949, signed at Darjeeling, in which both countries recognised each other's sovereignty.
Bhutan joined the United Nations in 1971 and currently has relations with 56 countries. While dependent on the Indian military, Bhutan maintains its own military units. The 2008 Constitution established a parliamentary government with an elected National Assembly and a National Council.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Bhutan (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Geography and Climate of Bhutan
After Britain’s victory in the 1865 Duar War, Britain and Bhutan signed the Treaty of Sinchulu, under which Bhutan would receive an annual subsidy in exchange for ceding land to British India. Ugyen WANGCHUCK -- who had served as the de facto ruler of an increasingly unified Bhutan and had improved relations with the British toward the end of the 19th century -- was named king in 1907. Three years later, a treaty was signed whereby the British agreed not to interfere in Bhutanese internal affairs, and Bhutan allowed Britain to direct its foreign affairs. Bhutan negotiated a similar arrangement with independent India in 1949. The Indo-Bhutanese Treaty of Friendship returned to Bhutan a small piece of the territory annexed by the British, formalized the annual subsidies the country received, and defined India's responsibilities in defense and foreign relations. Under a succession of modernizing monarchs beginning in the 1950s, Bhutan joined the UN in 1971 and slowly continued its engagement beyond its borders. In 2005, King Jigme Singye WANGCHUCK unveiled the draft of Bhutan's first constitution -- which introduced major democratic reforms -- and held a national referendum for its approval. The King abdicated the throne in 2006 in favor of his son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel WANGCHUCK. In 2007, India and Bhutan renegotiated their treaty, eliminating the clause that stated that Bhutan would be "guided by" India in conducting its foreign policy, although Thimphu continues to coordinate closely with New Delhi. In 2008, Bhutan held its first parliamentary election in accordance with the constitution. Bhutan experienced a peaceful turnover of power following a parliamentary election in 2013, which resulted in the defeat of the incumbent party. In 2018, the incumbent party again lost the parliamentary election. In 2024, of the more than 100,000 ethnic Nepali -- predominantly Lhotshampa -- refugees who fled or were forced out of Bhutan in the 1990s, about 6,500 remain displaced in Nepal.
- Location
- Southern Asia, between China and India.
- Climate
- Varies; tropical in southern plains; cool winters and hot summers in central valleys; severe winters and cool summers in Himalayas.
- Terrain
- Mostly mountainous with some fertile valleys and savanna.
- Highest point
- Gangkar Puensum 7,570 m.
- Lowest point
- Drangeme Chhu 97 m.
- Coastline
- 0 km (landlocked)
- Land borders
- Total: 1,136 km; border countries: China 477 km; India 659 km.
- Natural resources
- Timber, hydropower, gypsum, calcium carbonate.
- Land use
- Agricultural land: 13.8% (2023 est.); arable land: 2.6% (2023 est.); permanent crops: 0.4% (2023 est.); permanent pasture: 10.8% (2023 est.); forest: 70.6% (2023 est.); other: 15.6% (2023 est.)
- Natural hazards
- Violent storms from the Himalayas are the source of the country's Bhutanese name, which translates as Land of the Thunder Dragon; frequent landslides during the rainy season.
- Geographic note
- Landlocked; strategic location between China and India; controls several key Himalayan mountain passes.
- Languages
- Sharchopkha 28%, Dzongkha (official) 24%, Lhotshamkha 22%, other 26% (includes foreign languages) (2005 est.)
- Religions
- Lamaistic Buddhist 75.3%, Indian- and Nepali-influenced Hinduism 22.1%, other 2.6% (2005 est.)
- Ethnic groups
- Ngalop (also known as Bhote) 50%, ethnic Nepali 35% (predominantly Lhotshampas), indigenous or migrant tribes 15%.
- Economy
- Hydropower investments spurring economic development; Gross National Happiness economy; sharp poverty declines; low inflation; strong monetary and fiscal policies; stable currency; fairly resilient response to COVID-19; key economic and strategic relations with India; climate vulnerabilities.
From the CIA World Factbook (public domain), archived edition of 2026-01-22. The Factbook is no longer updated, so figures reflect that edition.
Bhutan in Numbers
- Population
- 796,682
- GDP
- US$3.6 billion
- GDP per person
- US$4,493
- Life expectancy
- 73.3 years
- Population growth
- 0.65% a year
- Population density
- 21 per km²
- Urban population
- 43.4%
- Surface area
- 38,390 km²
- Forest cover
- 70.3%
- Arable land
- 2.6%
- Access to electricity
- 100.0%
- Internet users
- 91.3%
Indicators from World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0). The year under each figure is its reference year.
Bhutan in Depth
History
Stone tools, weapons, elephants, and remnants of large stone structures provide evidence that Bhutan was inhabited as early as 2000 BCE, although there are no existing records from that time. Historians have theorised that the state of Lhomon (lit. 'southern darkness'), or Monyul ("Dark Land", a reference to the Monpa, an ethnic group in Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh, India), may have existed between 500 BCE and 600 CE. The names Lhomon Tsendenjong (Sandalwood Country) and Lhomon Khashi or Southern Mon (country of four approaches), have been found in ancient Bhutanese and Tibetan chronicles.
Buddhism was first introduced to Bhutan in the mid of 7th century CE. The Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo (reigned 627–649), a Buddhist convert, extended the Tibetan Empire into Sikkim and Bhutan.
Geography
Bhutan is on the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas, landlocked between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north and the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam to the west and south, and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh to the east. It lies between latitudes 26°N and 29°N, and longitudes 88°E and 93°E. The land consists mostly of steep and high mountains crisscrossed by a network of swift rivers that form deep valleys before draining into the Indian plains. In fact, 98.8% of Bhutan is covered by mountains, which makes it the most mountainous country in the world. Elevation rises from 200 m (660 ft) in the southern foothills to more than 7,000 m (23,000 ft).
Economy
Bhutan's currency is the ngultrum, whose value is fixed to the Indian rupee. The Indian rupee is also accepted as legal tender in the country.
Though Bhutan's economy is one of the world's smallest, it has grown rapidly in recent years, by eight per cent in 2005 and 14 per cent in 2006. In 2007, Bhutan had the second-fastest-growing economy in the world, with an annual economic growth rate of 22.4 per cent. This was mainly due to the commissioning of the gigantic Tala Hydroelectric Power Station. As of 2012, Bhutan's per capita income was US$2,420. This figure increased to US$4,347.1 in 2024, according to a budget report released by Bhutan's Ministry of Finance in 2026.
Bhutan's economy is based on agriculture, forestry, tourism and the sale of hydroelectric power to India.
Demographics
Bhutan had a population of 777,486 people in 2021. Bhutan has a median age of 24.8 years. There are 1,070 males to every 1,000 females. The literacy rate in Bhutan is around 66%.
Jakar, the administrative headquarters of Bumthang District and the place where Buddhism entered Bhutan.
Trashigang, administrative headquarters of Trashigang District, the most populous district in the country.
Trongsa, in central Bhutan, which has the largest and the most magnificent of all the dzongs in Bhutan.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Bhutan (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Bhutan: Key Facts
| Currency | ngultrum |
|---|---|
| Official language | Dzongkha |
| Head of state | Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck |
| Head of government | Tshering Tobgay |
| Form of government | constitutional monarchy |
| Calling code | +975 |
| Internet domain | .bt |
| Highest point | Gangkhar Puensum |
| Lowest point | Drangme Chhu |
| Established | 8 August 1949 |
Facts from Wikidata Q917 (CC0).
History of Bhutan: Empires and States
The atlas records 3 polities whose mapped territory included part of Bhutan, from The Maurya Empire in 318 BCE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.
| Polity | Period here | Extent |
|---|---|---|
| The Maurya Empire | 318–226 BCE | A large part |
| Kamarupa Kingdom | 960–1055 CE | Nearly all |
| Kingdom of Bhutan | 1636–2024 CE | Nearly all |
Historical Maps of Bhutan
Bhutan on the world map in each year one of these states held it:
Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.
Visiting Bhutan
The Kingdom of Bhutan (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul) is a small country in the Himalayas between Tibet and India. Besides the stunning natural scenery, the enduring image of the country for most visitors is the strong sense of culture and tradition that binds the kingdom and clearly distinguishes it from its larger neighbours. Bhutan is a bastion of Vajrayana Buddhism, and the profound teachings of this tradition remain well preserved and exert a strong influence in all aspects of life.
Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Bhutan (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Largest Cities in Bhutan
4 cities recorded. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.
| # | Name | Population | Region | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thimphu | 98,676 | Thimphu | National capital |
| 2 | Paro | 15,000 | Thimphu | Admin-1 capital |
| 3 | Punakha | 5,000 | Punakha | Admin-1 capital |
| 4 | Wangdue Prodrang | 5,000 | Wangdi Phodrang | Admin-1 capital |
Highest Mountains in Bhutan
1 mountain recorded. Ranked by summit elevation above sea level. A summit on a border is listed under both countries.
| # | Name | Elevation | Feet | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gangkar Punsum | 7,570 m | 24,836 ft | Asia |
Rivers in Bhutan
1 river recorded. Listed alphabetically. A river is listed where its mapped reach lies, so long rivers appear under more than one country.
| Name | Type | Also Flows Through |
|---|---|---|
| Mamas | River | India, China |
Mountain Ranges, Deserts and Landforms of Bhutan
2 mountain ranges, deserts and other landforms recorded. Ranked by mapped area. Covers mountain ranges, deserts, plateaus, named glaciers, plains, basins, peninsulas and capes. One that crosses a border is listed under every country it lies in, with the area of the whole feature.
| # | Name | Area | Type | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plateau of Tibet | 3.05M km² | Plateau | Asia |
| 2 | Himalayas | 17,334 km² | Range/mtn | Asia |
Plateau of Tibet
Plateau · 3.05M km²
Plateau of Tibet is a plateau in Asia, covering an estimated 3.05M km². It extends across China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is the largest of the 69 plateaus with a mapped extent in YearMaps.
The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South, and East Asia. Geographically, Tibet is located to the north of the Himalayas and the Indian subcontinent, and to the south of the Tarim Basin and the Mongolian Plateau. Geopolitically, it covers most of the Tibet Autonomous Region, most of Qinghai, the western half of Sichuan, southern Gansu Province, southern Xinjiang Province in Western China, Bhutan, the Indian regions of Ladakh and Lahaul and Spiti (Himachal Pradesh) as well as Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan, northwestern Nepal, eastern Tajikistan and southern Kyrgyzstan.
It stretches approximately 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) north to south and 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi) east to west. It is the world's largest and highest plateau above sea level, with an area of 2,500,000 square kilometres (970,000 sq mi). With an average elevation exceeding 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) and being surrounded by imposing mountain ranges that harbor the world's two highest summits, Mount Everest and K2, the Tibetan Plateau is often referred to as "the Roof of the World".
Adapted from Wikipedia: Tibetan Plateau (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Feature class
- Plateau
- Mapped extent
- 3.05M km²
- Size rank
- #1 of 69 plateaus
- Region
- Asia
- Countries
- China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan
- Coordinates
- 32.2743°, 87.4953°
- Ranges:
- Khasi Hills (Asia), Naga Hills (Asia)
- Settlements:
- Thimphu (84 km)
More about Plateau of Tibet
Geology and geological history
The geological history of the Tibetan Plateau is closely related to that of the Himalayas. The Himalayas belong to the Alpine orogeny and are among the younger mountain ranges on the planet, consisting mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock. Their formation is a result of a continental collision or orogeny along the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian plate and the Eurasian plate.
India began drifting northward from Gondwana in the Upper Cretaceous, about 70 million years ago (Mya), moving at about 15 cm (6 in) per year; its collision with the Eurasian plate is most commonly dated to around 55–50 Mya, near the Paleocene–Eocene boundary, though the exact timing remains debated.
Human history
Archaic Denisovans lived on the plateau from around 200,000 to 40,000 years ago, according to a study published in Nature. Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest human occupation of the plateau occurred between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago.
Since the plateau's earliest settlement, Tibetan culture has adapted and flourished in the western, southern, and eastern regions. The Changtang is generally too high and cold to support permanent population. The Tibetan Empire existed from the 7th century to the 9th century AD. Nomadic pastoralism, once practiced widely across Asia and Africa, has persisted among these communities on the plateau. Pastoral nomads constitute about 40% of the ethnic Tibetan population.
Description
The Tibetan Plateau is surrounded by the massive mountain ranges of high-mountain Asia. The plateau is bordered to the south by the inner Himalayan range, to the north by the Kunlun Mountains which separate it from the Tarim Basin, and to the northeast by the Qilian Mountains, which separate it from the Hexi Corridor and Gobi Desert. To the east and southeast are the Salween, Mekong, and Yangtze rivers in northwest Yunnan, western Sichuan, and southwest Qinghai. In the west, the rugged Karakoram range of northern Kashmir curves around the plateau's edge. The Indus River originates in the western Tibetan Plateau in the vicinity of Lake Manasarovar.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Tibetan Plateau (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Plateau of Tibet: Key Facts
| Area | 2,500,000 km² |
|---|---|
| Elevation | 4,500 m |
Facts from Wikidata Q179842 (CC0).
Himalayas
Range/mtn · 17,334 km²
Himalayas is a range/mtn in Asia, covering an estimated 17,334 km². It extends across India, Nepal, Myanmar, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bhutan.
The Himalayas, or Himalaya, is a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the highest peaks on Earth, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 peaks exceeding elevations of 7,200 metres (23,600 feet) above sea level lie in the Himalayas.
The Himalayas span five countries: Nepal, India, China, Bhutan, and Pakistan. The sovereignty of the range in the Kashmir region is disputed among India, Pakistan, and China. The Himalayan range is bordered on the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, and on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Some of the world's major rivers, the Indus, the Ganges, and the Tsangpo–Brahmaputra, rise in the vicinity of the Himalayas, and their combined drainage basin is home to some 600 million people; 53 million people live in the Himalayas. The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia and Tibet. Many Himalayan peaks are sacred in Hinduism and Buddhism. The summits of several are off-limits to climbers.
Adapted from Wikipedia: Himalayas (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Feature class
- Range/mtn
- Mapped extent
- 17,334 km²
- Size rank
- #130 of 216 mountain ranges
- Region
- Asia
- Countries
- India, Nepal, Myanmar, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan
- Coordinates
- 33.2958°, 76.6989°
- Adjacent ranges:
- Salt Range (Asia), Siwalik Hills (Asia)
- Settlements:
- Thimphu (1,398 km)
More about Himalayas
Geography and key features
The Himalayas consists of four parallel mountain ranges from south to north: the Sivalik Hills on the south; the Lower Himalayan Range; the Great Himalayas, which is the highest and central range; and the Tibetan Himalayas on the north. The Karakoram are generally considered separate from the Himalayas.
In the middle of the great curve of the Himalayan mountains lie the 8,000 m (26,000-foot) peaks of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna in Nepal, separated by the Kali Gandaki Gorge. The gorge splits the Himalayas into Western and Eastern sections, both ecologically and orographically – the pass at the head of the Kali Gandaki, the Kora La, is the lowest point on the ridgeline between Everest and K2 (the highest peak of the Karakoram range).
Geology
Tectonics, the recurring physical changes that affect the arrangement of the Earth's crust, and plate tectonics, the movement of large regions of the Earth's crust in the manner of planar rigid bodies, are key to understanding the formation of the Himalayas. The Earth's crust rests directly on its mantle. Tectonic plates, comprising the crust and the upper portions of their underlying mantle, are moved around by convection in the asthenosphere. The oceanic crust, found beneath oceans, is, on average, seven kilometres (4.3 mi) thick. It is created from upwelling magma at mid-ocean ridges and predominantly consists of basalt, the principal igneous rock on Earth.
Climate
The physical factors determining the climate in any location in the Himalayas include latitude, altitude, and the relative motion of the Southwest monsoon. From north to south, the mountains cover more than eight degrees of latitude, spanning temperate to subtropical zones. The colder air of Central Asia is prevented from blowing down into South Asia by the physical configuration of the Himalayas. This causes the tropical zone to extend farther north in South Asia than anywhere else in the world. The evidence is unmistakable in the Brahmaputra valley as the warm air from the Bay of Bengal bottlenecks and rushes up past Namcha Barwa, the eastern anchor of the Himalayas, and into southeastern Tibet.
Ecology
The flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice and snow at the highest elevations. The amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of altitude, rainfall, and soil conditions, combined with the very high snow line, supports a variety of distinct plant and animal communities. The extremes of high altitude (low atmospheric pressure), combined with extreme cold, favor extremophile organisms.
At high altitudes, the elusive and previously endangered snow leopard is the main predator.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Himalayas (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Himalayas: Key Facts
| Length | 2,400 km |
|---|---|
| Area | 600,000 km² |
| Highest point | Mount Everest |
Facts from Wikidata Q5451 (CC0).
Countries Bordering Bhutan
Land and maritime neighbours.
More Maps in Asia
Bhutan: Quick Answers
- What is the capital of Bhutan?
- The capital of Bhutan is Thimphu.
- What is the population of Bhutan?
- Bhutan has a population of about 796,682, the #166 largest of 225 countries in YearMaps. Source: World Bank, 2025.
- How big is Bhutan?
- Bhutan covers 38,394 km², ranking #138 by area, with about 21 people per square kilometre.
- Which continent is Bhutan in?
- Bhutan is in Asia.
- Which countries border Bhutan?
- Bhutan shares a land or maritime border with China, India.
- What is the largest city in Bhutan?
- Thimphu is the largest city in Bhutan, with a metropolitan population of about 98,676.
- What is the highest mountain in Bhutan?
- The highest summit recorded for Bhutan in YearMaps is Gangkar Punsum at 7,570 m (24,836 ft). Summits on a border are counted for both countries.