Location Factfile – Bhutan

The lowdown on Bhutan

At a glance: Bhutan is a landlocked country in South Asia located in the Eastern Himalayas. In terms of government, the last remaining Himalayan Buddhist kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. Since 1974, when the Bhutan opened the doors of the country to foreigners promoting its peculiar culture and traditions in order to increase the turnover, the whole world has been able to appreciate the spectacular Himalayan scenery and impressive architecture. For figuring out a bit the Bhutanese people’s mindset is enough to talk about the reason why the city of Thimphu is the only world capital without traffic lights: when they were installed, the most of citizens complained they were too impersonal. Besides the capital city, other important cities in the country are: Punakha (characterized by almost tropical temperatures that make it the winter home of the royal family; someone says Punakha is the winter capital and Thimphu is the summer capital), the city of Paro, located on the eastern side of the Jomolhari mountain (the holy mountain for Bhutanese people), the city of Trongsa, the old royal family seat where there is the awe-inspiring Dzong fortress. The Bhutan has an extremely varied climate, strongly influenced by the diversity of altitude in the country and by the monsoons. Best time to visit or/and shoot September to November Official language – Dzongkha