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
Natural resources: timber, hydropower, gypsum, calcium carbide
Land use: arable land: 2% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 5% forest and woodland: 70% other: 23%
Irrigated land: 340 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: soil erosion; limited access to potable water
natural hazards: violent storms coming down from the Himalayas are the
source of the country's name which translates as Land of the Thunder
Dragon; frequent landslides during the rainy season
international agreements: party to - Nuclear Test Ban; signed, but not
ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea
Note: landlocked; strategic location between China and India; controls
several key Himalayan mountain passes
@Bhutan:People
Population: 1,780,638 (July 1995 est.)
note: other estimates range as low as 600,000
Age structure:
0-14 years: 40% (female 342,276; male 368,916)
15-64 years: 56% (female 486,258; male 513,560)
65 years and over: 4% (female 34,215; male 35,413) (July 1995 est.)