The Land of Thunder Dragon is the most mysterious Buddhist kingdom nestled in the Eastern Himalayas between the world largest country China and India, surviving in splendid isolation, preserving its enchanting traditions and ancestral way of life. A place the size of Switzerland remained closed off from the outside world in it’s pristine state and one of the last unspoiled places of the world. Being forbidden for the foreigners for centuries had begun to open its doors to the outside world only in 1974.

The outsiders and native often compared Bhutan to Switzerland, which has beautiful mountains landscape dotted with enchanting Buddhist temples and Gonpas (built in centuries-old style) sensing the monks chanting and fluttering sound of the prayer flags. Houses still in a traditional architectural design decorated with most elaborate paintings and sculptures of flying phallus, believed to promote fertility and ward off evil spirits. The overwhelming people still retaining beautiful traditional costume providing strong immersion to the living faith.

Bhutan-the spiritual nation is the last Mahayana Buddhist country in the world. With its extremely essential forest cover, the government assures to conserve so it represents one of the best and the last chances for the conservation of biological diversity in the Himalayas, one of the main concern regions in the world for biodiversity preservation. No wonder outsiders can’t resist calling Bhutan the Last Shangri-la.

Only a privileged few get to see this remote magical home kingdom of the past every year since Bhutan, today it has become a last admired travel destination.

Location Landlocked between China to the North and India to South, West and East

Size 38’394 sq km. (15,358 square miles) 350 km long and 150 km wide approximately)

Altitude 150 meters (495 feet) in the south to 7,550 meters (24,915 feet) in the north above sea level

Population 6’58’888 Male: 3’45’298 Female: 3’13’590 (85% in rural areas)

Language Dzongkha (English is widely spoken and is the medium of education in the schools)

Religion Vajrayana strain of Mahayana Buddhism

Time Six hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time

Money Ngultrum (at par with Indian Rupee)

Capital Thimphu

Forest Cover 72.5% of total land area