Country · Asia
Bhutan
Kingdom of Bhutan
Bhutan is a country in Southern Asia. About 754 000 people live there, in an area of 38 394 square kilometres. Its capital city is Thimphu.
Picture credit: Bernard Gagnon (CC BY-SA 4.0) · 2006nishan178713 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Mussi Katz (CC0) · Gerd Eichmann (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Bernard Gagnon (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Bhutan?
Bhutan lies in Southern Asia, on the continent of Asia.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 3 061 km from the equator.
Bhutan is landlocked: it has no coast at all, so you cannot reach the sea without crossing another country.
It shares a border with 2 countries: China and India.
How big is Bhutan?
Bhutan covers 38 394 square kilometres.
That is about 15 times the size of Luxembourg.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 133rd largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 19.6 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Bhutan?
About 754 000 people live in Bhutan.
That is the 160th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Dzongkha.
They pay with the Bhutanese ngultrum and Indian rupee.
On average, people born here can expect to live about 52 years.
The land of Bhutan
The land of Bhutan sits on average 3 280 metres above sea level — high enough that much of it counts as mountain country.
Because it is landlocked, anything that comes by ship has to cross one of its 2 neighbours to get here.
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Bhutan different?
A dish the country is known for: Ema datshi.
Websites from here often end in .bt.
Bhutan and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Bhutan.
It takes up about 0.03 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Asia the country ranks 36th of 46 by size, and 44th by population.
Bhutan and its neighbours
China, its largest neighbour, is about 252.8 times bigger.
China has more people: 1.4 billion against 754 000.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 5 live wild in Bhutan: Tiger, Red panda, Gaur, Sloth bear and Indian flying fox. The highest mountain in the country is Gangkhar Puensum, at 7 571 metres. The longest river in the country is the Manas (Drangme Chhu). The largest lake in the country is Thorthormi Lake.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Bhutan compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 244 times as big as Bhutan: 9 372 610 km² against 38 394 km².
- The United Kingdom is about 6.3 times as big as Bhutan: 242 900 km² against 38 394 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Bhutan?
The capital of Bhutan is Thimphu. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Bhutan?
About 754 000 people live in Bhutan, which makes it the 160th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
How big is Bhutan?
Bhutan covers 38 394 square kilometres, making it the 133rd largest country in the world. That is about 15 times the size of Luxembourg.
What is the highest mountain in Bhutan?
The highest mountain in Bhutan is Gangkhar Puensum, 7 571 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Bhutan?
The longest river in Bhutan is the Manas (Drangme Chhu). Of its 400 kilometres, about 272 run through the country.
What is the largest lake in Bhutan?
The largest lake in Bhutan is Thorthormi Lake. It covers about 3 km².
Which continent is Bhutan in?
Bhutan is in Asia, in the part called Southern Asia.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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