Bhutan Title

Location Absolute : N, E Relative : Landlocked, India surrounds Bhutan to the South, East, and West. China to the North.

Place In the North, there are high mountains with extremely cold climates. A lot of the mountains are over 23,000 ft. The highest point is Gangkhar Puensum. Lowest point is sea level in the valleys. Central Bhutan has the Black Mountains. Mountains range between 4900 ft. and 8900 ft. above sea level. Most of the population lives in central Bhutan. In South, there are Shiwalik Hills. There are dense deciduous forests.

Place Climate: In the North it is polar and there is year-round snow. In central Bhutan, it is temperate. In the South, it is subtropical. The five seasons in Bhutan are summer, monsoon, autumn, winter, and spring. West Bhutan has heavier monsoon rains. South Bhutan has hot summers and cool winters. Central and East Bhutan are temperate, and drier than the west.

Place Human Characteristics: Religion; two-thirds follow Mahayana Buddhism, one-third follows Hinduism. Less than 1% of the population is other religions. In Bhutan they guarantee freedom of religion. Language; Dzongkha

Place Economy: One of the world's smallest, but it is the second faster growing economy in the world, according to 2007 statistics. Bhutan has a GDP around US Dollars. It is based on agriculture, forestry, tourism, and the sale of Hydroelectric power to India. Agriculture provides the most for more than 80% of the population. Mostly consists of subsistence farming and the cottage industry.

Place Most production comes from the cottage industry, but some industries still exist; like cement, steel, wood products, processed fruits, alcoholic beverages, and calcium carbide. The agricultural produce includes: rice, chilies, dairy, buckwheat, barley, root crops, apples, citrus, and maize. Currency is the Ngultrum, and is related to the Indian Rupee.

Place Imports: fuel, lubricants, grain, machinery, vehicles, fabrics, and rice Exports: electricity, cardamom, gypsum, timber, handicrafts, cement, fruit, precious stones, and spices

Region Formal Region: Located along the Himalayas. It is very mountainous, and has the highest unclimbed mountain in the world. Nepal, like Bhutan, is also located along the Himalayas, and is very mountainous, and has the world's highest climbed mountain, Mt. Everest. Functional Region: Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan, which houses the King, Wangchuck, and therefore affects the rest of the country. Perceptual Region: People say it is the happiest place in the world. (More on later slide.)

Movement Ideas on safer forms of energy are being moved from Bhutan to other countries. For example, the movement of hydroelectric power to India. Bhutan and India also signed a 'free trade' accord in 2008, which allowed Bhutanese to import and export things from and to India without tariffs. A lot of people smuggle things from China into Bhutan because the trade routes over the Himalayas, because of the 1950 military takeover of Tibet.

Human-Environment Interaction Bhutan has used water to their advantage by the use of hydroelectricity. Bhutan has also banned tobacco sales, which basically makes it pointless to grow it. There is a lot of farming, and the economy is built mostly on the cottage industry. They use the south to their advantage as well due to its fertile soil and plentiful, crisp, cool waters.

Awesome. In 1972, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck established “Gross National Happiness” after his father died to carry on his wish of having Bhutan's culture based on Buddhist spiritual values. The four pillars of GNH: promotion of sustainable development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of natural environment, and establishment of good governance. It is an attempt to define the quality of life in more psychological terms than the value of goods (GNP).