Geography & Nature
Bhutan is a small Himalayan country in South East Asia bordered by China in the North, and India in the South. The country is located at 26º45’ to 28º10’N latitudes and 88º45’to 92 º 10’ E longitudes. The maximum longitudinal distance is about 330km and latitudinal distance of about 180 and has approximate area coverage of 38,394 Sq. Km.

Bhutan, most travelers often define as land of undulations. Rightly so, the country rises from 200masl in southern foothills to7000+ masl to north. Approximately 72.5% of the area is covered by forest, much more than the 60% as mandated by the law.

Climatically, it varies from hot sub-tropical climate in south to cold alpine region in the north.

The country has four seasons:
Spring: March – May
Summer: June – August
Autumn: September – November
Winter: December – February

Huge variations of weather, climatic and geographic conditions, Bhutan has nestled a diverse biodiversity rich enough to be considered within the global environmental hotspots. There are about 46 rhododendrons and 300 medicinal plants. It also record 579 wild orchids and at least 30 bamboo species. Co-existing is a rich fauna too. There are about 200 species of mammals such as Royal Bengal Tigers, Snow Leopard, Red Panda, Takin, Golden Langur, and Elephant etc. In addition, more than 678 species of birds have been recorded, including some of endangered species such as the white-bellied heron and Black necked Crane.  

People & Culture:
The total population of Bhutan would be lesser than population of some villages of India or China. It is approximated to be 700,000 plus. Bhutan definitely is one of the smallest countries both in terms of size of the country and population, yet rich in culture.

In general, the Bhutanese society can be divided into three ethnic groups- Ngalops, Lhotsampas and Sharchogpas. Ngalops- are commonly referred to people settled in western region, while those settled in southern region are referred to as Lhotsampas and Sharchogpas- for those from the eastern region. There are several dialects.  And the national language is Dzongkha.

Men wear Gho and women wear Kira. There are other dresses woven from either Yak or Sheep hair worn by tribal or nomadic population.

Agriculture:
Bhutan is per-dominantly an agrarian society with more than 69% of the total population engaged in agriculture. The arable land is about 8% of the total geographic coverage, of which only about 18% is irrigated. However, owing to poor yield, growing pressure to change arable land into other uses and increasing rural-urban migration, sustainable and decent income from agriculture is at a stake. Despite the stake, agriculture still remains the primary source of livelihood for majority of the population. This sector still contributes about 30-35% of GDP.

Major crops cultivated are rice, maize, paddy, barley, etc. Rice and maize production accounts to about 45% each of total domestic cereal cultivation. Vegetables such as potato, tomato, onion, chilli, cabbage, ginger, garlic, beans, radish, etc are also grown. Fruits include apple, orange, banana, cucumber, etc.

Agricultural season: major crop cultivation start in March – April, harvesting period: September –October.