Bhutan - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Bhutan. Landlocked; strategic location between China and India; controls several key Himalayan mountain passes. Mother's mean age at first birth is (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 47 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Geographical data of Bhutan
| Location | Southern Asia, between China and India |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates | 27 30 N, 90 30 E |
| Map references | Asia |
| Tarrain | mostly mountainous with some fertile valleys and savanna |
| Natural Resources | timber, hydropower, gypsum, calcium carbonate |
| Natural Hazards | violent storms from the Himalayas are the source of the country's Bhutanese name, which translates as Land of the Thunder Dragon; frequent landslides during the rainy season |
| Irrigated Land | 320 sq km (2012) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | |
| Major aquifers | |
| Land Boundaries | 1,136 km |
| Border Countries | China 477 km; India 659 km |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Climate | varies; tropical in southern plains; cool winters and hot summers in central valleys; severe winters and cool summers in Himalayas |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 38,394 sq km |
| Water Area | 0 sq km |
| comparative Area | slightly larger than Maryland; about one-half the size of Indiana |
| Maritime Claims | |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | Gangkar Puensum 7,570 m |
| Lowest point | Drangeme Chhu 97 m |
| Mean elevation | 2,220 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 12.8% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 1.8% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 0.2% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 10.8% (2022 est.) |
| Forest | 71.6% (2022 est.) |
| Other | 15.6% (2022 est.) |
Population Distribution
People and Society
In Bhutan, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Ngalop (also known as Bhote) 50%, ethnic Nepali 35% (predominantly Lhotshampas), indigenous or migrant tribes 15%
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | 0.95% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 15.3 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 5.9 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 2.2 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.) |
| Total fertility rate | 1.76 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 0.86 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 62.8% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | |
| Education expenditures | |
| Net Migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Bhutanese | Bhutanese (singular and plural) |
| Languages | Sharchopkha 28%, Dzongkha (official) 24%, Lhotshamkha 22%, other 26% (includes foreign languages) (2005 est.) |
| Religions | Lamaistic Buddhist 75.3%, Indian- and Nepali-influenced Hinduism 22.1%, other 2.6% (2005 est.) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 23.1% (male 104,771/female 99,981) |
| 15-64 years | 70.2% (male 322,497/female 298,324) |
| 65 years and over | 6.7% (2024 est.) (male 30,397/female 28,576) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 42.5 (2024 est.) |
| Youth dependency ratio | 33 (2024 est.) |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 9.5 (2024 est.) |
| Potential support ratio | 10.5 (2024 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 30.7 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 31.1 years |
| Female | 30.3 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 44.4% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | 2.52% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 203,000 THIMPHU (capital) (2018). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.05 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 1.08 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 1.06 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 1.07 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 24.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 24.6 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 23.9 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 73.7 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 72.5 years |
| Female | 75 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 99.5% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: rural | rural: 98.8% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: total | total: 99.1% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.5% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 1.2% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: total | total: 0.9% of population (2022 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 91.1% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: rural | rural: 85.5% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: total | total: 87.9% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 8.9% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 14.5% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: total | total: 12.1% of population (2022 est.) |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 0.07 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 0.05 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 18.5% (2025 est.) |
| Male | 26.1% (2025 est.) |
| Female | 9.8% (2025 est.) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Bhutan
Want to know more about Bhutan? Check all different factbooks for Bhutan below.
