Bhutan 🇧🇹
Bhutan is a country in Asia with a population of 782,455. Its capital is Thimphu. The official currency is BTN, and the main languages are Dzongkha.
Quick facts
- Capital: Thimphu
- Continent: Asia
- Population: 782,455
- Area: 38,394 km²
- Density: 20.4 people per km²
- Currency: BTN
- Languages: Dzongkha
- ISO code: BT
Where Bhutan sits
Bhutan 🇧🇹 is one of 48 countries in Asia, with its capital at Thimphu. It covers 38,394 square kilometres — 133rd in the world — and is home to about 782,455 people, 163rd globally.
The countries it shares a continent with include China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.
How Bhutan compares
Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Bhutan sits closest to Guyana and Comoros. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Taiwan and Guinea-Bissau.
At 20.4 people per square kilometre it is about 2.9 times below the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by area than by population, so it is more spacious than its population alone suggests.
Dzongkha is listed as official in Bhutan alone. The BTN is used by Bhutan and no one else.
To see Bhutan next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.
How to remember Bhutan
Bhutan's own name for itself, Druk Yul, means 'Land of the Thunder Dragon', which is why a dragon fills the flag. Thimphu, the capital and largest city, is in the west-central part of the country.
The flag of Bhutan: yellow, orange, white and black
🇧🇹 The flag is a flag divided diagonally from the bottom left to the top right, yellow above and orange below, with a white dragon along the dividing line. The dragon is the Druk, or Thunder Dragon, the national emblem. Yellow stands for the ruling royal family and orange for Buddhism. White stands for purity, and the jewels in the dragon's claws for wealth.
Region and neighbours
Bhutan is a small landlocked kingdom in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas, between China to the north and India to the south. It shares land borders with 2 countries: China and India. Bhutan is landlocked, with no coast on the open ocean.
- China 🇨🇳 — capital Beijing
- India 🇮🇳 — capital New Delhi
Three facts about Bhutan
- Gangkhar Puensum, Bhutan's highest peak, is the highest mountain in the world that nobody has climbed.
- The idea of 'Gross National Happiness' was created by Bhutan's fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who in 1972 declared it more important than Gross Domestic Product.
- The Paro Taktsang monastery, also called the Tiger's Nest, is built on a cliffside high above the Paro valley.
Sources: Wikipedia: Bhutan, Wikipedia: Flag of Bhutan, Wikipedia: Thimphu, Wikipedia: Gangkhar Puensum, Wikipedia: Gross National Happiness, Wikipedia: Tiger's Nest, CIA World Factbook.
Quiz yourself on Bhutan
- Asian capitals quiz — match Bhutan to Thimphu
- Asian flags quiz — spot the Bhutan flag among its neighbours
- Landlocked countries quiz — Bhutan has no sea coast
Quizzes that include Bhutan
Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Bhutan those are:
- Asia map quiz — place it on a blank map
- Asia flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
- Asia capitals quiz — match it to Thimphu
- Bhutan capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Bhutan
- Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day
Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.
Read more about Bhutan
- Capital of Bhutan: Thimphu — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
- All 48 countries of Asia
Nearby countries
- Afghanistan 🇦🇫 — capital Kabul
- Armenia 🇦🇲 — capital Yerevan
- Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 — capital Baku
- Bahrain 🇧🇠— capital Manama
- Bangladesh 🇧🇩 — capital Dhaka
- Brunei 🇧🇳 — capital Bandar Seri Begawan
- Cambodia 🇰🇠— capital Phnom Penh
- China 🇨🇳 — capital Beijing
- Georgia 🇬🇪 — capital Tbilisi
- India 🇮🇳 — capital New Delhi
- Indonesia 🇮🇩 — capital Jakarta
- Iran 🇮🇷 — capital Tehran
Frequently asked questions
What are the colours of the Bhutan flag?
The flag of Bhutan is a flag divided diagonally from the bottom left to the top right, yellow above and orange below, with a white dragon along the dividing line. The dragon is the Druk, or Thunder Dragon, the national emblem. Yellow stands for the ruling royal family and orange for Buddhism. White stands for purity, and the jewels in the dragon's claws for wealth.
Which countries border Bhutan?
Bhutan shares land borders with China and India.
How can I remember the capital of Bhutan?
Bhutan's own name for itself, Druk Yul, means 'Land of the Thunder Dragon', which is why a dragon fills the flag. Thimphu, the capital and largest city, is in the west-central part of the country.