Bhutan is located on
the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas, landlocked between the Tibet
Autonomous Region to the north and the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam
and Arunachal Pradesh to the west and south. It lies between latitudes 26° and 29°N,
and longitudes 88° and 93°E. The land consists mostly of steep and high mountains
crisscrossed by a network of swift rivers, which form deep valleys before
draining into the Indian plains. Elevation rises from 200 m (660 ft)
in the southern foothills to more than 7,000 m (23,000 ft). This
great geographical diversity combined with equally diverse climate conditions
contributes to Bhutan's outstanding range of biodiversity and ecosystems.
The major
cities of Bhutan are as following:
Thimphu (Tibetan alphabet:
ཐིམ་ཕུག་, Dzongkha:
ཐིམ་ཕུ་), also in the past spelled as
Thimpu,
is the capital and largest city of Bhutan.
It is situated in the western central part of
Bhutan and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's
dzongkhags, the Thimphu
District. The city became the capital of Bhutan in 1961. As of 2005 it had a
population of 79,185,
with 98,676 people living in the entire
Thimphu district.
The city is spread out longitudinally in a north-south direction on the west
bank of the valley formed by the Wang Chuu, also known as the Thimphu Chuu
River and is spread over an altitudinal range between 2,248 metres
(7,375 ft) and 2,648 metres (8,688 ft). Unusually for a capital city,
Thimphu is not served by an airport, but relies on the airport at Paro, connected
by road some 54 kilometres (34 mi) away.
Phuentsholing is a border town in southern Bhutan, and is the
administrative seat (
dzongkhags, thromde) of Chukha District.
The town occupies
parts of both Phuentsholing Gewog and Sampheling Gewog.
Phuentsholing lies opposite the Indian town of
Jaigaon, and cross-border trade has resulted in a thriving local economy. For
example, the town serves as headquarters for the Bank of Bhutan.
In 2005, Phuentsholing had a population of 20,537.
Punakha (Tibetan alphabet:
སྤུ་ན་ཁ་) is the
administrative centre of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan.
Punakha was the capital of Bhutan and the seat of government until 1955, when
the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is about 72 km away from Thimphu and
it takes about 3 hours by car from the capital Thimphu. Unlike Thimphu it is
quite warm in winter and hot in summer. It is located at an elevation of 1,200
metres above sea level and rice is grown as the main crop along the river
valleys of two main rivers of Bhutan, the Pho Chu and Mo Chu. Dzongkha is
widely spoken in this district.
Samdrup Jongkhar is a town and seat of Samdrup Jongkhar District in Bhutan.
The town is located at the south-eastern part of Bhutan and borders the
Indian state of Assam. Though there is no clear historical record of the
development of the town, it is said
to have developed as a result of
the construction of the Samdrup Jongkhar-Tashigang national highway in the
1960s. In the past
the
Sharchops of Tashigang, Dundsan, Orong and yangtse used to trade in a small
town called Gudama (current day Mela Bazaar). Today it is one of the most
important
trading towns for the eastern districts of Bhutan.
Post-2003, due to insurgency problems , much of the business was halted,
causing a ripple effect on the developmental and socio-economic life of the
people of most of eastern Bhutan.
Samdrup Jonkhar Dzongkhag has a mix of population largely dominated by the
Sharchops and by Lhotshampas in Bangtar. It is also an important economic
center of the country where coal mining is an important contribution to the
country's economy.
Paro valley
Rinpung Dzong a fortress-monastery
overlooking the Paro valley has a long history. A monastery was first built on
the site by Padma Sambhava at the beginning of the tenth century, but it wasn't
until 1644 that Ngawang Namgyal built a larger monastery on the old
foundations, and for centuries this imposing five storey building served as an
effective defence against numerous invasion attempts by the Tibetans.
Built with stones instead of clay, the Dzong was named Rinpung, meaning
"heaps of jewels" but Rinpung and all its treasures were destroyed by
the fire in 1907.
Only one thangka, known as Thongdel, was
saved. The Paro Dzong was rebuilt by the penlop dawa Penjor after the fire.
Housed within its walls is a collection of sacred masks and costumes. Some date
back several centuries; others were contributed by Dawa Penjor and his
successor Penlop Tshering Penjor in recent times.
Trashigang (Dzongkha:
བཀྲ་ཤིས་སྒང་།),
or
Tashigang, is a town in eastern Bhutan and the district capital of
the
Trashigang Dzongkha (district).
The town lies on the east side of the valley above the Drangme Chhu river
just south of where it is joined by the Gamri River. Trashigang is the eastern
terminus of the Lateral Road, Bhutan's main highway leading to Phuntsholing in
the southwest.
The population of Trashigang was 2,383 in according to the 2005 census.
In October 2011,
Trashigang Dzong,
under renovation since 2007, was on the verge of collapse. The dzong was built
in 1659 by Trongsa Penlop
Minjur Tenpa
and served for centuries as an administrative headquarters and monastery,
though government offices mostly relocated by 2011. Its sinking eastern
foundation and crumbling upper walls necessitated either relocation or total
destruction and reconstruction, according to dzong officials. However, as of
2012, the Trashigang Dzong was still used for the town's yearly tsechu.
Trashigang is the largest district in Bhutan. it has two sub-districts and
fifteen gewogs. It bears the first education college of the country, Kanglung
College under Royal University of Bhutan.
Trashigang is served by Yongphulla Airport.
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