ic roads, all paved (about 400 km of private roads)

Ports: Freeport, Hamilton, St. George

Merchant marine: 93 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,163,947
GRT/7,744,319 DWT; includes 2 short-sea passenger, 10 cargo, 4 refrigerated
cargo, 5 container, 10 roll-on/roll-off, 27 petroleum, oils, and lubricants
(POL) tanker, 4 chemical tanker, 1 combination ore/oil, 10 liquefied
gas, 20 bulk; note--a flag of convenience registry

Civil air: 16 major transport aircraft

Airports: 1 with permanent-surface runways 2,440-3,659 m

Telecommunications: modern with fully automatic telephone system; 46,290
telephones; stations--5 AM, 3 FM, 2 TV; 3 submarine cables; 2 Atlantic Ocean
INTELSAT earth stations

- Defense Forces
Note: defense is the responsibility of the UK
----------------------------------------------------
Country: Bhutan
- Geography
Total area: 47,000 km2; land area: 47,000 km2

Comparative area: slightly more than half the size of Indiana

Land boundaries: 1,075 km total; China 470 km, India 605 km

Coastline: none--landlocked

Maritime claims: none--landlocked

Climate: varies; tropical in southern plains; cool winters and hot
summers in central valleys; severe winters and cool summers in Himalayas

Terrain: mostly mountainous with some fertile valleys and savanna

Natural resources: timber, hydropower, gypsum, calcium carbide

Land use: 2% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 5% meadows and pastures;
70% forest and woodland; 23% other

Environment: violent storms coming down from the Himalayas were the source
of the country name which translates as Land of the Thunder Dragon

Note: landlocked; strategic location between China and India;
controls several key Himalayan mountain passes

- People
Population: 1,565,969 (July 1990), growth rate 2.0% (1990)

Birth rate: 37 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 17 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 137 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 50 years male, 48 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 5.0 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun--Bhutanese (sing., pl.); adjective--Bhutanese

Ethnic divisions: 60% Bhote, 25% ethnic Nepalese, 15% indigenous or
migrant tribes

Religion: 75% Lamaistic Buddhism, 25% Indian- and Nepalese-influenced
Hinduism

Language: Bhotes speak various Tibetan dialects--most widely spoken
dialect is Dzo