er: 26% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 340 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: violent storms coming down from the Himalayas are the
source of the country's name which translates as Land of the Thunder
Dragon; frequent landslides during the rainy season

Environment - current issues: soil erosion; limited access to potable
water

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Nuclear Test Ban
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note: landlocked; strategic location between China and
India; controls several key Himalayan mountain passes

@Bhutan:People

Population: 2,005,222
note: other estimates range as low as 800,000 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 40% (male 417,627; female 387,927)
15-64 years: 56% (male 576,533; female 544,076)
65 years and over: 4% (male 40,081; female 38,978) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.19% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 36.22 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 14.32 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.03 male(s)/female
total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 110.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 52.4 years
male: 52.79 years
female: 51.99 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.13 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Bhutanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Bhutanese

Ethnic groups: Bhote 50%, ethnic Nepalese 35%, indigenous or migrant
tribes 15%

Religions: Lamaistic Buddhist 75%, Indian- and Nepalese-influenced
Hinduism 25%

Languages: Dzongkha (official), Bhotes speak various Tibetan dialects,
Nepalese speak various Nepalese dialects

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 42.2%
male: 56.2%
female: 28.1% (1995 est.)

People - note: refugee issue over the presence in Nepal of
approximately 96,500 Bhutanese refugees, 90% of whom are in seven
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
camps

@Bhutan:Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Kingdom of Bhutan
conventional short form: Bhutan

Data code: BT

Government type: monarchy; special treaty relationship with India

Capital: Thimphu

Administrative div