Kingdom of Bhutan

Kingdom of Bhutan

"Mountain Fortress of the Gods"

TOPOGRAPHY OF BHUTAN (1)

This blog post will briefly discuss the regional geography of the Kingdom of Bhutan, a small country in the Himalaya Mountains of less than 15,000 square miles and less than one million people. Bhutan is bordered on the north by China, and on the west, south, and east by India.

Geography

Bhutan is situated on the far east end of the Himalaya Mountains, encompassing area from some of the highest peaks in the north, including the highest never-climbed peak in the world, to highlands in the south, which is where most of the population resides.

INDIA AND BHUTAN (2)

Climate

The north of the country is virtually uninhabited, as the elevation and climate consisting of snow, ice, and frequent blizzard conditions make it an austere environment. Frequent monsoons in the northwest also hinder population growth there. However southern Bhutan has a relatively stable year-round hot, humid, subtropical climate. Only two percent of the land of this small country is actually arable, a thin strip of land on the southern border with India, and this is where most of the population resides.

BHUTAN MAP OF KOPPEN CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (3)

Geomorphology

The Himalayas were formed over the past 10 million years, and continue to form, raising in height every year, and elevating regions including Bhutan, by five milimeters per year. This occurs because it is the convergence of two tectonic plates, the Eurasian Plate and the Indian Plate (formerly the Indo-Australian plate which broke in two after its movement toward subduction began 71 million years ago).

HIMALAYAS FORMATION (4)

History

Bhutan is located in a particularly geostrategically important region of the world. It is situated near or bordering three nuclear-armed powers, India, China, and Pakistan, and has from time to time, including within the past several weeks, been wrapped up in intense geopolitical developments among the three, particularly India and China.

HIMALAYAS MAP (5)

The only way from Tibet, which is the large region of China to Bhutan's north, to the Assam state of India is through Bhutan, and there are far from a lot of wide thoroughfares to choose from. There are only a few narrow passes through the mountains between the two nations here, and being on highly elevated land, controlling these passes becomes particularly important. In 1962 India and China fought a war over areas of their Himalayan border.

Politics

In June and July of 2017, tensions have been mounting over what is called the Donglang (Mandarin Chinese) or Doklam (Tibetan) plateau, which is a narrow ridge on the China-Bhutan border.

THE DOKLAM/ DONGLANG PLATEAU (6)

As India provides 60% of Bhutan's government funds, controls its western, southern, and eastern borders, and has had substantial influence since the end of the British Raj in 1947 and the signing of the Indo-Bhutan Treaty of 1949, Bhutan has essentially existed as an Indian protectorate.

Today's tensions over the Doklam/Donglang Plateau are essentially between India and China. Both countries have amassed hundreds if not thousands of troops in a standoff along the ridge. On July 12, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Gen Shuang characterized the border standoff not as a "difference", but as a "dispute," saying

China has explicitly pointed out that the illegal trespass of Indian border troops into China’s territory this time took place at the defined Sikkim section of the China-India boundary, which is utterly different in nature from the previous frictions between the two sides at the undefined sections of the China-India boundary. (7)

Similarly strident, former Indian Navy Chief Arun Prakash called for the current war games being held in the Bay of Bengal by India, the United States, and Japan should be "elevated to strategic status", stating

As we note the hostility and aggressive posturing by a rising China, both on our land borders and at sea, we need to recall the words of Greek historian, Thucydides. “It was the rise of Athens,” he said, “and the fear that this inspired in Sparta, that made war inevitable.” (8)

Further west along the Himalayas, in the Kashmir region disputed by Pakistan and India, border skirmishes, including live fire exchanges and casualties, have continued in the most dangerous situation there in years if not decades. So the challenges to diffuse the situation along the border regions in the Himalayas are immense.

Environment and Geomorphology

Bhutan is considered one of the most environmentally pristine and biologically diverse countries in the world. With conservation of the environment winning a place in the country's constitution, animals such as the takin, Bhutan's national animal, are able to roam freely throughout the country within a connected network of 60% land area under forest cover and 40% land area under protected status.

THE TAKIN (9)

At times this conservationist policy has produced the phenomenon of encroachment of wildlife on agricultural areas, and nonviolent means to manage encroachment have been implemented with varying degrees of success.

Economy

Bhutan has been fairly successful at translating its conservation policies to generate tourism revenue. Interestingly, Bhutan was also the creator of the World Happiness Report, which is a measure of its people's happiness. Currently Bhutan scores at the bottom of the happy countries.

WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT 2017 (10)

Another important source of revenue is the generation of hydroelectric power which it exports to India. However in recent years, with increasing investments in hydroelectric power by other South Asian states, Bhutan's exports to India have dropped.

BHUTAN HYDROELECTRIC EXPORTS TO INDIA (11)

While Bhutan is still considered a developing economy, with rural agriculture -- cash crop and subsistence -- making up 55% of the economy, its growth curve has increased in recent years as it has promoted itself as hospitable to foreign economic development and ranks first in South Asia in economic freedom.

Sources 

1. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Bhutan_topo_en.jpg.
2. http://www.mapsofindia.com/neighbouring-countries-maps/maps/india-bhutan-map.jpg.
3. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bhutan_map_of_K%C3%B6ppen_climate_classification.svg.
4. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Himalaya-formation.gif.
5. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Himalayas_Map.png.
6. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40478813.
7. https://thewire.in/157408/india-china-brief-political-parties-diplomatic-channels-open/..
8. http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/making-waves-bay-of-bengal-warships-malabar-4748014/.
9. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Takin,_Thimphu_mini-zoo.jpg.
10. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_map_of_countries_by_World_Happiness_Report_score_(2017).svg.
11. https://sandrp.wordpress.com/2015/04/20/changing-profile-of-indias-hydro-power-import-from-bhutan/.