The Kingdom of Bhutan is a landlocked country in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas. It is bordered by China to the north and India to the south, east, and west. To the west, Bhutan is separated from Nepal by the Indian state of Sikkim, and further south, it is separated from Bangladesh by the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. The capital and largest city is Thimphu.
Bhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefs until the early 17th century, when the lama and military leader Ngawang Namgyal, the first Zhabdrung Rinpoche, fled religious persecution in Tibet and unified the country. He laid the foundation for a distinct Bhutanese identity.
In the early 20th century, Bhutan came into contact with the British Empire and maintained strong bilateral relations with India after its independence. In 2006, a global survey by Business Week rated Bhutan as the happiest country in Asia and the eighth-happiest in the world. According to the World Happiness Report 2016 by the United Nations, Bhutan ranked 84th globally.
Bhutan’s landscapes range from subtropical plains in the south to sub-alpine Himalayan heights in the north, where several peaks exceed 7,000 metres (23,000 ft). The country covers an area of approximately 38,394 km² (14,824 sq mi). The state religion is Vajrayana Buddhism, and as of 2015, the estimated population was around 742,700, with the majority being Buddhist.
In 2008, Bhutan transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy and held its first democratic elections. Bhutan is a proud member of the United Nations (UN) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), having hosted the 16th SAARC Summit in April 2010.