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Bhutan is a tiny country of only 38,394 square
kilometers, roughly the size of Switzerland. It lies
in the lofty folds of the eastern Himalayan mountain
range, separated from Nepal by the Indian state of
Sikkim.
In spite of its size – Bhutan measures no more than
110 miles at its widest from north to south and
about 200 miles from east to west– it houses an
extraordinary range of climates and ecosystems.
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From the hot and humid subtropical foothills in the
south, the topography climbs to mid-Himalayan river
valleys (5 – 14,000 feet above sea level) in the
central belt, and farther on north to extremely cold
snow-capped peaks of up to 24,000 feet. Such wide
geological variety exists because the Himalayas are
the world’s youngest mountain range, formed 25
million years ago when a large chunk of southern
land mass drifted and crashed into south Asia to
become the Indian subcontinent.
Consequently, by bringing together Indian and
Eurasian species of plant and animal life, the
Himalayas evolved into a haven of biodiversity.
Bhutan forms part of a mountain corridor that is
identified as one of the 10 biological hotspots in
the world. What makes Bhutan stand out is that it
has avoided the rampant deforestation that other
Himalayan countries have been through. With about 70
per cent of the total land area under forest cover,
and with new species of flora and fauna being
discovered still, the country is a recognized world
leader in conservation – Bhutan won the Champions of
The Earth Award from the United Nations Environment
Programme in 2005.
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