The name Bhutan appears to derive from the ancient Indian term BHOTANTA which means the end of the land of the Bhots. Bhots was the Sanskrit term for Tibetans. Thus Bhutan could mean the end of the land of Tibet.

The kingdom lies east of Nepal and west of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is south of the Tibetan hinterland and north of the Indian territories of Assam and West Bengal.

Located in the heart of the high Himalayan mountain range, Bhutan is a land-locked country surrounded by mountains in the north and west. The rugged east, visited by few Western travellers, borders the sparse and largely unknown Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The high Himalaya in the northern steppes separates the kingdom from Tibet.

The population of 6000,000 is made up primarily of indigenous Bhutanese. Many naturalised citizens came originally from Tibet and India. In the higher reaches of the kingdom and in some isolated valleys, hill tribes assuming Bhutanese nationality thrive on the land. Some, like those from Merak and Sakteng in the east and Laya in the north, have no contact with Western civilization and trade only in bartered goods.

The Buddhist faith has played and continues to play a fundamental role in the cultural, ethical and sociological development of Bhutan and its people. Annual festivals (tschus and dromchoes) are spiritual occasions in each district.

Throughout Bhutan, stupas and chortens line the roadside commemorating a place where Guru Rimpoche or another Shabdrung may have stopped to meditate. Prayer flags are even more common. Fluttering on long poles, they maintain constant communication with the heavens.

Bhutan is the only country in the world to retain the tantric form of Mahayana Buddhism as its official religion.