Location & Geography: Bhutan is located in eastern and northern hemisphere but close to equator. It has China to the north and India on three other sides, with latitude of 27°30” N and longitude of 90°E. Location: 90°E; 27°30” N
Its terrain is mountainous with deep valleys. It is landlocked Himalayan country. The altitude ranges from 150m/495ft to 7540m/ 24800ft approximately, within which includes 3 geographical belts. At the northern end is the alpine zone called the greater Himalayas. The south of greater Himalayas is the middle zone – the temperate zone called the Inner Himalayas and the sub-tropical zone to the south called the southern foothills.
Because of the latitude situation and the mountainous terrain, the tree line is much higher than elsewhere. It is till 3900m or 11500ft that you can find trees. In North America at 35°N latitude, you wouldn’t find any trees by 2900m or 9000ft, similar to Europe.
The snow line is also much higher. For permanent snow cover, one will have to be cross 5900m or 19000ft roughly. The capital Thimphu is at elevation of 7500ft (2350m) and it receives but one snowfall a year – had it been in Europe with latitude of 30° or more, there would be snowfall through out the winter. Contrary to popular notion, Bhutan is not under snow throughout the winter (some think throughout the winter), in fact, some consider themselves lucky if they get one snowfall a year!
The average temperatures below are of well-known places in Bhutan:
| Month | Values.in.Celsius | …Paro (7500ft). | …Thimphu (7500ft). | …Punakha (4400ft). | …Trongsa (7000ft)… | …Bumthang (8700ft)… | …Mongar (4000ft)… | …Trashigang (3900ft).. |
| January | Max-Min | 9.4-5.8 | 12.3-2.6 | 17.0-4.3 | 13.0-0.2 | 10.8-5.1 | 15.5-8.2 | 20.4-10.5 |
| February | Max-Min | 13.0-1.5 | 14.4-0.6 | 19.0-7.8 | 13.9-0.4 | 10.0-1.4 | 15.9-8.3 | 21.7-11.5 |
| March | Max-Min | 14.5-0.6 | 16.4-3.9 | 22.8-10.4 | 16.7-4.4 | 16.2-3.5 | 20.0-11.6 | 24.8-14.4 |
| April | Max-Min | 17.6-4.6 | 20.0-7.1 | 26.2-12.9 | 20.1-6.6 | 18.7-3.9 | 22.8-14.0 | 28.3-17.0 |
| May | Max-Min | 23.5-10.6 | 22.5-13.1 | 29.1-17.7 | 21.0-11.6 | 21.3-9.5 | 25.1-17.4 | 30.0-22.6 |
| June | Max-Min | 25.4-14.1 | 24.4-15.2 | 29.2-20.1 | 22.2-13.6 | 22.5-13.5 | 26.1-19.5 | 30.7-22.6 |
| July | Max-Min | 26.8-14.9 | 25.9-15.6 | 30.4-20.5 | 25.3-15.3 | 24.1-13.6 | 27.1-19.8 | 31.5-23.1 |
| August | Max-Min | 25.3-14.7 | 25.0-15.8 | 29.1-20 | 23.8-15 | 23.0-13.7 | 25.4-19.6 | 30.2-22.7 |
| September | Max-Min | 23.4-11.7 | 23.1-15 | 27.5-19.1 | 22.6-14.2 | 21.6-12.1 | 24.7-19.4 | 30.0-21.9 |
| October | Max-Min | 18.7-7.4 | 21.9-10.4 | 26.1-14.7 | 21.8-11.7 | 19.5-5.9 | 22.7-15.8 | 29.1-17.7 |
| November | Max-Min | 13.9-1.4 | 17.9-5.0 | 22.6-9.6 | 19.8-6.4 | 16.1-0.5 | 19.9-11.2 | 26.1-13.6 |
| December | Max-Min | 11.2-1.7 | 14.5-1.1 | 19.1-6.3 | 18.2-2.5 | 12.3-2.3 | 17.7-9.5 | 23.0-11.6 |