Mongar Gewog

Climate of Bhutan

The climate of Bhutan spans tropical lowlands to permanent ice within about 170 kilometres north to south, producing three broad zones — subtropical southern foothills, temperate central valleys and alpine north — each with distinct temperature and rainfall regimes. The country is dominated by the Indian summer monsoon, holds constitutionally mandated forest cover above 60 per cent, and is documented as carbon-negative, yet is also among the world's most exposed high-mountain states to warming, glacial retreat and glacial lake outburst floods.

Taktsang Monasteries of Bhutan

Taktsang ("tiger's lair") is a class of cliffside hermitages across Bhutan associated with the meditation of Guru Padmasambhava and his consorts. While Paro Taktsang is the most famous, the network includes Singye Dzong in Lhuentse, Taktsang Pema Tsel in Bumthang and several smaller sites.

Manas River

The Manas River, called Manas Chhu or Drangme Chhu in its upper Bhutanese reaches, is the largest river system of eastern Bhutan, formed by the confluence of the Drangme Chhu, Mangde Chhu and Bumthang Chhu before flowing south into Assam to join the Brahmaputra.

Central Regional Referral Hospital, Gelephu

The Central Regional Referral Hospital (CRRH), Gelephu, is the principal tertiary-care facility for southern and south-central Bhutan, located in Gelephu in Sarpang dzongkhag. Upgraded from a district hospital to regional referral status in 2005 with 60 beds and expanded to 100 beds in 2007, it now operates as a 150-bed facility serving Sarpang, Tsirang, Dagana and Zhemgang.

Mongar Regional Referral Hospital

The Mongar Regional Referral Hospital, also known as the Eastern Regional Referral Hospital, is the principal tertiary-care facility for eastern Bhutan, located in Mongar town in Mongar dzongkhag. The 150-bed hospital was constructed with Government of India financial assistance and serves as the apex referral institution for six eastern dzongkhags and parts of Bumthang.

Drametse Ngacham

The Drametse Ngacham, or Mask Dance of the Drums from Drametse, is a sacred masked dance performed at Ogyen Tegchok Namdroel Choeling Monastery in Drametse, Mongar dzongkhag. Originating in the early sixteenth century, it was inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008, having first been proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005.

Zhemgang District

Zhemgang District (Dzongkha: གཞལམ་སྒང་རྫོང་ཁག) is a sparsely populated district in south-central Bhutan, covering approximately 2,416 square kilometres. One of the most remote and least developed districts in the country, Zhemgang is recognised for its exceptional biodiversity, including significant populations of golden langurs, and its rich Khengpa cultural traditions.

Trashi Yangtse District

Trashi Yangtse District (Dzongkha: བཀྲ་ཤིས་གཡང་རྩེ་རྫོང་ཁག) is a district in northeastern Bhutan, carved out of Trashigang District in 1992. It is renowned for Chorten Kora, one of Bhutan's most sacred Buddhist monuments, and for its thriving tradition of wooden bowl and container craftsmanship.

Trashigang District

Trashigang District (Dzongkha: བཀྲ་ཤིས་སྒང་རྫོང་ཁག) is the largest and most populous district in eastern Bhutan, serving as the political and commercial centre of the eastern region. Home to the historic Trashigang Dzong and a diverse population including the Sharchop people, it is known for its rich cultural traditions, weaving heritage, and dramatic mountain landscapes.

Mongar District

Mongar District (Dzongkha: མོང་སྒར་རྫོང་ཁག) is one of the twenty dzongkhags of Bhutan, located in the eastern part of the country. It serves as the principal commercial and administrative hub of eastern Bhutan, with its district capital at Mongar town, and is known for its terraced hillsides, subtropical valleys, and the historic Mongar Dzong.

Bumthang District

Bumthang District (Dzongkha: བུམ་ཐང་རྫོང་ཁག) is a district in north-central Bhutan and the cultural heartland of the kingdom, renowned for its ancient Buddhist temples, sacred valleys, and deep associations with Guru Rinpoche and Pema Lingpa. With its dzongkhag capital at Jakar, Bumthang encompasses four main valleys and is one of the most historically significant regions in the country.

Lateral Road of Bhutan

The Lateral Road is Bhutan's main east-west highway, stretching approximately 570 kilometers from Phuentsholing in the southwest to Trashigang in the east. Constructed primarily by the Indian Border Roads Organisation (BRO, Project Dantak) beginning in the 1960s, the road traverses some of the most challenging terrain in the Himalayas, crossing multiple mountain passes above 3,000 meters. It remains the most important road in Bhutan and a lifeline connecting the country's scattered communities.

List of Bhutanese Political Prisoners

A list of individuals reported to be detained in Bhutan in connection with peaceful political activity, the great majority arrested between 1990 and 2008. The list is compiled from documentation by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the diaspora-led Global Campaign for the Release of Political Prisoners in Bhutan.

Bangchang

Bangchang is a traditional fermented grain beverage brewed and consumed across rural Bhutan, particularly in the eastern and central districts, where it serves as a social drink at community gatherings, festivals, and everyday hospitality.

Lotay Tshering

Dr Lotay Tshering (born 1969) is a Bhutanese urologist and politician who served as the third democratically elected Prime Minister of Bhutan from 2018 to 2023, leading the Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa. Known worldwide as the "Doctor Prime Minister" for continuing weekend surgeries while in office, he was the first DNT leader to hold the premiership. He holds a PhD in medicine and was appointed Governor of the Gelephu Mindfulness City in 2024.

Kinley Dorji

Dasho Kinley Dorji is Bhutan's first professionally trained journalist and the longtime editor-in-chief of Kuensel, the national newspaper. A graduate of Columbia University's journalism program, he shaped Bhutanese media over three decades and later served as Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications.

River Systems of Bhutan

Bhutan's river systems rise from Himalayan glaciers and drain through steep forested gorges into the Brahmaputra plain, sustaining the kingdom's agriculture, generating its primary export commodity in hydroelectric power, and posing significant flood risks from glacial lake outbursts and monsoon flooding.

Trashigang Dzong

Trashigang Dzong (Dzongkha: བཀྲ་ཤིས་སྒང་རྫོང), meaning "Fortress of the Auspicious Hill," is the largest and most important dzong in eastern Bhutan. Built in 1659, it served as the seat of power for the governance of eastern Bhutan and remains the administrative centre of Trashigang District, the most populous district in the country.

WGAD Opinion No. 60/2024 (Bhutan)

Opinion adopted by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its 101st session (11–15 November 2024) and made public in March 2025, finding the detention of three Bhutanese prisoners — Birkha Bahadur Chhetri, Kumar Gautam and Sunman Gurung — arbitrary on four independent grounds and calling on the Royal Government of Bhutan to release them.

Kuri Chhu

The Kuri Chhu is a major river in eastern Bhutan that flows through Lhuentse district before joining the Manas River system. It is the site of the 60 MW Kurichhu Hydroelectric Plant, one of Bhutan's earliest large-scale hydropower facilities, and drains a culturally rich region known for its distinctive textiles and remote mountain communities.