Demographics of Bhutan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Ethnic groups in Bhutan)

Jump to: navigation, search

Bhutanese people in national dress at the Wangdi Phodrang festival

Demographics of Bhutan, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

The Royal Government of Bhutan lists their country's population as 734,340 (2003). The CIA Factbook estimates the population at 2,232,291.[1][2] What accounts for this discrepancy?

One explanation given inside Bhutan is that the higher CIA numbers ultimately trace back to an inflated population number the Bhutanese government supplied to the United Nations in the early 1970s in order to gain entry into that body (the UN reportedly had a cutoff population of one million at that time -- see micronation for justifications in support of such a minimum). According to this theory the CIA population experts have retained this original inflated number year after year while adjusting it each year for normal population growth.

An alternative theory is that the western and central districts of the country wish to underestimate the populations of the southern and eastern districts in order to maintain their historical dominance over those districts. This is the claim made by some Bhutanese refugee groups. Certainly the government numbers do not include people in the refugee camps in Nepal and other persons forced out of Bhutan, which total approximately 125,000.

The Bhutanese numbers can be reconstructed from their 9th Five Year Plan documents[3], which lists the exact number of households in each gewog. If the Bhutanese refugee advocate groups are correct, a spot check of a southern gewog should show a massive under-reporting of population (although this would have to be done by a non-interested party to have credibility).

Population pyramid

2,279,723

Note: other estimates range as low as 810,000 (July 2006 est.)

0-14 years: 38.9% (male 458,801/female 426,947)

15-64 years: 57.1% (male 671,057/female 631,078)

65 years and over: 4% (male 46,217/female 45,623) (2006 est.)

Total: 20.4 years

Male: 20.2 years

Female: 20.6 years (2006 est.)

2.10% (2006 est.)

33.65 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

12.7 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female

Total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Total: 98.41 deaths/1,000 live births

Male: 96.14 deaths/1,000 live births

Female: 100.79 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Total population: 54.78 years

Male: 55.02 years

Female: 54.53 years (2006 est.)

4.74 children born/woman (2006 est.)

Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

People living with HIV/AIDS: less than 100 (1999 est.)

Deaths: NA

Noun: Bhutanese (singular and plural)

Adjective: Bhutanese

Northern Bhutanese 90%, ethnic Nepalese 6%, indigenous or migrant tribes 4%

Lamaistic Buddhist 98%, Indian- and Nepalese-influenced Hinduism 1%, Muslims 1%

Dzongkha (official), Bhotes speak various Tibetan dialects, Nepalese speak various Nepalese dialects

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Total population: 47%

Male: 60%

Female: 34% (2003 est.)

This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2006 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain. and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.