Thimphu

Thimphu became Bhutan's permanent capital only in 1962—ending centuries of seasonal migration when the third king relocated Tashichho Dzong from winter residence to year-round seat of government. The 'Fortress of the Glorious Religion,' originally built in 1216, rebuilt in 1641, and modernized in 1962, now houses the king's throne room, cabinet secretariat, and key ministries, while the Central Monastic Body still moves to Punakha each winter following ancient transhumance. With 138,736 residents, Thimphu is Bhutan's most populous district by far and its most densely settled at 67.1 people per square kilometer—statistics that obscure how concentrated national life has become in a single valley. The district hosts 25% of all industrial licenses in Bhutan, making it the economic as well as political center. Yet Thimphu remains the only world capital without traffic lights: a policeman in traditional dress directs vehicles at the main intersection, a deliberate choice to preserve character against modernization pressure. The Thimphu Tshechu festival each autumn brings masked dances to the dzong grounds, monks and bureaucrats sharing spaces that elsewhere separate sacred from secular. Located at 2,330 meters in the western Himalayas, the district's eight gewogs (administrative subdivisions) extend from urban core to remote highland valleys where yak herders maintain traditional patterns. By 2026, Thimphu faces the tension defining small developing capitals: how to modernize infrastructure without losing the cultural distinctiveness that makes Bhutan valuable in a homogenizing world. Poverty at 1.5% (lowest nationally) contrasts with 41.4% in Zhemgang—spatial inequality that concentrates opportunity in the capital while depleting rural districts.