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The Land of Bhutan
Bhutan, a land of thunder dragon, is a small country sandwiched between two giant counties, India and China. Though it is small in size, it is very rich and unique in its culture and landscape. The rich composition of Bhutan's flora and fauna is mainly due to the many eco-floristic and climatic zones. The three main zones are the subtropical lowlands, the temperate midlands and the alpine highland.

The Subtropical Lowlands
The subtropical lowland stretches from the from the little alluvial plains through the terai belt and foothills up to the lesser Himalaya ranges, rising from about 100m to 1800m. This zone has steep south face hills and a subtropical climate with warm winters and hot and humid summer. During the monsoon season and due to high precipitation, the region sees a lot of rain, causing frequent landslides.

The vegetations is mainly lowland hardwood, broadleaf deciduous and ever green forest including plants that are rare such as aloe wood (Aquilaria agalocha). Southern places are seen strong economic growth with introduction of cardamom and orange plantations for export. Cereals such as maize, millet and rice and a maximum range of vegetables and fruits are grown in this zone. Furthermore, the areca nut for the consumption of Bhutanese, is also grown in this area.

In this zone, one can find a variety of animals such as, elephants, rhinos, tigers, leopard, golden langur, Indian Langur and black panther. moreover, over 500 kinds of birds can be found, including the endangered species such as rufous-necked hornbills, great hornbill and white-rumped vulture.

Until the twentieth century, one can say that the place was almost covered completely under forest with sparse settlement. Due to the heat and humidity, there were endorsement of malaria, which with the fear of infection, the northern people forbid to visit the place. The main northern Bhutanese farmers to make it to the lowlands were occasional political envoys, traders visiting Indian trade marts and some cattle herders who would bring their cattle southward to subtropical pastures in the winter.

The group of people lived in this area before the twentieth century are the Lhop and Taba Dramtep, which remained isolated from the rest of Bhutan and who followed and represent ancient and primitive culture that is different from the mainstream Bhutanese culture. The other ethnic group of people living in the western subtropical Bhutan are the Lepchas, who follows culture similar to the Lepchas of Sikkim which is different from the main Bhutanese culture. The area close to the central lowlands were inhabited by the people of Khen and Mangde region, which is considered to be of the mainstream Bhutan stock. Similarly, some lowland areas in the east, particularly near dungsam, saw some eastern Bhutanese settlers. Today, the area covers the district of Samdrupjongkhar, Pemagatshel, Zhemgang, Sarpang, Tsirang, Chukkha and Samtse.