Thimphu District

Thimphu Dzongkhag

ཐིམ་ཕུ་རྫོང་ཁག
Thimphu Dzongkhag ཐིམ་ཕུ་རྫོང་ཁག
	Thimphu district
Country	Bhutan
Headquarters	Thimphu
Area
• Total	2,067 km2 (798 sq mi)
Population (2017)
• Total	138,736
• Rank	1st
• Density	67/km2 (170/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+6 (BTT)
HDI (2021)	0.832; very high · 1st
Website	www.thimphu.gov.bt

27°35′N 89°35′E / 27.583°N 89.583°E / 27.583; 89.583

Thimphu District (Dzongkha: ཐིམ་ཕུ་རྫོང་ཁག་; Wylie: Thim-phu rdzong-khag) is a dzongkhag (district) of Bhutan. Thimphu is also the capital of Bhutan and the largest city in the whole kingdom.

Languages

The dominant language throughout the district is Dzongkha; however, within the capital nearly every language of Bhutan may be encountered.^[2]

Cultural sites

Important cultural sites of Thimphu include:

Druk Wangditse Lhakhang
Dechen Phodrang Central Monastic School
Tshelung Ney is the second Draphu Maratika where Guru Rinpoche received life empowerment (Tse Ngedrup) from Tsepakme.^[3]
Chari Meditation Centre
Druk Wangyel Complex, Dochula
National Memorial Chorten
Tango Choeying Dzong is the most important site of Phajo Drugom Zhigpo where Yidam Tandin appeared before him in person and delivered precepts to him.^[4]
Dodeydra Buddhist Institute
Changangkha Lhakhang
Thuji Dra is one of the four cliffs of Guru Rinpoche prophesied to Phajo Drugom Zhigpo by Guru Rinpoche.^[5]
Buddha Dordenma Statue at Buddha Point is one of the world’s largest and tallest Sitting Buddha statues. It is 169 feet (52 m) and sits upon a large meditation hall.^[6]
Domtsang Ney is a meditative cave of Guru Rinpoche.^[7]
Domendrel Tsho is a sacred lake near a palce where Gyalse Tenzin Rabgye offered a Mandala to consecrate the Palace of Chador Namgyal, the King of Sikkim.^[8]
Jagar Damkelsa Ney, the sacred cliff where Drubthob Nagi Rinchen meditated to rescue his mother who was born in a hell.^[9]

Administrative divisions

Thimphu District is divided into eight gewogs and one town (Thimphu):^[10]

Lingzhi, Soe and Naro Gewogs belong to the Lingzhi Dungkhag subdistrict, the only subdistrict within Thimphu District. The remaining gewogs do not belong to any subdistrict.^[11]

Town of Thimphu

Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan and Thimphu district.

Environment

The northern half of Thimphu District (the gewogs of Kawang, Lingzhi, Naro and Soe – corresponding roughly to Lingzhi Dungkhag) is subject to environmental protection, falling within Jigme Dorji National Park.^[12]