Food

Spicy chilies (Ema) mixed with cottage cheese called 'Ema Datsi' is the national dish of Bhutan. Chilies are treated as vegetables rather than a seasoning in the Bhutanese diet. A wide variety of fresh vegetables are a daily staple of the Bhutanese diet. Red and white rice are served at all meals. Meat, poultry and fish, usually in the form of stews are also found on many Bhutanese menus along with Momo (Dumpling) and noodle dishes. Bhutan's professional chefs temper their natural tendency to over spice dishes by preparing food more suitable to western palate and taste ranging from Continental to Chinese. Tibetan, Thai, Korean and Indian cuisines are also available.

Language

Bhutan is a land-locked country with mountainous terrain. The Bhutanese are divided into many ethnic groups such as the Ngalops - Western Region, Sharshops - Eastern Region, Brokpas & Layaps - Highlanders, Nepalese Origins - Southern Region each with their distinct language and dress. There are 14 main different different dialects are spoken even today. The Highlanders still live a nomadic life depend on their livestock. According to the latest census recorded in 2012 Bhutan has a population of 700,000. Thmphu is perhaps the smallest capital in the world with an estimated population of 100,000.

Most Bhutanese are linguist by nature speaking more of four major languages and additionally, English, Hindi and are spoken with flair. Traditionally, public and private communications, religious materials, and official documents were written in chhokey, the classical Tibetan script, and a Bhutanese adaptive cursive script was developed for correspondence. In modern times, as in the past, chhokey, which exists only in written form, was understood only by the well educated. Hindi is understood among Bhutanese educated in India and was the language of instruction in the schools from early 1930s. English became the medium of instruction in the "formal" education system from the beginning of the 1960s. The national language is called Dzongkha widely spoken in the western region.

The government's effort to preserve traditional culture and to strengthen the contemporary sense of national identity (driglam namzha--national customs and etiquette) has been its emphasis on Dzongkha-language study.

The four main dialects are Sharchopkha or Tsangla and Mon-kha language spoken in eastern region; Bumthangkha, including Khengkha spoken in central region; and Nepali or Lhotsamkha prominently spoken in the southern region. Along with Dzongkha and English, Nepali was once one of the three official languages used in Bhutan.