Bhutan and France Comparison - Examine Similarities and Differences

Country
Bhutan	France
Leader
Head of state: King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck	President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
Population
716,896	65,630,692
Life Expectancy
67.880 years	81.460 years
Capital City
Thimphu	Paris
Largest city
Thimphu (population: 98,676)	Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Human Development Index
0.613	0.955
GDP per capita
$6,200 US	$35,600 US
Literacy Rate
47%	99%
Corruption Perception Index
5.2	6.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
13.9%	19.6%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA	Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
Unemployment Rate
4.000%	9.300%
Death Penalty
Abolished	Abolished

Political System
in transition to constitutional monarchy; special treaty relationship with India	republic
Independence date
1907 (became a unified kingdom under its first hereditary king)	486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
Religions
Lamaistic Buddhist 75%, Indian- and Nepalese-influenced Hinduism 25%	Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Languages
Dzongkha (official), Bhotes speak various Tibetan dialects, Nepalese speak various Nepalese dialects	French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Exports
electricity (to India), cardamom, gypsum, timber, handicrafts, cement, fruit, precious stones, spices	machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
External Debt
$1,275,000,000 $	$5,633,000,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
ngultrum (BTN) per US dollar - 41.487 (2007), 45.279 (2006), 44.101 (2005), 45.317 (2004), 46.583 (2003) note: the ngultrum is pegged to the Indian rupee	euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.000%	2.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
0	40
Location
Southern Asia, between China and India	Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain
Area
38,394 km sq	643,801 km sq
Coastline
0 km	0 km
Climate
varies; tropical in southern plains; cool winters and hot summers in central valleys; severe winters and cool summers in Himalayas

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Bhutan vs France