Bhutan is a monarchy in South Asia, in the eastern Himalayas, on the Indian subcontinent. It is bordered on the north by the Tibet region of China, and to the south, east, and west by India. A unified Bhutan emerged with a dual system of civil and spiritual rule in the 16th century. Since 1907 it has been ruled by a hereditary monarch of the Wangchuck family. Bhutan remained a secluded country until the 1950s. It is still considered among the least developed countries of the world. The capital of Bhutan is Thimphu