PARO

town, western Bhutan, in the Himalayas on the Paro River. Centred on Fort Paro, a large rectangular building with a seven-story tower, it was the main cultural, commercial, and political centre of the country until the national capital was settled at Thimphu in 1962; Paro remains the summer capital. It is connected by the Indo-Bhutan National Highway to Phuntsholing on the Indian border, and it has an air landing strip. The Paro River valley, with temperatures ranging from an average of 40 F (4 C) in January to 75 F in July and annual rainfall averaging 3035 inches (760890 mm), is intensively cultivated; it is one of the most densely settled regions of Bhutan. Pop. (latest est.) 10,000.