Brug rGyal-Khab Dru Gäkhap Kingdom of Bhutan
Flag Emblem
Anthem: Druk Tsendhen Koepay Gyelkhab ("The Glorious Dragon Kingdom of Bhutan")
Capital		Thimphu
Official languages		Dzongkha
Demonym		Bhutanese
Government		Democracy, Constitutional Monarchy
-	King	Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk
-	Prime Minister	Jigme Thinley (DPT)
Formation		Early 17th century
-	Wangchuk Dynasty	December 17, 1907
Area
-	Total	47,000 km² (131st) 18,147 sq mi
-	Water (%)	Not available yet
Population
-	estimate	672,425 (2005)1
-	Density	45/km² (154th) 117/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2007 estimate
-	Total	$4. The national flag of Bhutan consists of a white dragon over a yellow and orange background The Emblem of Bhutan maintains several elements of the Flag of Bhutan, with slighly different artistry and contains much Buddhist symbolism. A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history traditions and struggles of its people recognized either by a nation's Thimphu ( is the Capital of Bhutan, and also the name of the surrounding valley and Dzongkhag An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory Dzongkha (dz རྫོང་ཁ Wylie: rdzong-kha, Jong-kă is the national A demonym or gentilic is a word that denotes the members of a People or the inhabitants of a place For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system A constitutional monarchy, or a limited monarchy, is a form of Constitutional Government, wherein either an elected or hereditary Monarch is A king is a male Monarch, or a Head of state, who may or may not depending on the style of government of a nation exercise monarchal powers over a territory usually List of Heads of Government of the Kingdom of Bhutan (1907-Present (Where a Prime Minister served more than a term the number of separate terms served is given in parentheses Lyonpo Jigme Yoser Thinley (born 1952) has been the Prime Minister of Bhutan since April 2008 The Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party, or Druk Phuensum Tshogpa ( Dzongkha: dz འབྲུག་ཕུན་སུམ་ཚོག་པ Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Area is a Quantity expressing the two- Dimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. To help compare Orders of magnitude of different geographical regions  Areas between 10000 km² and 100000 km² are listed here This is a list of the countries of the world sorted by total area. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. In Mathematics, a percentage is a way of expressing a number as a Fraction of 100 ( per cent meaning "per hundred" In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology Population density (in agriculture standing stock and Standing crop) is a measurement of Population per unit area or unit volume List of countries and dependencies by Population density in inhabitants/km² The purchasing power parity ( PPP) theory uses the long-term equilibrium Exchange rate of two currencies to equalize their Purchasing power. 39 billion (160th)
-	Per capita	$5,477 (117th)
HDI (2007)		▲ 0. This list compares various sizes of positive Numbers including counts of things Dimensionless quantity and probabilities. There are three lists of Countries of the world sorted by their Gross domestic product (GDP (the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation Per capita is a Latin phrase meaning for each head with Per meaning 'through' or 'by' This article includes three lists of Countries of the world sorted by their Gross domestic product (GDP at Purchasing power parity (PPP Per capita The Human Development Index ( HDI) is an index combining normalized measures of Life expectancy, Literacy, Educational attainment, and GDP 579 (medium) (133th)
Currency		Ngultrum (BTN)
Time zone		BTT (UTC+6:00)
-	Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC+6:00)
Internet TLD		.bt
Calling code		+975
1	The population of Bhutan had been estimated based on the reported figure of about 1 million in the 1970s when the country had joined the United Nations and precise statistics were lacking[2]. This is a list of countries by Human Development Index as included in the United Nations Development Program 's Human Development Report 2007 A currency is a unit of exchange, facilitating the transfer of Goods and/or services It is one form of Money, where money is The ngultrum ( ISO 4217 code BTN) ( Dzongkha: dz དངུལ་ཀྲམ has ISO 4217 is the International standard describing three-letter codes (also known as the currency code) to define the names of currencies established Bhutan Time (BTT is the Time zone of Bhutan. It is +600 hrs ahead of Universal Time Coordinated ( UTC+6) Daylight saving time ( DST A country This is a list of country calling codes defined by ITU-T recommendation E Thus using the annual increase rate of 2-3%, the most population estimates were around 2 million in the year 2000. A national census was carried out in 2005 and it turned out that the population was 672,425. Consequently, United Nations Population Division had down-estimated the country's population in the 2006 revision [3]for the whole period from 1950 to 2050.

The Kingdom of Bhutan (IPA: /buːˈtɑːn/) is a landlocked nation in South Asia. A landlocked country is commonly defined as one enclosed or nearly enclosed by land It is located amidst the eastern end of the Himalaya Mountains and is bordered to the south, east and west by India and to the north by China. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Bhutan is separated from Nepal by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal (नेपाल) is a Landlocked country in South Asia. Sikkim ( Nepali:, also Sikhim) is a Landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayas It is the least populous state in India The Bhutanese call their country Druk Yul (land of the thunder dragon). ^[1]

Bhutan is one of the most isolated and least developed nations in the world. Foreign influences and tourism are regulated by the government to preserve the nation's traditional culture, identity and the environment, however, in 2006 Business Week rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia and the eighth happiest country in the world. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel ^[2] The landscape ranges from subtropical plains in the south to the Himalayan heights in the north, with some peaks exceeding 7,000 metres (23,000 ft). The subtropics are the zones of the Earth immediately north and south of the tropic zone which is bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of The state religion is Vajrayana Buddhism, and the population is predominantly Buddhist, with Hinduism being the second-largest religion. Vajrayana Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayana, Mantranaya, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The capital and largest city is Thimphu. Thimphu ( is the Capital of Bhutan, and also the name of the surrounding valley and Dzongkhag After centuries of direct monarchic rule, Bhutan held its first democratic elections in March 2008. Bhutan is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation ( SAARC) is an economic and political organization of eight countries in Southern Asia.

Name

"Bhutan" may be derived from the Sanskrit word Bhu-Utthan (highlands). Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical In another theory of Sanskritisation, Bhots-ant means "End of Tibet", as Bhutan is immediately to Tibet's south. Sanskritisation may also refer to introduction of Sanskrit vocabulary in another language or dialect (such as Khariboli) Definitions of Tibet See also Definitions of Tibet Name In English The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European

Historically Bhutan was known by many names, such as Lho Mon (southern land of darkness), Lho Tsendenjong (southern land of the Tsenden cypress), Lhomen Khazhi (southern land of four approaches) and Lho Men Jong (southern land of medicinal herbs). Cypress is the name applied to many Plants in the conifer family Cupressaceae (cypress family ^[1] Bhutan is also commonly known as The Last Shangrila. Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 Novel Lost Horizon by British author James

History

Main article: History of Bhutan

Stone tools, weapons, elephants, and remnants of large stone structures provide evidence that Bhutan was inhabited as early as 2000 BCE, although there are no existing records from that time. Bhutan 's early history is steeped in Mythology and remains obscure The 20th century BC is a Century which lasted from the year 2000 BC to 1901 BC Historians have theorized that the state of Lhomon (literally, "southern darkness"), or Monyul ("Dark Land", a reference to the Monpa, the aboriginal peoples of Bhutan) may have existed between 500 BCE and 600 CE. The Monpa ( Tibetan: མོན་པ། are an Ethnic group in the Indian territory of Arunachal Pradesh, with a population of 50000 centered The names Lhomon Tsendenjong (Sandalwood Country), and Lhomon Khashi, or Southern Mon (country of four approaches) have been found in ancient Bhutanese and Tibetan chronicles. for the film industry in India see Cinema of Karnataka Sandalwood is the name for several fragrant Woods and their Essential

View of Tashichoedzong, Thimphu, seat of the Bhutanese government since 1952

The earliest transcribed event in Bhutan was the passage of the Buddhist saint Padma Sambhava (also known as Guru Rinpoche) in 747. Tashichoedzong བཀྲ་ཤིས་ཆོས་རྫོང is a Buddhist monastery and fortress on the northern edge of the city of Thimpu in Bhutan Thimphu ( is the Capital of Bhutan, and also the name of the surrounding valley and Dzongkhag Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Padmasambhava () The Lotus Born, is said to have transmitted Tantric Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet in the 8th century. Bhutan's early history is unclear, because most of the records were destroyed after fire ravaged Punakha, the ancient capital in 1827. Punakha (སྤུ་ན་ཁ་ is the administrative center of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan. By the 10th century, Bhutan's political development was heavily influenced by its religious history. However, there is no sufficient information stating that all historical records were available before the fire. Various sub-sects of Buddhism emerged which were patronised by the various Mongol and Tibetan overlords. After the decline of the Mongols in the 14th century, these sub-sects vied with each other for supremacy in the political and religious landscape, eventually leading to the ascendancy of the Drukpa sub-sect by the 16th century. Druk (འབྲུག་ is the Thunder Dragon of Bhutanese mythology

Until the early 17th century, Bhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefdoms, when the area was unified by the Tibeten lama and military leader Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. Under the system of Feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud, feoff, or fee, often consisted of inheritable lands or revenue-producing To defend the country against intermittent Tibetan forays, Namgyal built a network of impregnable dzong (fortresses), and promulgated a code of law that helped to bring local lords under centralised control. Dzong architecture (from Tibetan རྫོང་ Wylie rDzong) is a distinctive type of fortress architecture found in the former and present Promulgation or enactment is the act of formally proclaiming or declaring new statutory or Administrative law when it receives final approval Many such dzong still exist. After Namgyal's death in 1651, Bhutan fell into civil war. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Tibetans attacked Bhutan in 1710, and again in 1730 with the help of the Mongols. Both assaults were successfully thwarted, and an armistice was signed in 1759. An armistice is a situation where the warring parties agree to stop fighting

Map of Bhutan

In the 18th century, the Bhutanese invaded and occupied the kingdom of Cooch Behar to the south. The Kingdom of Bhutan (buːˈtɑːn is a Landlocked nation in South Asia. Cooch Behar (Bengali: কোচবিহার Rajbongshi/Kamatapuri: কোচবিহার is a district of the state of West Bengal, India, as well as In 1772, Cooch Behar appealed to the British East India Company who assisted them in ousting the Bhutanese, and later in attacking Bhutan itself in 1774. The Honourable East India Company ( HEIC) referred to most commonly as the East India Company, also historically and colloquially as John Company, or A peace treaty was signed in which Bhutan agreed to retreat to its pre-1730 borders. However, the peace was tenuous, and border skirmishes with the British were to continue for the next one hundred years. The skirmishes eventually led to the Duar War (1864–1865), a confrontation over who would control the Bengal Duars. The Duar War was a war fought between British India and Bhutan in 1864 – 1865. Etymology and ethnology The exact origin of the word Bangla or Bengal is unknown though it is believed to be derived from the Dravidian-speaking tribe Bang The Dooars or Duars (ডুয়ার্স are flood Plains and the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in North-East India around Bhutan After Bhutan lost the war, the Treaty of Sinchula was signed between British India and Bhutan. The Kingdom of Bhutan (buːˈtɑːn is a Landlocked nation in South Asia. For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British As part of the war reparations, the Duars were ceded to the United Kingdom in exchange for a rent of Rs. War reparations refer to the monetary compensation intended to cover damage or injury during a war The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927  50,000. The treaty ended all hostilities between British India and Bhutan.

During the 1870s, power struggles between the rival valleys of Paro and Tongsa led to civil war in Bhutan, eventually leading to the ascendancy of Ugyen Wangchuck, the ponlop (governor) of Tongsa. Trongsa, previously Tongsa, is located in Trongsa District, Bhutan. A civil war is a War between a State and domestic political actors that are in control of some part of the territory claimed by the state Ugyen Wangchuck (or Deb Nagpo) (1861&ndash1926 was the first king of Bhutan from 1907 to 1926 Trongsa, previously Tongsa, is located in Trongsa District, Bhutan. From his power base in central Bhutan, Ugyen Wangchuck defeated his political enemies and united the country following several civil wars and rebellions in the period 1882–1885.

In 1907, an epochal year for the country, Ugyen Wangchuck was unanimously chosen as the hereditary king of the country by an assembly of leading Buddhist monks, government officials, and heads of important families. Ugyen Wangchuck (or Deb Nagpo) (1861&ndash1926 was the first king of Bhutan from 1907 to 1926 The British government promptly recognised the new monarchy, and in 1910 Bhutan signed a treaty which "let" Great Britain "guide" Bhutan's foreign affairs. In reality this did not mean much given Bhutan's historical reticence. It also did not seem to apply to Bhutan's traditional relations with Tibet. The greatest impact of this treaty seems to be the perception that it meant Bhutan was not totally sovereign.

After India gained independence from the United Kingdom on August 15, 1947, Bhutan became one of the first countries to recognise India's independence. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The term " Indian independence movement " is diffuse incorporating various national and regional campaigns agitations and efforts of both Nonviolent and Militant The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Events 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A treaty similar to the one of 1910 was signed August 8, 1949 with the newly independent India. Events 1220 - Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula. Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

The Trongsa Dzong. Trongsa, previously Tongsa, is located in Trongsa District, Bhutan.

In 1953, King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck established the country's legislature – a 130-member National Assembly – to promote a more democratic form of governance. Jigme Dorji Wangchuck ( May 2, 1928 &ndash July 21, 1972) was the third Dragon King of Bhutan. The National Assembly is either a Legislature, or the Lower house of a Bicameral legislature in some countries In 1965, he set up a Royal Advisory Council, and in 1968 he formed a Cabinet. In 1971, Bhutan was admitted to the United Nations, having held observer status for three years. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security In July 1972, Jigme Singye Wangchuck ascended to the throne at the age of 16 after the death of his father, Dorji Wangchuck. Jigme Singye Wangchuck (born November 11, 1955) was the fourth Dragon King (Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan from 1972 to 2006

In the 1980s, in order to strengthen Bhutan’s identity as a nation, the "one nation, one people" campaign was started to foster greater integration of the peripheral ethnic and cultural groups into mainstream Bhutanese society. The age-old code of conduct, known as Driglam namzha, and usage of the official national language, Dzongkha, was promoted. Dzongkha (dz རྫོང་ཁ Wylie: rdzong-kha, Jong-kă is the national At around the same time, a nationwide census revealed a large population of Nepali origin in southern Bhutan. When the government attempted to remove what it considered as illegal settlers, there was a violent backlash; numerous acts of terrorism were carried out against government schools, hospitals, offices and neutral southern Bhutanese. In order to re-establish order in the south, the government drafted many young men and able-bodied civil servants into a militia force. Thousands of civilians, including a number of political dissidents, were expelled or fled to Nepal, where they were admitted into United Nations-run camps and given refugee status. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security Despite the best efforts of the governments of Bhutan [4], Nepal and India, as well as outside parties such as the United Nations, the European Union and the United States, a viable solution to this problem proves to be still elusive. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in The United States of America —commonly referred to as the At present, the United States is working towards resettling around 70,000 of these refugees in the US. ^[3]

In 1998, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck introduced significant political reforms, transferring most of his administrative powers to the Council of Cabinet Ministers and allowing for impeachment of the King by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly. Jigme Singye Wangchuck (born November 11, 1955) was the fourth Dragon King (Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan from 1972 to 2006 ^[4] In late 2003, the Bhutanese army successfully launched a large-scale operation to flush out anti-India insurgents who were operating training camps in southern Bhutan. The Royal Bhutan Army (RBA formed in 1950, is the all-volunteer Army of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

In 1999, the government lifted a ban on television and the Internet, making Bhutan one of the last countries to introduce television. In his speech, the King said that television was a critical step to the modernisation of Bhutan as well as a major contributor to the country's Gross National Happiness (Bhutan is the only country to measure happiness), but warned against the misuse of television which may erode traditional Bhutanese values. Gross National Happiness (GNH is an attempt to define Quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product. Some believe it has indeed affected Bhutan in a negative way. ^[5]

The Taktshang Monastery, also known as the "Tiger's Nest". Taktshang is the most famous of monasteries in Bhutan. It hangs on a cliff at 3120 metres (10200 feet some 700 meters (2300 feet above the bottom of Bhutan is a predominantly Buddhist country, with the religion forming an integral part of everyday life.

A new constitution was presented in early 2005. A constitution is a system for government often Codified as a written document that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity In December 2005, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck announced that he would abdicate the throne in his son's favour in 2008 . On December 14, 2005, he stunned his countrymen by announcing that he would be abdicating immediately. Events 1287 - St Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses killing over 50000 people Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Bhutan has now entered a new era of democracy, starting with its first national parliamentary elections in December 2007 and March 2008. Despite the popular appeal of the King to the people of Bhutan and general reservations towards the politics of democracy, it is by royal decree that the country will undergo this drastic change in its political system.

Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Bhutan

Over the past decade, Bhutan's political system has developed from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy. Absolute monarchy is a monarchical Form of government where the king and queen have absolute power over everything A constitutional monarchy, or a limited monarchy, is a form of Constitutional Government, wherein either an elected or hereditary Monarch is In 1999, the fourth king of Bhutan created a body called the Lhengye Zhungtshog (Council of Ministers). Lhengye Zhungtshog is a Dzongkha term In English it means Council of Ministers. The 'Druk Gyalpo' (King of Druk Yul) is head of state. Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a Monarchic or Republican Nation-state Executive power is exercised by the Lhengye Zhungtshog, the council of ministers. In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. Lhengye Zhungtshog is a Dzongkha term In English it means Council of Ministers. Legislative power was vested in both the government and the former Grand National Assembly. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. The Tshogdu ( Dzongkha: dz འབྲུག་གིརྒྱལ་ཡོངས་ཚོགས་འདུ་ཆེན་པོ་ English: en Bhutanese Grand National On the 17th of December 2005, the 4th King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, announced to a stunned nation that the first general elections would be held in 2008, and that he would abdicate the throne in favour of his eldest son, the crown prince. Jigme Singye Wangchuck (born November 11, 1955) was the fourth Dragon King (Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan from 1972 to 2006 ^[6] King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck took the throne on December 14, 2006 upon his father's abdication. The Crowning ceremony is expected to be held in May 2008 and the Coronation Celebrations later in the year.

The new democratic system comprises an upper and lower house, the latter based on political party affiliations. Elections for the upper house (National Council) were held on December 31, 2007, while elections for the lower house, the 47-seat National Assembly, were held on March 24, 2008. The general elections to the National Council of Bhutan, the Upper house of the new bicameral Parliament of Bhutan were held for the first time The National Council is the Upper house of Bhutan 's new bicameral Parliament which also comprises the Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King and the National Bhutan held its first general election on March 24, 2008 for the National Assembly. The National Assembly is the elected Lower house of Bhutan's new bicameral Parliament which also comprises the Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King Two political parties, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) headed by Sangay Ngedup, and the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) headed by Jigmi Thinley, competed in the National Assembly election. The People's Democratic Party (PDP is one of the major political parties in Bhutan, formed on March 24, 2007. Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup (born 1953 in Nobgang) was Prime Minister of Bhutan from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2006 The Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party, or Druk Phuensum Tshogpa ( Dzongkha: dz འབྲུག་ཕུན་སུམ་ཚོག་པ Lyonpo Jigme Yoser Thinley (born 1952) has been the Prime Minister of Bhutan since April 2008 The Druk Phuensum Tshogpa won the elections taking 45 out of 47 seats in the parliament. ^[7]

Judicial power is vested in the courts of Bhutan. In Law, the judiciary or judicial system is the system of Courts which administer Justice in the name of the sovereign or State A court is a forum used by a power base to adjudicate disputes and dispense civil, labour administrative and criminal Justice under its The Chief Justice is the administrative head of the Judiciary. The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English Public administration can be broadly described as the development implementation and study of branches of government Policy. In Law, the judiciary or judicial system is the system of Courts which administer Justice in the name of the sovereign or State

Military and foreign affairs

Main articles: Military of Bhutan and Foreign relations of Bhutan

The Royal Bhutan Army is Bhutan's military service. The branches of the Armed forces of Bhutan are the Royal Bhutan Army, Royal Bodyguards Militia, and Royal Bhutan Police. Bhutan has Diplomatic relations with 21 states In 1971 sponsored by India Bhutan began to develop its foreign relations by joining the The Royal Bhutan Army (RBA formed in 1950, is the all-volunteer Army of the Kingdom of Bhutan. It includes the Royal Bodyguard and the Royal Bhutan Police. The Royal Bodyguard of Bhutan is a part of the Royal Bhutan Army but independent as it is under the personal command of the King of Bhutan and is in The Royal Bhutan Police is the national police of Bhutan. It was instituted on 1st September 1965 with 555 personnel reassigned from the Royal Bhutan Army. Membership is voluntary, and the minimum age for recruitment is 18. The standing army numbers about 6,000 and is trained by the Indian Army. The Indian Army (Bharatiya Thalsena भारतीय थाल्सेना is one of the armed forces of India and has the responsibility for land-based ^[8] It has an annual budget of about US$13. 7 million—1. 8% of the GDP.

Though the 1949 treaty with India is still sometimes misinterpreted to mean that India controlled Bhutan's foreign affairs, Bhutan handled all of its foreign affairs itself including the sensitive (to India) border demarcation issue with China. The 1949 treaty has been superseded by the 2007 treaty with India which made de-jure what was de-facto, that Bhutan was master of its own foreign relations. Bhutan has diplomatic relations with 22 countries, including the European Union, with missions in India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Kuwait. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in ( Bengali: বাংলাদেশ inc-Latn Bangladesh) officially The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj The State of Kuwait ( دولة الكويت IPA [dawlatt̪ alkuwajt̪]) is a sovereign Arab Emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, enclosed It has two UN missions, one in New York and one in Geneva. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security The City of New York Geneva (Genève is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French -speaking Only India and Bangladesh have residential embassies in Bhutan, while Thailand has a consulate office in Bhutan.

By a long standing treaty, Indian and Bhutanese citizens may travel to each other's countries without a passport or visa using their national identity cards instead. A passport is a document issued by a national government which certifies for the purpose of international travel the identity and nationality of its holder A visa (short for the Latin carta visa, lit "a document that has been seen" is a document issued by a Country giving an individual Bhutanese citizens may also work in India without legal restriction. Bhutan does not have formal diplomatic ties with its northern neighbour, China, although exchanges of visits at various levels between the two have significantly increased in the recent past. The first bilateral agreement between China and Bhutan was signed in 1998, and Bhutan has also set up consulates in Macau and Hong Kong. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Macau topics. Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders Bhutan’s border with China is largely not demarcated and thus disputed in some places. ^[9]

On November 13, 2005, Chinese soldiers crossed into Bhutan under the pretext that environmental conditions had forced their retreat south from the Himalayas. The Bhutanese government allowed this incursion (after the fact) on humanitarian grounds. Soon after, the Chinese began building roads and bridges within Bhutanese territory. ^[10] Bhutanese Foreign Minister Khandu Wangchuk took up the matter with Chinese authorities after the issue was raised in Bhutanese parliament. Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk (born 1950) is a political figure in Bhutan. In response, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang of the People's Republic of China has said that the border remains in dispute (completely ignoring the original official pretext for the incursion) and that the two sides continue to work for a peaceful and cordial resolution of the dispute. ^[11] An Indian intelligence officer has said that a Chinese delegation in Bhutan told the Bhutanese that they were "overreacting. " The Bhutanese newspaper Kuensel has said that China might use the roads to further Chinese claims along the border. ^[12]

On February 8, 2007, the Indo-Bhutan Friendship TreatyPDF (30. Events 421 - Constantius III becomes co- Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. 6 KiB) was substantially revised. A kibibyte (a contraction of ki lo bi nary byte) is a unit of Information or Computer storage, established by the International Whereas in the Treaty of 1949 Article 2 read as "The Government of India undertakes to exercise no interference in the internal administration of Bhutan. On its part the Government of Bhutan agrees to be guided by the advice of the Government of India in regard to its external relations. "

In the revised treaty it now reads as "In keeping with the abiding ties of close friendship and cooperation between Bhutan and India, the Government of the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Government of the Republic of India shall cooperate closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests. Neither government shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other. " The revised treaty also includes in it the preamble "Reaffirming their respect for each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity", an element that was absent in the earlier version. The Indo-Bhutan Friendship Treaty of 2007 strengthens Bhutan's status as an independent and sovereign nation.

Bhutan has no formal relations with the United States,^[13] Russia, the United Kingdom or France. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Informal contact with the United States is made through the U. S. embassy in New Delhi. New Delhi (नई दिल्ली ਨਵੀਂ ਦਿੱਲੀ نئی دلی is the Capital city of India. ^[13]

Geography

Main article: Geography of Bhutan

Topographic map of Bhutan

Gangkhar Puensum from Ura La, Bhutan

The northern region consists of an arc of glaciated mountain peaks with an extremely cold climate at the highest elevations. The Kingdom of Bhutan is a Himalayan nation, located towards the eastern extreme of the aforementioned Mountain range. Most peaks in the north are over 23,000 feet (7,000 m) above sea level; the highest point is claimed to be the Kula Kangri, at 24,780 feet (7,553 m), but detailed topographic studies claim Kula Kangri is wholly in Tibet and modern Chinese measurements claim that Gangkhar Puensum, which has the distinction of being the highest unclimbed mountain in the world, is higher at 24,835 feet (7,570 m). A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International Kula Kangri is claimed by many authorities to be the highest Mountain in Bhutan but this is disputed by others who claim that Kula Kangri is wholly in Tibet Definitions of Tibet See also Definitions of Tibet Name In English The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European Gangkhar Puensum is the highest Mountain in Bhutan and the Highest unclimbed mountain in the world with an elevation of 7570 metres and a prominence The highest unclimbed mountain in a particular region or in the world is often a matter of controversy Watered by snow-fed rivers, alpine valleys in this region provide pasture for livestock, tended by a sparse population of migratory shepherds. Pasture is land with Herbaceous vegetation cover used for grazing of Ungulate Livestock as part of a Farm or Ranch.

The Black Mountains in central Bhutan form a watershed between two major river systems: the Mo Chhu and the Drangme Chhu. The Black Mountains is a Mountain range located in Bhutan. Mo Chhu is a major river in Bhutan. The word "Chhu" means "river" or "water" in Dzongkha, the official national language in Bhutan Drangme Chhu river drains a large portion of central and eastern Bhutan. Peaks in the Black Mountains range between 4,900 feet and 8,900 feet (1,500 m and 2,700 m) above sea level, and fast-flowing rivers have carved out deep gorges in the lower mountain areas. Woodlands of the central region provide most of Bhutan's forest production. The Torsa, Raidak, Sankosh, and Manas are the main rivers of Bhutan, flowing through this region. Torsa River (also spelt Torsha and also known as Machu and Amo Chu rises from the Chumbi Valley in Tibet, China, where it is known as Machu Raidak is a major river in Bhutan.It is one of the tributaries of Brahmaputra Sankosh is a river that rises in northern Bhutan and empties into the Brahmaputra in the state of Assam in India. Most of the population lives in the central highlands.

Jacaranda trees in Bhutan

Terraced farming in the Punakha valley. Jacaranda (pronounced,, or) is a Genus of 49 species of Flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical Punakha (སྤུ་ན་ཁ་ is the administrative center of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan.

In the south, the Shiwalik Hills are covered with dense, deciduous forests, alluvial lowland river valleys, and mountains up to around 4,900 feet (1,500 m) above sea level. The Sivalik Hills also known as the Sivalik mountains (also spelled Shiwalik, Shivalik, or Siwalik) and sometimes called Churia or Botany Autumn leaf color. See --> In Botany and Horticulture, deciduous Plants, including Alluvium (from the Latin, alluvius, from alluere, "to wash against" is Soil or Sediments deposited by a river or other running The foothills descend into the subtropical Duars Plain. Most of the Duars is located in India, although a 6–9 mile (10–15 km) wide strip extends into Bhutan. The Bhutan Duars is divided into two parts: the northern and the southern Duars. The northern Duars, which abuts the Himalayan foothills, has rugged, sloping terrain and dry, porous soil with dense vegetation and abundant wildlife. Porosity is a measure of the void spaces in a material and is measured as a fraction between 0–1 or as a Percentage between 0–100% The southern Duars has moderately fertile soil, heavy savannah grass, dense, mixed jungle, and freshwater springs. A savanna or savannah is a Tropical or Subtropical Grassland or Woodland Ecosystem. Mountain rivers, fed by either the melting snow or the monsoon rains, empty into the Brahmaputra River in India. The Brahmaputra, also called Tsangpo-Brahmaputra is a Trans-boundary river and one of the major Rivers of Asia. Data released by the Ministry of Agriculture showed that the country had a forest cover of 64% as of October 2005.

The climate in Bhutan varies with altitude, from subtropical in the south to temperate in the highlands and polar-type climate, with year-round snow, in the north. Regions with a polar climate are characterized by a lack of warm summers (specifically no month having an average temperature of 10 °C or higher Bhutan experiences five distinct seasons: summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and spring. A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind which lasts for several months Western Bhutan has the heavier monsoon rains; southern Bhutan has hot humid summers and cool winters; central and eastern Bhutan is temperate and drier than the west with warm summers and cool winters.

Economy

The Ngultrum is the currency of Bhutan. The ngultrum ( ISO 4217 code BTN) ( Dzongkha: dz དངུལ་ཀྲམ has

The Ngultrum is the currency of Bhutan and its value is pegged to the Indian rupee. The ngultrum ( ISO 4217 code BTN) ( Dzongkha: dz དངུལ་ཀྲམ has A fixed exchange rate, sometimes called a pegged exchange rate, is a type of Exchange rate regime wherein a Currency 's value is matched to the value of The rupee is also accepted as legal tender in the country. Legal tender or forced tender is Payment that by Law, cannot be refused in settlement of a Debt ( Debtor cannot successfully be sued

Though Bhutan's economy is one of the world's smallest, it has grown rapidly in recent years, by 8% in 2005 and 14% in 2006. This was mainly due to the commissioning of the gigantic Tala Hydroelectricity project. As of March 2006, Bhutan's per capita income was US$1,321. Per capita income means how much each individual receives in monetary terms of the yearly income generated in the country

Bhutan's economy is based on agriculture, forestry, tourism and the sale of hydroelectric power to India. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Forestry is the Art and Science of managing forests tree Plantations and related Natural resources. Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by Hydropower, ie the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling water Agriculture provides the main livelihood for more than 80% of the population. Agrarian practices consist largely of subsistence farming and animal husbandry. Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficient farming in which farmers grow only enough food to feed the family and to pay taxes or feudal dues Animal husbandry, also called Animal science, stockbreeding or simple husbandry, is the agricultural practice of breeding Handicrafts, particularly weaving and the manufacture of religious art for home altars are a small cottage industry and a source of income for some. A landscape that varies from hilly to ruggedly mountainous has made the building of roads, and other infrastructure difficult and expensive. Infrastructure typically refers to the technical structures that support a society such as Roads Water supply, Wastewater, Power grids This, and a lack of access to the sea, has meant that Bhutan has not been able to benefit from significant trading of its produce. Bhutan does not have any railways, though Indian Railways plans to link southern Bhutan to its vast network under an agreement signed in January 2005. "Railroad" and "Railway" both redirect here For other uses see Railroad (disambiguation. Indian Railways (भारतीय रेल Bhāratīya Rail) abbreviated as IR (hi भारे is a Department of the Government of India under the Ministry ^[14] The historic trade routes over the high Himalayas, which connected India to Tibet, have been closed since the 1959 military takeover of Tibet (although smuggling activity still brings Chinese goods into Bhutan). Definitions of Tibet See also Definitions of Tibet Name In English The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European

The industrial sector is in a nascent stage, and though most production is cottage-industry type larger industries are being encouraged and some industries such as cement, steel, ferro alloy, etc have been set up. The putting-out system was a means of subcontracting work It was also known as the workshop system. Most development projects, such as road construction, rely on Indian contract labour. Agricultural produce includes rice, chilies, dairy (some yak, mostly cow) products, buckwheat, barley, root crops, apples, and citrus and maize at lower elevations. Industries include cement, wood products, processed fruits, alcoholic beverages and calcium carbide. In the most general sense of the word a cement is a binder a substance which sets and hardens independently and can bind other materials together Wood is hard fibrous lignified structural tissue produced as secondary Xylem in the stems of Woody plants notably trees but also shrubs Calcium carbide is a Chemical compound with the Chemical formula of Ca[[Carbide C2]]

Incomes of over Nu 100,000 per annum are taxed, but very few wage and salary earners qualify. The ngultrum ( ISO 4217 code BTN) ( Dzongkha: dz དངུལ་ཀྲམ has P Q R Bhutan's inflation rate was estimated at about 3% in 2003. Bhutan has a Gross Domestic Product of around USD 2. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been 913 billion (adjusted to Purchasing Power Parity), making it the 162nd largest economy in the world. The purchasing power parity ( PPP) theory uses the long-term equilibrium Exchange rate of two currencies to equalize their Purchasing power.

Haa Valley, September, 2006

Per capita income is around $1,400^[15] , ranked 124th. Government revenues total $272 million, though expenditures amount to $350 million. 60% of the budget expenditure, however, is financed by India's Ministry of External Affairs. ^[16] Bhutan's exports, principally electricity, cardamom, gypsum, timber, handicrafts, cement, fruit, precious stones and spices, total €128 million (2000 est. The name cardamom (or cardamon is used for herbs within two genera of the Ginger family Zingiberaceae, namely Elettaria and Amomum Gypsum is a very soft Mineral composed of Calcium sulfate dihydrate with the Chemical formula Ca[[sulfur S]] O 4·2 Lumber or timber is Wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural Material for Construction, or A spice is a dried Seed, Fruit, Root, Bark or vegetative substance used in Nutritionally insignificant quantities as a Food additive ). Imports, however, amount to €164 million, leading to a trade deficit. Main items imported include fuel and lubricants, grain, machinery, vehicles, fabrics and rice. Fuel is any material that is burned or altered in order to obtain energy A lubricant (sometimes referred to as a "Lube" is a substance (often a liquid introduced between two moving surfaces to reduce the Friction between them improving A machine is any device that uses Energy to perform some activity Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Bhutan's main export partner is India, accounting for 87. 9% of its export goods. Bangladesh (4. ( Bengali: বাংলাদেশ inc-Latn Bangladesh) officially 6%) and the Philippines (2%) are the other two top export partners. The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP As its border with Tibet is closed, trade between Bhutan and China is now almost non-existent. Bhutan's import partners include India (71. 3%), Japan (7. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. 8%) and Austria (3%). Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich

In a response to accusations in 1987 by a journalist from UK's Financial Times that the pace of development in Bhutan was slow, the King said that "Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Financial Times ( FT) is a British international business Newspaper. Gross National Happiness (GNH is an attempt to define Quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product. "^[17] This statement appears to have presaged recent findings by western economic psychologists, including 2002 Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman, that question the link between levels of income and happiness. Daniel Kahneman (דניאל כהנמן (born 5 March 1934 is an Israeli American psychologist and Nobel laureate, notable for his work on The statement signaled his commitment to building an economy that is appropriate for Bhutan's unique culture, based on Buddhist spiritual values, and has served as a unifying vision for the economy. While no trend data is yet available, the policy seems to be reaping the desired results. In a survey in 2005, 45% of Bhutanese reported being very happy, 52% reported being happy and only 3% reported not being happy. Compare that, for example, with the USA, where only 30% report being very happy, 58% being pretty happy and 12% were not too happy (based on data from the General Social Survey). Based on this data, the Happy Planet Index estimates that the average level of life satisfaction in Bhutan is within the top 10% of nations worldwide, and certainly higher than other nations with similar levels of GDP per capita. The Happy Planet Index (HPI is an Index of human well-being and environmental impact introduced by the New Economics Foundation (NEF in July 2006

Districts

Main article: Districts of Bhutan

Bhutan is divided into four dzongdey (administrative zones). Bhutan comprises twenty Districts ( dzongkhag, both singular and plural) Each dzongdey is further divided into dzongkhag (districts). A dzongkhag (རྫོ་ཁག། is the name for a District of Bhutan in the Dzongkha language. There are twenty dzongkhag in Bhutan. Large dzongkhags are further divided into subdistricts known as dungkhag. Dungkhag are the subdistricts of Dzongkhag in Bhutan. Only large dzongkhag are divided into dungkhag At the basic level, groups of villages form a constituency called gewog and are administered by a gup, who is elected by the people.

Dzongkhags(districts) of Bhutan.

Cities and towns

• Jakar, the administrative headquarters of Bumthang District and the place where Buddhism entered Bhutan. Bumthang is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Bhutan. Chukha, previously Chhukha, ཆུ་ཁ་རྫོང་ཁག་ is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Bhutan. Dagana དར་དཀར་ན་རྫོང་ཁག་(also spelled Dhakana, previously known as Daga) is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Gasa མགར་ས་རྫོང་ཁག་ is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Bhutan. This page is about the area Haa For information about the airships please see High-altitude airship. Lhuntse ལྷུན་རྩེ་རྫོང་ཁག་, previously Lhuntshi, is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Bhutan. Mongar མོང་སྒར་རྫོང་ཁག་ is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Bhutan. Paro ( Dzongkha: dz སྤ་རོ་རྫོང་ཁག is the name of a district ( Pemagatshel པདྨ་དགའ་ཚལ་རྫོང་ཁག་ previously Pemagatsel, is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Bhutan. Punakha (སྤུ་ན་ཁ་རྫོང་ཁག is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Bhutan. Samdrup Jongkhar བསམ་གྲུབ་ལྗོངས་མཁར་རྫོང་ཁག་ is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Bhutan. Samtse བསམ་རྩེ་རྫོང་ཁག་ (older spelling Samchi) is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Bhutan. Sarpang གསར་སྤང་རྫོང་ཁག་(or Geylegphug) is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Bhutan. Thimphu ཐིམ་ཕུ་རྫོང་ཁག་ is a Dzongkhag (district of Bhutan. Trashigang བཀྲ་ཤིས་སྒང་རྫོང་ཁག, also spelled Tashigang, is Bhutan 's easternmost district Trashiyangtse (གཡང་ཙེ is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Bhutan. Trongsa ཀྲོང་གསར་རྫོང་ཁག་ is one of the Districts of Bhutan. Tsirang རྩི་རང་རྫོང་ཁག་ previously Chirang, is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Bhutan. Wangdue Phodrang ( Dzongkha: dz དབང་འདུས་ཕོ་བྲང་རྫོང་ཁག་ Jakar is a small town in the central-eastern region of Bhutan. Bumthang is one of the 20 Dzongkhag (districts comprising Bhutan.
• Mongar, the eastern commercial hub of the country. Mongar is a Town and seat of Mongar District in Bhutan.
• Paro, Bhutan, site of the international airport. Paro is a Town and seat of Paro District in the Paro Valley of Bhutan. Paro Airport is the only airport in Bhutan, six kilometres (three miles away from Paro.
• Punakha, the old capital. Punakha (སྤུ་ན་ཁ་ is the administrative center of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan.
• Phuentsholing, Bhutan's commercial hub. Phuentsholing is a Border town in southern Bhutan, opposite the Indian town of Jaigaon, situated in Chukha Dzongkang.
• Samdrup Jongkhar
• Thimphu, the largest city and capital of Bhutan. Samdrup Jongkhar is a Town and seat of Samdrup Jongkhar District in Bhutan. Thimphu ( is the Capital of Bhutan, and also the name of the surrounding valley and Dzongkhag
• Trashigang, the most populous district in the country. Trashigang (བཀྲ་ཤིས་སྒང་། sometimes spelled Tashigang, is a town in eastern Bhutan and the district capital of the Trashigang
• Trongsa, in central Bhutan which has the largest and the most magnificent of all the dzongs in Bhutan. Trongsa, previously Tongsa, is located in Trongsa District, Bhutan. Dzong architecture (from Tibetan རྫོང་ Wylie rDzong) is a distinctive type of fortress architecture found in the former and present

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Bhutan

Senior Bhutanese man in national dress. Bhutan's bimodal population estimates The Royal Government of Bhutan lists their country's population as 752700 (2003

Among the Bhutanese people, several principal ethnic groups may be distinguished. The second dominant group is the Ngalops, a Buddhist group based in the western part of the country. The Ngalop comprise the largest ethnic group of Bhutan, and as they control the government and the culture the are more often simply identified as the Bhutanese. Their culture is closely related to that of Tibet. Much the same could be said of the Sharchops ("Easterners"), the dominant group, who are associated with the eastern part of Bhutan (but who traditionally follow the Nyingmapa rather than the official Drukpa Kagyu form of Himalayan Buddhism). Sharchop is a collective term for the populations of mixed Southeast Asian and South Asian descent found in the eastern districts of Bhutan who constitute The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism (the other three being the Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug) Drukpa (disambiguation The Drukpa ( Tib. འབྲུག་པ / ’brug pa) Druk ~ "dragon" pa ~ "person" — or Drukpa Kagyu They are called the Western Bhutanese and Eastern Bhutanese respectively. In modern times, with improved transportation infrastructure, there has been much intermarriage between these groups. In the early 1970s, intermarriage between the Lhotshampas and main stream Bhutanese society was encouraged by the government. Lhotshampa, or Lhotsampa, means southerners in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan, and refers to the ethnic Nepalese population

The national language is Dzongkha, one of 53 languages in the Tibetan language family. Dzongkha (dz རྫོང་ཁ Wylie: rdzong-kha, Jong-kă is the national Tibetan refers to a group of languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering South Asia as well as by overseas The script, here called Chhokey ("Dharma Language"), is identical to classical Tibetan. In the schools English is the medium of instruction and Dzongkha is taught as the national language. Ethnologue lists 24 languages currently spoken in Bhutan, all of them in the Tibeto-Burman family, except Nepali, an Indo-Aryan language. Ethnologue Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics a Christian The Tibeto-Burman family of languages (often considered a sub-group of the Sino-Tibetan Language family) is spoken in various central and south Asian countries including Nepali is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Nepal, Bhutan, and some parts of India and Myanmar (Burma The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family Until the 1980s, the government sponsored the teaching of Nepali in schools in Southern Bhutan. However, after the armed uprising in the south, Nepali was dropped from the curriculum. The languages of Bhutan are still not well-characterized, and several have yet to be recorded in an in-depth academic grammar.

The literacy rate is 59. traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write or the ability to use Language to read, write, listen, 5% [5]. The country has a median age of 22. 3 years (World Population Prospects- The 2006 Revision, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division). Bhutan has a life expectancy of 62. Life expectancy is the average number of years of life remaining at a given age 2 years (61 for males and 64. 5 for females) according to the latest data from the World Bank. The World Bank is an internationally supported Bank that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries for development programs (e There are 1,070 males to every 1,000 females in the country.

It is estimated that between two third and three quarter of the Bhutanese population follow Mahayana Buddhism, which is also the state religion. Mahayana ( Sanskrit: mahāyāna, Devanagari: महायान 'Great Vehicle' is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for A state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a religious body or Creed officially About one quarter to one third are followers of Hinduism. Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Muslim and non-religious communities account for less then 1 % of the population. ^[18] The current legal framework in principal guarantees freedom of religion, proselytism however is forbidden by a Royal Government decision. Proselytism is the practice of attempting to convert people to another opinion and particularly another religion ^[18]

Culture

Main article: Culture of Bhutan

Bhutanese thanka of Mt. Meru and the Buddhist Universe, 19th century, Tongsa Dzong, Tongsa, Bhutan

Bhutan has a rich and unique cultural heritage that has largely remained intact due to its isolation from the rest of the world until the early 1960s. Cradled in the folds of the Himalayas, Bhutan has relied on its geographic isolation to protect itself from outside cultural influences For the Mountain in Tanzania, see Mount Meru (Tanzania. Mount Meru ( Sanskrit: मेरु (also called Trongsa, previously Tongsa, is located in Trongsa District, Bhutan. Trongsa, previously Tongsa, is located in Trongsa District, Bhutan. One of the main attractions for tourists is the country's culture and traditions. Bhutanese tradition is deeply steeped in its Buddhist heritage [6]. Hinduism is the second dominant religion in Bhutan, being most prevalent in the southern regions. Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Both religions co-exist peacefully and receive support from the government [7], and enjoy royal patronage. The government is increasingly making efforts to preserve and sustain the current culture and traditions of the country. Due to its largely unspoilt natural environment and cultural heritage, Bhutan has aptly been referred to as The Last Shangri-la. Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 Novel Lost Horizon by British author James

While the Bhutanese are free to travel abroad, Bhutan is seen to be inaccessible to many foreigners. There is a widespread misconception that Bhutan has set limits on tourist visas. However it is the high tourist tariff and requirement to go on packaged tours that makes Bhutan an exclusive tourist destination.

The National Dress for Bhutanese men is the gho, which is a knee-length robe tied at the waist by a cloth belt known as the kera. Gho is the traditional and national dress for men in Bhutan. Introduced in the 17th century by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyel to give the Bhutanese a more distinctive identity it Women wear an ankle-length dress, the kira, which is clipped at one shoulder and tied at the waist. An accompaniment to the kira is a long-sleeved blouse, the toego, which is worn underneath the outer layer. Social status and class determine the texture, colours, and decorations that embellish the garments. Differently coloured scarves and shawls are important indicators of social standing, as Bhutan has traditionally been a feudal society. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed Jewellery is mostly worn by women, especially during religious festivals and public gatherings. To strengthen Bhutan's identity as an independent country, Bhutanese law requires all Bhutanese citizens to wear the national dress in public areas and as formal wear.

Rice, buckwheat, and increasingly maize, are the staple foods of the country. Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Buckwheat refers to plants in two genera of the Dicot family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, and the North American genus Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica The diet also includes pork, beef, yak meat, chicken, and mutton. Pork' is the Culinary name for Meat from the domestic Pig ( Sus scrofa) often specifically the fresh meat but can be used as an all-inclusive Beef is the Culinary name for Meat from Bovines especially domestic Cattle (cows The yak ( Bos grunniens) is a long-haired Bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Qinghai - The chicken ( Gallus gallus, sometimes G gallus domesticus) is a domesticated Fowl which is traditionally believed to have descended from Lamb, hogget, and mutton are the meat of Domestic sheep. The meat of an animal in its first year is lamb; that of an older sheep is hogget Soups and stews of meat and dried vegetables spiced with chillies and cheese are prepared. Ema datshi, made very spicy with cheese and chilies, might be called the national dish for its ubiquity and the pride that Bhutanese have for it. Dairy foods, particularly butter and cheese from yaks and cows, are also popular, and indeed almost all milk is turned to butter and cheese. Popular beverages include butter tea, tea, locally brewed rice wine and beer. Butter tea, also known as po cha ( "Tibetan tea" cha süma ( "churned tea" Mandarin Chinese: su you cha ( 酥[[wiktionary Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed Alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea Bhutan is the only country in the world to have banned the sale of tobacco. Tobacco is an Agricultural product recognized as an addictive drug processed from the fresh Leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana.

Changlimithang National Stadium, during a parade.

Bhutan's national sport is archery, and competitions are held regularly in most villages. Archery is the practice of using a bow or Crossbow to shoot Arrows Archery has historically been used in Hunting and Combat and has It differs from Olympic standards not only in technical details such as the placement of the targets and atmosphere. The Olympic Games is an international Multi-sport event established for both summer and winter games There are two targets placed over 100 meters apart and teams shoot from one end of the field to the other. Each member of the team shoots two arrows per round. Traditional Bhutanese archery is a social event and competitions are organized between villages, towns, and amateur teams. There are usually plenty of food and drink complete with singing and dancing. Wives and supporters of the participating teams cheer. Attempts to distract an opponent include standing around the target and making fun of the shooter's ability. Darts (khuru) is an equally popular outdoor team sport, in which heavy wooden darts pointed with a 10 cm nail are thrown at a paperback-sized target ten to twenty meters away.

Another traditional sport is the digor, which can be best described as shot put combined with horseshoe throwing. Digor is a traditional sport in Bhutan, resembling the sport of Shot put. The shot put is an Athletics (track and field event involving "putting" (throwing in a pushing motion a heavy Cricket has gained remarkable popularity in Bhutan especially since the heavy influx of Indian Television. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries Their national Cricket Team is one of the more successful associate nations in the region. Football is an increasingly popular sport. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered In 2002, Bhutan's national football team played Montserrat - billed as The Other Final, the match took place on the same day Brazil played Germany in the World Cup Final, but at the time Bhutan and Montserrat were the world's two lowest ranked teams. Montserrat (ˌmɒntsəˈræt is British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles The Other Final is a 2003 Documentary film, directed by Johan Kramer, about a football match between Bhutan The match was held in Thimphu's Changlimithang National Stadium, and Bhutan won 4-0. Changlimithang Stadium is a multi-use Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan, which serves as the National Stadium. A documentary of the match was made by the Dutch filmmaker Johan Kramer.

Rigsar is the new emergent style of popular music, played on a mix of traditional instruments and electronic keyboards, and dates back to the early 1990s; it shows the influence of Indian popular music, a hybrid form of traditional and Western popular influences. Rigsar is a Music genre,the dominant type of popular music of Bhutan. Traditional genres include the zhungdra and boedra. Zhungdra is one of two main styles of traditional Bhutanese folk music (the other being Bödra) The Boedra ( Bödra) is a traditional genre of Bhutanese music.

Chaam, sacred masked dances, are annually performed during religious festivals.

Characteristic of the region is a type of castle fortress known as the dzong. Dzong architecture (from Tibetan རྫོང་ Wylie rDzong) is a distinctive type of fortress architecture found in the former and present Since ancient times, the dzongs have served as the religious and secular administration centres for their respective districts.

Bhutan has numerous public holidays, most of which centre around traditional seasonal, secular and religious festivals. They include the winter solstice (around January 1, depending on the lunar calendar), the lunar New Year (February or March), the King's birthday and the anniversary of his coronation, the official start of monsoon season (September 22), National Day (December 17), and various Buddhist and Hindu celebrations. The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 Solar terms (節氣 New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Events 66 - Emperor Nero creates the Legion I Italica. 1236 - The Lithuanians Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila

Masked dances and dance dramas are common traditional features at festivals, usually accompanied by traditional music. Energetic dancers, wearing colourful wooden or composition face masks and stylized costumes, depict heroes, demons, dæmons, death heads, animals, gods, and caricatures of common people. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. A caricature is either a Portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness or in literature a description The dancers enjoy royal patronage, and preserve ancient folk and religious customs and perpetuate the ancient lore and art of mask-making. "Ancient" redirects here For other uses see Ancient_(disambiguation. See also Folk (disambiguation, Volk (disambiguation Folk is one of the Germanic roots that mean "(of the people" or "our Customs is an Authority or agency in a Country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual

Inheritance in Bhutan generally goes in the female rather than the male line. Daughters will inherit their parents' house. A man is expected to make his own way in the world and often moves to his wife's home. Love marriages are the norm in the urban areas nowadays but the tradition of arranged marriages is still common in the villages. A love marriage is a union of two parties based upon affection and a mutual attraction between the individuals Arranged marriage (also called prearranged marriage) is a Marriage arranged by someone other than the persons getting married curtailing or avoiding the process Although uncommon, polygamy and polyandry are accepted; often being a device to keep property in a contained family unit rather than dispersing it. The term polygamy (a Greek word meaning "the practice of multiple marriage" is used in related ways in Social anthropology, Sociobiology, and In Social anthropology and Sociobiology, polyandry ( Greek: poly - many andros - man refers to a form of polygamous

See also

• 2007 South Asian floods
• Bhutanese art
• Buddhism in Bhutan
• Communications in Bhutan
• Foreign relations of Bhutan
• List of Bhutan-related topics
• Media of Bhutan
• Censorship in Bhutan
• Military of Bhutan
• Transport in Bhutan

Notes

References

Prose contains specific citations in source text which may be viewed in edit mode.

• A Country Study: Bhutan. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. The Library of Congress is the De facto National library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress Retrieved on September 8, 2005.
• Bhutan. CIA World Factbook. The World Factbook ( ISSN; also known as the CIA World Factbook) is an annual publication of the Central Intelligence Agency of the Retrieved on September 8, 2005.
• Bhutan. MSN Encarta. Retrieved on September 8, 2005.
• Bhutan army sees action at last. Asia Times Online. Retrieved on September 8, 2005.
• Bhutan-China Relations. Bhutan News Online. Retrieved on September 8, 2005.
• MoUs with Bhutan on rail links, power projects. The Tribune, Chandigarh. Retrieved on September 8, 2005.
• Border tension pushes MEA allocation. The Tribune, Chandigarh. Retrieved on September 8, 2005.
• Happy Land. Yoga Journal. Retrieved on September 12, 2005.
• Fast forward into trouble. The Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on September 16, 2005.
• A New Measure of Well-Being From a Happy Little Kingdom. The New York Times. Retrieved on October 4, 2005.
• A. P. Agarwala (2003). Sikkim and Bhutan. Nest and Wings. ISBN 81-87592-07-9.  
• Sunanda K. Datta-Ray (1984). Smash and Grab: The Annexation of Sikkim. Vikas. ISBN 0-7069-2509-2.  
• Foning, A. R. (1987). Lepcha, My Vanishing Tribe. Sterling Publishers. ISBN 81-207-0685-4.  
• A hidden and mysterious kingdom. Toplum Postasi. Retrieved on June 14, 2006.
• Rose, Leo. The Nepali Ethnic Community in the Northeast of the Subcontinent.  

External links

• Bhutan at the Open Directory Project
• Bhutannica.org a Wiki site devoted to Bhutan - “initiated to try to 'set the record straight' on the matter of information about Bhutan. The Open Directory Project ( ODP) also known as dmoz (from directory ”
• Department of Tourism of Bhutan (temporary site)
• Government of Bhutan portal
• Royal University of Bhutan (www.rub.edu.bt)
• Bhutan Links Page - at the National Library of Bhutan. The National Library of Bhutan ( NLB) (Dzongkha Druk Gyelyong Pedzö འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་དཔེ་མཛོད། Thimphu
• Bhutan Observer (News)
• Bhutan travel guide from Wikitravel
• Bhutan Times (Newspaper)
• Photographs from The Kingdom of Bhutan
• Bhutan National Bank (bank)