Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [9]
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Snapshot
Change is afoot in Bhutan. Despite centuries of self-imposed isolation, the Himalayan kingdom has opened the Pandora’s Box of modernisation and there’s no turning back now. Pepsi Cola built a bottling plant in 1997, 60 channels of satellite TV arrived in 1999 and there will soon be more mobile phones in the kingdom than land lines. Bhutanese can even get a Dzongkha font for their Microsoft Windows (though there are still no traffic lights in the country)!
Political change also looms large on the Himalayan horizon. In 2005 Bhutan’s much-loved king announced that he would abdicate in 2008 in favour of the crown prince and set about drawing up the country’s first ever constitution to prepare for democratic elections that same year. This gradual ceding of royal power in favour of a parliamentary democracy stands in stark contrast to that other Himalayan monarch, Nepal’s King Gyanendra.
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FAST FACTS
Population: 634,982 (2005 Census)
Life expectancy: 63
Area: 38,392 sq km – similar size to Switzerland
Number of tourists visiting Bhutan in 2005: 13,600
Human Development Index ranking: 134 out of 177 countries
Forest cover: 72.5%
Percentage of population involved in agriculture: 69%
Percentage of Bhutan’s land used for agriculture: 7.8%
Tourism is the third largest provider of foreign exchange in Bhutan, earning it US$18.5 million in 2005
The export of hydroelectricity to India provides 32% of government revenue
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Yet Bhutan is very aware of the dangers of modernisation and the government continues to assume a very protective role in Bhutanese society. Bhutan was the world’s first country to ban not only smoking in public places but also the very sale of tobacco. The wrestling channel and MTV are also banned, as are western-style advertising billboards and plastic bags.
Due to its small size and precarious geopolitical position, squeezed in between the giants of China and India (and with the annexing of Tibet and Sikkim firmly in mind), Bhutan has decided that the only way forward, the only way to ensure its very survival and sovereignty, is to protect its unique culture and environment. Issues of sustainable development, education and health care, and environmental and cultural preservation are therefore at the forefront of policy making, as are the tenets of Buddhism, which forms the base of Bhutan’s legal code. Every development project is scrutinised and may be slowed or stopped if it affronts religious faith or adversely affects the environment. Bhutan’s strict regulation of limited high-value, low-impact tourism is a perfect example of this. Bhutan is one of the few places on earth so far untouched by the reach of globalisation and where compassion is favoured over capitalism
Still, despite the abundance of hydroelectric power, a large proportion of Bhutanese don’t have access to electricity or running water and per-capita income remains one of the world’s lowest. In 2004, 6000 Bhutanese troops flushed out militants from Bhutanese jungles bordering India, destroying 30 camps and incurring the wrath of Assamese separatist movements. The issue of the 110,000 refugees languishing in camps in Eastern Nepal is far from being resolved.
Bhutan remains a unique and special country. For better or worse, the next few years, and 2008 in particular, look set to bring profound changes to Bhutan. The challenge ahead for the government is to bring the benefits of the modern world to Bhutan without undermining the very things that Bhutanese cherish about their unique culture.
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History
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EARLY HISTORY
VISITS OF GURU RINPOCHE
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
THE BHUTANESE FORM OF BUDDHISM
RISE OF THE ZHABDRUNG
INVASIONS FROM TIBET
A BHUTANESE IDENTITY EMERGES
CIVIL WARS
RELATIONS WITH COOCH BEHAR
INVOLVEMENT