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Slowly out of isolation
For such a small country, the Kingdom of Bhutan – and its king – is overloaded with anomalies.
One-sixth the size of United Kingdom, Bhutan is hemmed in by Tibet to the north and west and by India to the south, southwest and east. In this tiny area are three distinct physical regions – the Great Himalayas, the Lesser Himalayas and the Duars Plains. With a population of 2.4 million (UN, 2005), the country is home to three main ethnic groups. The Bhutia (Bhote) make up about three-fifths of the population and dominate the country’s political life. They inhabit the northern, central, and western parts of Bhutan and practice the Drukpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Of the number of Tibetan dialects they speak, the most common is Dzongkha, the nation’s official language.
The Sharchops (Assamese) were probably the first to arrive in Bhutan from nearby Indian areas to settle in eastern Bhutan. They practice Buddhism, but their culture is closer to the Tibeto-Burmans of northern India and Burma.
The Nepalese, the most recent arrivals, constitute about one-third of the population and live in the southwest. They speak Nepali and practice Hinduism.
Because of their growing numbers, the Bhutanese banned Nepalese immigration in 1959.
Bhutan has gone to great lengths to preserve the indigenous Buddhist culture, but in the 1990s, the Nepali began to resent these attempts as well as the lack of any political representation.
Violence erupted, and thousands of Nepali fled to Nepal, to UN-supervised refugee camps, where around 100,000 refugees continue to live.
Another disruption to peace in Bhutan came even earlier when Tibetans fleeing their country, which was absorbed by China in 1950, settled in the Great Himalayan region of Bhutan.
Bhutan continued its attempts to maintain its largely tranquil way of life. The country’s ancient Buddhist culture and magnificent scenery, however, have made it a natural tourist attraction.
Yet, although impoverished, Bhutan allows only 6,000 tourists a year to visit, and backpackers and independent travellers are discouraged.
In this ancient kingdom, the present hereditary monarchy was established only in 1907.
The present king, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, acceded to the throne in 1972 when he was 17, assuming the title of “Druk Gyalpo” or Dragon King.
His coronation in 1974, to which foreign dignitaries were invited for the first time in the country’s history, signalled the end of Bhutan’s isolation.
Although the isolation has not completely disappeared, His Majesty, educated in Britain, has continued the policy of limited modernisation adopted by his father.
He has also instituted reforms that few, if any, other monarchies have attempted.
In 1998, he gave up some of the monarch’s absolute powers and now rules in conjunction with the government, an assembly and a royal advisory council.
Just seven years later, he announced that he would step down when the country holds its first national democratic elections in 2008.
His successor will be his son, Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 26.
His Majesty is reported to prefer the image of a simple lifestyle, choosing to work in a small log cabin near the capital Thimpu, allowing his palace to be used by his four wives.
His goal for his country, he has stated, is to seek to maximise his people’s “gross national happiness” rather than their “gross national product”.
By Laurie Rosenthal
The Nation
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