Bhutan

Bhutan is a landlocked Himalayan kingdom in South Asia, between the Tibet region of China to the north and India to the south. Thimphu is the capital and largest city, Dzongkha is the national language, and schools teach in English. Its own name, Druk Yul, refers to the Drukpa school of Buddhism and is often rendered as Land of the Thunder Dragon.

The Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo, who reigned from 627 to 649, brought Buddhism into the valleys. Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal joined the valleys into one state, repelled three Tibetan invasions and set down the Tsa Yig code of law. Wars with Koch Bihar drew in the British East India Company, which attacked in 1774, and defeat in the Duar War of 1864 and 1865 cost Bhutan the Bengal Duars.

Ugyen Wangchuck, governor of Trongsa, united the country and was chosen hereditary king in 1907. The Treaty of Punakha of 1910 handed Britain control of foreign affairs, a role India took over in a 1949 treaty signed at Darjeeling. King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck set up a National Assembly in 1953, and the country joined the United Nations in 1971. Television arrived only in 1999. Since the 2008 constitution it has been a constitutional monarchy with an elected National Assembly and National Council and a prime minister leading the government.

Bhutan covers 38,394 km² (14,824 sq mi), from subtropical plains to peaks above 7,000 m (23,000 ft), and forest covers 72% of the land, so it absorbs more carbon dioxide than it emits. Hydroelectric power sold to India is its largest export, alongside cement, ferroalloys, cardamom and timber, and its currency, the ngultrum, is fixed to the Indian rupee. The government long measured progress by Gross National Happiness, though the commission in charge was dissolved in 2022. Its forests shelter the takin and the golden langur, and archery is the national sport, shot at targets set more than 100 m apart.