Bhutan

Where the name comes from

Bhutan’s origin is uncertain; European forms such as Boutan first meant Tibet, until British writers told the two apart in the late 1700s.

First people

Himalayan communities lived in these valleys for thousands of years and were united under a Tibetan Buddhist religious and political system in the 1600s.¹

Known for

Bhutan is known for its Gross National Happiness approach, which asks whether development improves people’s lives, not only whether the economy grows.²

Outside rule

Bhutan was never colonized, but after a war with British India in 1864–1865 it gave up its southern lowlands, the Duars.³

The modern country

The hereditary monarchy began in 1907, and Bhutan held its first parliamentary elections in 2008 as a constitutional monarchy.¹