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This is a landlocked and mostly mountainous country, about half the size of Indiana, between China and India.
Monarchy established by Britain in 1907. Bhutan independent except in for defense and foreign affairs. After 1947 India assumed control over Bhutan's defense and foreign affairs. Independence from India in 1949. Unicameral legislature, the National Assembly, can remove a monarch with two-thirds vote. Village-level elections with one vote per family. National Assembly consists of 105 members elected at the village level, 10 representative from religious bodies and 35 appointed by the monarch.
Figures unless otherwise stated are from the CIA Factbook.
Estimated per capita GDP:
2003 $1,400 (Ranks 196th)
2002 $1,300
Little economic development, with agriculture largely subsistence farming and animal husbandry, providing income for more than ninety percent of the population. Government policy restricts foreign investment.
For 2008: deaths 7.54. Births 20.56.
Estimated for July 2008: 682,321. Growth rate estimated for 2008: 1.301 percent per year.
Infant mortality for 2008: 51.92 (deaths under the age of one for every 1,000 live births).
Average life expectancy at birth estimated for 2008: 65.53 years
Lamaistic Buddhist 75 percent, Hinduism 25 percent.
SOURCES:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
Copyright © 2008 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.