Kingdom of Bhutan

Bhutan (its capital Thimphu) and neighboring states

Wealth and National Well-Being

Country Comparisons: chart

World Factbook: "The economy, one of the world's smallest and least developed, is based on agriculture and forestry, which provide the main livelihood for more than 60% of the population. Agriculture consists largely of subsistence farming and animal husbandry. Rugged mountains dominate the terrain and make the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive."

Economic growth rate
2011: 8.1%
2010: 8.3%
2009: 6.7%

Labor force in agriculture
2004: 43.7%

Unemployment rate
2009: 4%

Health expenditures
2009: 5.5% of GDP

People

Living in an urban area
2010: 35%

Ethnic groups
Bhote 50%, ethnic Nepalese 35% (includes Lhotsampas - one of several Nepalese ethnic groups), indigenous or migrant tribes 15%

Religions
Lamaistic Buddhist 75%, Indian- and Nepalese-influenced Hinduism 25%

Net migration rate
2012: zero

Geography

This is a landlocked and mostly mountainous country, about half the size of Indiana, between China and India.

Government

Chief of state: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (king, House of Wangchuck) since 14 December 2006. Head of government: Jigme Thinley (prime minister) since 9 April 2008, Independent.

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.  Capital: Thimphu

Recent History

Independence from India in 1949.

In 2006, Business Week magazine rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia and the eighth-happiest in the world, based on a global survey.