Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"Mountainous Bhutan, with a population of less than 800,000, lies wedged, fortress-like, between India and China’s Tibet. Bhutan has a long history as a constitutional monarchy, ruled by a king whose absolute power was unquestioned by his subjects. But in 2007, the newly crowned monarch, who had just succeeded his father—and perhaps with an eye on the recent overthrow of the royal rulers in nearby Nepal—decided to order his subjects to vote for a political party in an abruptly created democracy. Thus Bhutan overnight went from an absolute monarchy to a multiparty democracy, and Thimphu, the capital, became the seat of a newly elected National Assembly. Throughout the mountainous countryside, the symbols of Buddhism, the state religion, dominate the cultural landscape, and the government’s development policies emphasize the importance of spiritual fulfillment alongside the satisfaction of material needs. Forestry, hydroelectric power, and tourism all have much potential here, and Bhutan also possesses ample mineral resources. The country did not open up to foreign visitors until the 1970s, and even today tourism is kept within strict limits." [Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts, 17th Edition, p. 367]