Gross National Happiness (GNH), (རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་དགའ་སྐྱིད་དཔལ་འཛོམས།) sometimes called Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH), is a philosophy that guides the government of Bhutan. It includes an index which is used to measure the collective happiness and well-being of a population. Gross National Happiness Index is instituted as the goal of the government of Bhutan in the Constitution of Bhutan,(འབྲུག་གི་རྩ་ཁྲིམས་ཆེན་མོ།) enacted on 18 July 2008.
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked South Asian country situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous country, Bhutan is known locally as "Druk Yul" or "Land of the Thunder Dragon", a name reflecting the cultural heritage of the country. The exonym Bhutan likely derives from the Prakrit hybrid word Bhŏṭṭaṃta, a name referring to its geographical proximity to Tibet (Bhŏṭṭa). Nepal and Bangladesh are located near Bhutan but do not share a border with it. The country has a population of over 727,145 and territory of 38,394 square kilometres (14,824 sq mi) and ranks 133rd in land area and 160th in population. Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy with a king as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of government. Vajrayana Buddhism is the state religion and the Je Khenpo is the head of the state religion.
Bhutan Time (BTT) is the time zone of Bhutan. It is six hours ahead of UTC (UTC+06:00). Bhutan does not observe Daylight saving time.
Sankosh is a river that rises in northern Bhutan and empties into the Brahmaputra in the state of Assam in India. In Bhutan, it is known as the Puna Tsang Chu below the confluences of several tributaries near the town of Wangdue Phodrang.
The kira is the national dress for women in Bhutan. It is an ankle-length dress consisting of a rectangular piece of woven fabric. It is wrapped and folded around the body and is pinned at both shoulders, usually with silver brooches, and bound at the waist with a long belt. The kira is usually worn with a wonju inside and a short jacket or toego outside.
Samdrup Jongkhar (Dzongkha:བསམ་གྲུབ་ལྗོངས་མཁར་) is a town and seat of Samdrup Jongkhar District in Bhutan.
The first Olympics that Bhutan participated in was the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. For each Summer Olympic Games from then until 2008, Bhutan was only represented by archers. Archery is the national sport of Bhutan. The first non-archer to compete for Bhutan was Kunzang Choden in the 2012 Olympics. She competed in the women's 10m air-rifle event. The 2012 Bhutan team contained no men. Bhutan has never won an Olympic Medal. In spite of being very mountainous, it has never competed in the Winter Games.
Capital punishment in Bhutan was abolished on March 20, 2004 and is prohibited by the 2008 Constitution. The prohibition appears among a number of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution; while some fundamental rights—such as voting, land ownership, and equal pay—extend only to Bhutanese citizens, the prohibition on capital punishment applies to all people within the kingdom.
Sergithang Gewog is one of the twelve gewogs of Tsirang District, Bhutan. Sergithang Gewog is located in the northwest of Tsirang District, east of the River Puna Tsang Chu, north of its tributary Burichu, west of Pungtencchu Gewog and south of Wangdue Phodrang District.
Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa, formerly the Social Democratic Party, is one of the five registered political parties in Bhutan. It was registered on 20 January 2013. The DNT has been Bhutan's governing party since the 2018 National Assembly election, in which the party won a majority of the seats.
The Tashi Group of Companies is the largest privately owned conglomerate of companies in Bhutan.
The production of wine in Bhutan is reported to have first been attempted in the 1990s, with the introduction of an experimental vineyard at Paro near Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan. Australian wine company, Taltarni, is believed to have provided technical help, but it is not known whether any wine was successfully produced.
Tandi Dorji is a Bhutanese politician who has been Foreign Minister for Bhutan since November 2018. He has been a member of the National Assembly of Bhutan, since October 2018.
Karma Donnen Wangdi is a Bhutanese politician who has been Minister for Information and Communication since November 2018. He has been a member of the National Assembly of Bhutan, since October 2018. Previously he was the member of the National Council of Bhutan from 2008 to 2013.
Ugyen Dorji is a Bhutanese politician who was Minister for Labour and Human Resources from November 2018. and has been Minister for Home and Cultural Affairs| since 2021
Yeshey Dem is a Bhutanese politician who has been a member of the National Assembly of Bhutan, since October 2018.
Dorjee Wangmo is a Bhutanese politician who has been a member of the National Assembly of Bhutan, since October 2018.
Norbu Wangzom is a Bhutanese politician who has been a member of the National Assembly of Bhutan, since October 2018. Previously she was the member of the National Assembly of Bhutan from 2008 to 2013.
Gyem Dorji is a Bhutanese politician who has been a member of the National Assembly of Bhutan, since October 2018.
Bhutan and Israel established formal relations in December 2020 with the signing of an agreement between the respective countries' ambassadors in India. Israel is the 54th country with which Bhutan has established ties. According to reports, the two countries have had a strong unofficial relationship since 1982, and have been in secret negotiations for several years before the formal announcement.
