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Wangdue Phodrang District is a Thromde and dzongkhag (district) of central Bhutan. This is also the name of the dzong which dominates the district. The name is said to have been given by the Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal who was searching for the best location for a dzong to prevent incursions from the south. The word "wangdue" means unification of Country, and "Phodrang" means Palace in Dzongkha.
The Kingdom of Bhutan is divided into 20 districts. Bhutan is located between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and India on the eastern slopes of the Himalayas in South Asia.
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia situated in the Eastern Himalayas between China in the north and India in the south, with the Indian state of Sikkim separating it from neighbouring Nepal. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of 38,394 square kilometres (14,824 sq mi), Bhutan ranks 133rd in land area and 160th in population. Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy with a Druk Gyalpo (king) as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of government. The Je Khenpo is the head of the state religion, Vajrayana Buddhism.
A gewog, in the past also spelled as geog, is a group of villages in Bhutan. The head of a gewog is called a gup. Gewogs form a geographic administrative unit below dzongkhag districts, and above Dzongkhag Thromde class B and Yenlag Thromde municipalities. Dzongkhag Thromde class A municipalities have their own independent local government body.
A dungkhag is a sub-district of a dzongkhag (district) of Bhutan. The head of a dungkhag is a Dungpa. As of 2007, nine of the twenty dzongkhags had from one to three dungkhags, with sixteen dungkhags in total.
A kabney is a silk scarf worn as a part of the gho, the traditional male attire in Bhutan. It is raw silk, normally 90 cm × 300 cm with fringes. Kabney is worn over the traditional coat gho; it runs from the left shoulder to the right hip, and is worn at special occasions or when visiting a dzong. Kabney is also referred as Bura, which means wild silk.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Bhutan face legal challenges that are not faced by non-LGBTQ people. Bhutan does not provide any anti-discrimination laws for LGBT people, and same-sex unions are not recognised. However, same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised in Bhutan on 17 February 2021.
The development of Bhutanese democracy has been marked by the active encouragement and participation of reigning Bhutanese monarchs since the 1950s, beginning with legal reforms such as the abolition of slavery, and culminating in the enactment of Bhutan's Constitution. The first democratic elections in Bhutan began in 2007, and all levels of government had been democratically elected by 2011. These elections included Bhutan's first ever partisan National Assembly election. Democratization in Bhutan has been marred somewhat by the intervening large-scale expulsion and flight of Bhutanese refugees during the 1990s; the subject remains somewhat taboo in Bhutanese politics. Bhutan was ranked 13th most electoral democratic country in Asia according to V-Dem Democracy indices in 2023 with a score of 0.535 out of 1.
Dorona Gewog is a gewog of Dagana District, Bhutan. It also comprises part of Dagapela Dungkhag, along with Goshi and Tashiding Gewogs.
Tashiding Gewog is a gewog of Dagana District, Bhutan. It also comprises part of Dagapela Dungkhag (sub-district), along with Dorona and Goshi Gewogs.
Nanong Gewog is a Gewog of Pemagatshel District, Bhutan.
Kangpar Gewog is a gewog of Trashigang District, Bhutan. Kangpara Gewog, along with Thrimshing Gewog, comprises Thrimshing Dungkhag (sub-district). Kangpara is one of the remotest gewogs under Trashigang Dzongkhag (district). The gewog is 341.9 square kilometers and shares borders with other gewogs like Gomdar, Thrimshing, Shongphu, Khaling, Shingkhar Lauri and Merak. Kangpara is popular for housing some sacred monasteries like Lamai Goenpa, Sikhar Goenpa et al., and is also popular for their belief in deities like Ama Jomo and Meme Dangling.
The Local Government Act of Bhutan was enacted on September 11, 2009, by parliament of Bhutan in order to further implement its program of decentralization and devolution of power and authority. It is the most recent reform of the law on Bhutan's administrative divisions: Dzongkhags, Dungkhags, Gewogs, Chiwogs, and Thromdes (municipalities). The Local Government Act of Bhutan has been slightly amended in 2014.
A Thromde is a second-level administrative division in Bhutan. The legal administrative status of thromdes was most recently codified under the Local Government Act of 2009, and the role of thromdes in elections in Bhutan was defined in the Election Act of 2008.
The Bhutanese local government elections of 2011 were originally slated for 2008, but were delayed until 2011. Elections began on January 20, 2011, however polls opened in only 3 of 20 districts – Thimphu, Chukha District (Phuentsholing), and Samdrup Jongkhar – as part of a staggered election schedule. Polls closed June 27, 2011. Ahead of elections, 1,042 chiwogs, the basis of Bhutan's single-constituency electoral scheme, were slated to elect the leadership of Dzongkhag, Gewog, and Thromde governments.
Namgay Zam is a Bhutanese journalist and activist. Having made her name as a producer and anchor on the public Bhutan Broadcasting Service, she served from 2019 to 2023 as executive director of the Journalists' Association of Bhutan. A 2016 lawsuit against Zam was considered the first test case of the country's press freedoms after its democratic transition.
Deki Lhazom is a Bhutanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Bhutan women's national team. She is the joint highest goal scorer of Bhutan's senior national team with 3 goals.
Tshering Tshomo is a Bhutanese politician and former teacher. During the 2023 election, she was the only woman directly elected to serve in the National Council, representing Zhemgang District.
Dimple Thapa is a People's Democratic Party politician and minister from Bhutan. She trained in forestry before she was elected to the National Assembly. In 2024 she became the only woman in Tshering Tobgay's cabinet and the minister for Minister of Education and Skills Development.
References
- ↑ Bunty Avieson (1 April 2015). The Dragon's Voice: How Modern Media Found Bhutan. University of Queensland Press. pp. 154–. ISBN 978-0-7022-5357-7.
- ↑ Sarah Janssen (8 December 2015). The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2016. World Almanac. pp. 126–. ISBN 978-1-60057-200-5.
- 1 2 Alka Katwal (1 October 2016). "Two female Gups, both from Dagana" . Retrieved 10 November 2017– via PressReader.
- 1 2 "Creating history is herstory: a local girl turns public leader". UN Women. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
- ↑ "Bhutan: Namgay Peldon, first woman elected 'Gup of Tashiding Gewog'". A Celebration of Women. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2017.