Economic Development of Bhutan

·        Bhutan is a very unique and small country in the Himalayas with only on average about 700,000 citizens. The history of Bhutan is vague due to documents being lost. So it is difficult to compare Bhutan to other nations and colonization. However, Bhutan "is one of the only democratic (or constitutional) monarchies in the world" (kingdomofbhutan.com). Bhutan is also a Buddhist country and the lifestyles of the people generally follow the religious practices of Buddhism. Considering this, the country is mostly agricultural in nature, with industry only employing 11% of the people (data.un.org). Bhutan's main cash crops are fruits, vegetables, chilis and ginger, and mainly trades with India, Korea and China. Though Bhutan may not be the most impressive in terms of GDP or financial well being, it is an extremely impressive country when it comes to well-being and sustainability, in fact, ecotourism is the main industry in Bhutan. 

Bhutan has made many pledges for conservation of forest, biodiversity, pollution prevention, and "ecologically balance sustainable development" (blogs.state.gov). Additionally, Bhutan uses the measurement index of GNH (Gross National Happiness) instead of GDP which shows just how important happiness and well-being is for all. "When we say happiness, it's not just happiness of humans. It's happiness of the soil, happiness of the animals, happiness of all sentient beings" (thinkprogress.org).

Though information on Bhutan may be a bit more challenging to find, I am really excited to learn more about this inspirational country.

Sources:

http://kingdomofbhutan.com/kingdom/kingdom_3_.html
 http://blogs.state.gov/stories/2012/12/26/bhutan-conserving-natural-environment-and-biodiversity

http://data.un.org/CountryProfile.aspx?crName=Bhutan

https://thinkprogress.org/this-tiny-country-is-going-100-percent-organic-59b9213a685e#.79noczh1l

http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Counprof/Bhutan/Bhutan.htm