Bhutan is a small (about 300 miles east-west and 200 miles north-south), land-locked country sandwiched between two great populations: the People's Republic of China (Tibet) to the north and India to the south. In the 1950s, Bhutan's third Druk Gyalpo (King in Bhutan) led the country out of isolation. It remained an essentially medieval society until the 1960s, and traces of this harsh lifestyle remain even today. Bhutan was established as a hereditary and absolute monarchy in 1907, but in recent times Bhutan's fourth king has moved toward democracy and toward establishing international relations. |
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