ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Bhutan. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Bhutan. Bhutan's judiciary is not independent of the king, according to the US State Department report. Bhutanese authorities sharply restrict freedom of expression, assembly, and association. The government prohibits criticism of King Wangchuk and Bhutan's political system, except indirectly during national assembly meetings. Security forces have arrested Bhutanese for taking part in a series of peaceful prodemocracy demonstrations in eastern Bhutan. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says that the overwhelming majority of Bhutanese refugees who entered camps in Nepal since screening began in 1993 have documentary proof of Bhutanese nationality.
