Chang Gewog

Tourism Policy of Bhutan

The Tourism Policy of Bhutan governs the kingdom's distinctive "high-value, low-volume" approach to international tourism. First articulated in 1974 when Bhutan opened its borders to foreign visitors, the policy has evolved through several iterations, most notably with the introduction of the Sustainable Development Fee (SDF) and the comprehensive reform of 2022, which replaced the all-inclusive daily tariff with a separate visa fee and SDF structure to broaden access while maintaining Bhutan's commitment to sustainable tourism.

Bhutanese Architecture of the University of Texas at El Paso

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is the only major university campus in the world built almost entirely in the style of Bhutanese dzong architecture. The convention dates to 1917 and has grown into a sustained cultural relationship between UTEP and the Kingdom of Bhutan.

Gasa Dzong

Gasa Dzong, formally known as Gasa Tashi Thongmon Dzong, is a fortress-monastery and the administrative centre of Gasa District in the remote northern highlands of Bhutan. Situated at an elevation of approximately 2,800 metres, it is one of the most isolated dzongs in the country and lies near the renowned Gasa Tshachu hot springs.

Gangkhar Puensum

Gangkhar Puensum is the highest mountain in Bhutan and the highest unclimbed mountain in the world, standing at 7,570 metres (24,836 feet) on the border with China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Climbing has been banned since 2003 when Bhutan prohibited all mountaineering above 6,000 metres, a policy rooted in respect for the spiritual sanctity of high peaks.

Bhutanese Refugee Crisis

The Bhutanese refugee crisis is the displacement of roughly 100,000 ethnic Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa from southern Bhutan in the early 1990s, their two-decade stay in seven UNHCR camps in eastern Nepal, and a third-country resettlement programme that moved more than 113,000 people to eight Western states between 2007 and 2016. Its contemporary tail is the 2025 deportation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement of resettled Lhotshampa to a Bhutan that refused to readmit them.

Bhutanese civil war and Battle of Changlimithang (1882–1885)

The civil war of 1882–1885 was the final major internal conflict of the Druk Desi era, ending with the victory of Trongsa Penlop Ugyen Wangchuck at the Battle of Changlimithang in 1885. The conflict consolidated Ugyen Wangchuck's authority over the rival Penlops and Dzongpens and laid the political foundation for his unanimous selection as the first Druk Gyalpo in 1907.

Druk Air

Druk Air is the national airline of Bhutan, established in 1981 by royal charter. As the sole carrier serving Paro International Airport for over three decades, it has played a central role in connecting the isolated Himalayan kingdom to the outside world and remains integral to the country's carefully managed tourism policy.

The Cost of Free

Bhutan gives healthcare, school and near-free power with one hand and runs some of South Asia's most expensive counters with the other. An editorial from the BhutanWiki Editorial Team on the captive markets — eggs, sand, meat, doma, data, cars — where the government's own competition watchdog has named the problem all year, and the prices have outlived the reports.

Delzo — Papermaking

Delzo (Tibetan: སྡེལ་བཟོ) is the traditional Bhutanese art of papermaking, one of the Zorig Chusum (thirteen arts and crafts). Bhutanese handmade paper, known as deh-sho or desho, is produced primarily from the bark of the daphne plant and has been used for centuries for religious texts, official documents, and ritual purposes. The craft is centered in Trashi Yangtse district in eastern Bhutan.

Singchang and Bangchang

Singchang and bangchang are two stages of the same fermented-grain brewing process in Bhutanese drinking culture. Singchang is the first, lightly filtered yield drawn directly from the fermented mash, while bangchang is the more diluted, watered-down second pressing. Both are distinct from distilled ara and from the broader category of chang.

Family Structure in Bhutan

Family structure in Bhutan is distinguished by matrilineal inheritance tendencies, particularly in central and eastern regions, the historical practice of fraternal polyandry in northern pastoral communities, extended family households, and a contemporary shift toward nuclear family arrangements in urban centers. Women hold significant property rights, and family organization reflects both Buddhist values and practical adaptations to Bhutan's mountainous geography.

Bhutan National Football Team

The Bhutan national football team represents the Kingdom of Bhutan in international association football and is governed by the Bhutan Football Federation (BFF). Consistently ranked among the lowest FIFA-ranked teams in the world, the team gained international fame through the 2002 documentary "The Other Final," which chronicled a match between Bhutan and Montserrat — the two lowest-ranked teams at the time — played on the same day as the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final. The team plays its home matches at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu.

Project 108 (108 Jangchub Chortens, Gelephu)

Project 108 is a royal initiative announced by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck on 21 February 2026 to raise 108 Jangchub Chortens — each 15 metres tall and spaced 108 metres apart — in a single coordinated day along the Mau Chhu in Gelephu Mindfulness City. The structures of all 108 chortens are to be completed together on 1 November 2026, drawing on the Bhutanese tradition of zhabto and an estimated 40,000 volunteers.

Thimphu Becomes the Capital of Bhutan (1955–1961)

The relocation of Bhutan's capital from Punakha to Thimphu between 1955 and 1961, under the Third King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, ending more than three centuries in which Punakha Dzong had served as the country's administrative seat.

Child Malnutrition in Bhutan

Child malnutrition in Bhutan encompasses stunting, wasting, micronutrient deficiencies, and emerging overweight concerns, with significant disparities between rural and urban areas and between eastern and western regions, despite decades of progress that have reduced stunting from over 60 percent to approximately 18 percent.

Younten Phuntsho

Younten Phuntsho is Bhutan's Minister of Agriculture and Livestock since January 2024, bringing a Yale-trained environmental management background and WWF experience to a portfolio addressing food security, organic farming, and the nexus between conservation and agricultural development.

Bhutanese Refugees in India

An overview of the often-overlooked population of Bhutanese refugees who settled in India rather than Nepal following the ethnic cleansing of the Lhotshampa population in the early 1990s. Communities in West Bengal, Assam, and other northeastern states have lived without formal camp infrastructure or UNHCR registration, facing distinct legal and social challenges.

Shingzo — Woodwork

Shingzo (Dzongkha: shing bzo) is the traditional Bhutanese art of woodworking, one of the Zorig Chusum (thirteen traditional arts and crafts). It encompasses structural carpentry for dzongs, temples, and traditional houses, as well as decorative wood carving. Bhutanese timber construction is renowned for its sophisticated joinery techniques that use no nails, relying instead on interlocking joints, wedges, and gravity to create structures of remarkable strength and beauty.

The Druk Desi: Bhutan's Secular Rulers (1650–1905)

The Druk Desi (also known as the Deb Raja) was the title held by the secular administrative rulers of Bhutan under the dual system of government established by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in the mid-17th century. Over the course of approximately 250 years, some 54 individuals held the office, many for only brief and turbulent tenures marked by assassination, deposition, and civil war.

Bhutan's Admission to the United Nations (1971)

Bhutan was admitted as the 128th member state of the United Nations on 21 September 1971, with the sponsorship of India. The membership marked a key step in Bhutan's emergence from diplomatic isolation and was followed by the country joining the Non-Aligned Movement in 1973 and steadily expanding its international relations.