Chang Gewog

Bank of Bhutan system failure and RMA penalty (2026)

In early 2026, an IT system migration at the Bank of Bhutan caused approximately Nu 1.46 billion to be mistakenly credited to a single customer's account. The Royal Monetary Authority subsequently imposed a penalty of Nu 228.46 million on the bank for compliance and reporting failures, while the Royal Bhutan Police opened a criminal investigation under the Penal Code. As of mid-April 2026, no court judgement had been issued.

2025 Deportation Crisis (Bhutanese Americans)

Beginning in March 2025, the United States government arrested and deported dozens of Bhutanese refugees under expanded immigration enforcement policies enacted by the second Trump administration. By mid-2025, ICE had arrested at least 60 Bhutanese Americans across multiple states and deported more than 50 to Bhutan, which refused to accept them, leaving deportees stranded and stateless. The crisis prompted community mobilisation, legal challenges, congressional engagement, and international advocacy.

Climate of Bhutan

The climate of Bhutan spans tropical lowlands to permanent ice within about 170 kilometres north to south, producing three broad zones — subtropical southern foothills, temperate central valleys and alpine north — each with distinct temperature and rainfall regimes. The country is dominated by the Indian summer monsoon, holds constitutionally mandated forest cover above 60 per cent, and is documented as carbon-negative, yet is also among the world's most exposed high-mountain states to warming, glacial retreat and glacial lake outburst floods.

Bhutanese Archery Rituals

Beyond its sporting form, Bhutanese archery (datse) is enveloped by a network of rituals: women's songs and taunting dances, the blessing of bows and arrows, invocations of warrior deities and the ceremonial drinking of ara. These elements distinguish village archery matches from international competitive archery.

Wangchhu River

The Wangchhu, known as the Raidak below the Bhutanese border, is the principal river of western Bhutan. Rising in Tibet and flowing through Thimphu and Chukha before entering West Bengal, it has been the backbone of Bhutan's hydropower programme since the 1980s.

Bhutan Premier League

The Bhutan Premier League (BPL) is the top tier of professional association football in Bhutan, established in 2012 by the Bhutan Football Federation. The league's champions qualify for the AFC Cup or, more recently, the AFC Challenge League. Paro FC has dominated the competition since 2019, winning seven titles to 2025.

Druk PNB Bank

Druk PNB Bank Limited is a Bhutanese commercial bank, established in 2010 as a joint venture between Punjab National Bank of India (51 percent) and Bhutanese investors (49 percent). It was the first foreign-invested bank in Bhutan and the country's fourth licensed commercial bank, with branches in seven dzongkhag headquarters.

College of Natural Resources (Bhutan)

The College of Natural Resources (CNR) is a constituent college of the Royal University of Bhutan located at Lobesa in Punakha dzongkhag. Founded in 1992 as the Natural Resources Training Institute and reconstituted as a college in 2003, it offers degree and diploma programmes in agriculture, forestry, animal sciences and related fields.

Gedu College of Business Studies

Gedu College of Business Studies (GCBS) is a constituent college of the Royal University of Bhutan located at Gedu in Chukha dzongkhag at an altitude of around 2,500 metres. It was established in 2008 in former buildings of the Tala Hydropower Project township and is the principal undergraduate business school in the country.

Bhutan in the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators

The Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) are a World Bank dataset that scores 214 countries each year on six dimensions of governance. Bhutan consistently scores well above its South Asian neighbours on five of the six dimensions, with control of corruption and political stability among its strongest results, while voice and accountability remains its weakest dimension.

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.

Sherab Zam

Sherab Zam (born 10 October 1983) is a Bhutanese archer and coach who represented Bhutan in the women's individual recurve event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she carried the national flag at the opening and closing ceremonies. She has since worked as a coach with the national archery team and at Chundu Armed Forces Public School.

Royal Securities Exchange of Bhutan

The Royal Securities Exchange of Bhutan Ltd (RSEBL) is the country's sole stock exchange, established in 1993 with assistance from the Asian Development Bank. As of December 2024 it lists 18 companies and reports a market capitalisation of around 62 billion ngultrum, making it one of the smallest stock exchanges in the world.

Paro International Airport

Paro International Airport (IATA: PBH, ICAO: VQPR), situated in the Pa Chhu river valley at an elevation of 2,235 metres, is Bhutan's primary international airport and one of the most challenging airports in the world. Surrounded by peaks as high as 5,500 metres, the airport permits only specially certified pilots to operate commercial flights, with all operations restricted to daylight hours and visual meteorological conditions.

Yak Herding in Bhutan

Yak herding is a traditional pastoral livelihood practised by highland communities in northern Bhutan, particularly the Layap of Laya and the Lunap of Lunana. Yaks provide essential products including butter, cheese, wool, and meat, and serve as pack animals in the high-altitude terrain. The semi-nomadic herding lifestyle faces increasing pressure from modernisation, climate change, and rural-to-urban migration, prompting efforts to sustain these communities and their cultural heritage.

Lhotshampa

The Lhotshampa (Nepali: ल्होत्साम्पा, "southerners") are an ethnic Nepali-speaking population of southern Bhutan. Comprising a significant minority of Bhutan's population, the Lhotshampa have been at the centre of one of South Asia's most consequential human rights crises, with over 100,000 displaced from Bhutan in the early 1990s and subsequently resettled across the globe.

Camp Management Committees (Bhutanese Refugee Camps)

Camp Management Committees (CMCs) were elected self-governance bodies in the Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal, serving as intermediaries between the refugee population and international agencies from the early 1990s through the 2010s.

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.

Duar War

The Duar War (1864-1865), also called the Anglo-Bhutanese War, was the only full-scale armed conflict between Bhutan and British India. Triggered by the failed Ashley Eden mission of 1864 and decades of disputes over the Bengal and Assam Duars, it ended with the Treaty of Sinchula on 11 November 1865, under which Bhutan ceded the Duars and Dewangiri in exchange for an annual subsidy of Rs. 50,000.

Trashi Yangtse District

Trashi Yangtse District (Dzongkha: བཀྲ་ཤིས་གཡང་རྩེ་རྫོང་ཁག) is a district in northeastern Bhutan, carved out of Trashigang District in 1992. It is renowned for Chorten Kora, one of Bhutan's most sacred Buddhist monuments, and for its thriving tradition of wooden bowl and container craftsmanship.