Long impoverished and isolated, tiny Bhutan is finally booming. This onetime absolute monarchy has also made important democratic reforms and major improvements in quality of life.

 

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

Located on the southern edge of the Himalayas, Bhutan’s rugged topography is key to it’s economic strategy to modernize this lightly populated, less developed mountain kingdom.  Bhutan is harnessing hydroelectric energy and selling it to India, which accounts for 20% of the GDP. Today Bhutan is one the five fastest growing economies in the world.  However, the economic developed is highly uneven; 40% of the population is still engaged in subsistence farming on the limited arable land showing that there are still substantial development issues ahead.

 

Tags: South Asia, development, economic, rural, Bhutan.

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