Key events in Bhutan's recent history:
Saturday, 15 November 2008
1972 - King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck dies and is succeeded by his son, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, then aged 16.
1974 - Bhutan establishes its own monetary system, separate from India's, and introduces the ngultrum currency; the country also opens up to foreign tourists.
Early 1990s - Thousands of ethnic Nepalis in southern Bhutan flee to Nepal after they are declared illegal immigrants and for demanding greater democracy and respect for Nepali rights.
1998 - The king relinquishes absolute rule, dismisses a fully nominated cabinet and agrees to include members of a new national assembly, elected by village bodies, in a council of ministers.
1999 - Television arrives; the first Internet cafe opens in the capital Thimphu the next year, as an ancient, traditional kingdom ajars a window on the world.
Nov. 2004 - Bhutan becomes the first country in the world to ban sales of tobacco products.
March 2005 - Bhutan unveils the draft of its first constitution that aims to set up a two-party democracy.
Dec. 17, 2005 - King Jigme Wangchuck announces he will hand over power to his son Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and hold the country's first multi-party democratic elections in 2008.
Dec. 14, 2006 - Wangchuck abdicates to make way for his Oxford-educated son.
March 2008 - Bhutan votes in its first ever parliamentary elections.
July 2008 - The king ratifies Bhutan's first constitution, formally ending a century of royal rule and establishing a parliamentary democracy with the monarch as head of state.
1974 - Bhutan establishes its own monetary system, separate from India's, and introduces the ngultrum currency; the country also opens up to foreign tourists.
Early 1990s - Thousands of ethnic Nepalis in southern Bhutan flee to Nepal after they are declared illegal immigrants and for demanding greater democracy and respect for Nepali rights.
1998 - The king relinquishes absolute rule, dismisses a fully nominated cabinet and agrees to include members of a new national assembly, elected by village bodies, in a council of ministers.
1999 - Television arrives; the first Internet cafe opens in the capital Thimphu the next year, as an ancient, traditional kingdom ajars a window on the world.
Nov. 2004 - Bhutan becomes the first country in the world to ban sales of tobacco products.
March 2005 - Bhutan unveils the draft of its first constitution that aims to set up a two-party democracy.
Dec. 17, 2005 - King Jigme Wangchuck announces he will hand over power to his son Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and hold the country's first multi-party democratic elections in 2008.
Dec. 14, 2006 - Wangchuck abdicates to make way for his Oxford-educated son.
March 2008 - Bhutan votes in its first ever parliamentary elections.
July 2008 - The king ratifies Bhutan's first constitution, formally ending a century of royal rule and establishing a parliamentary democracy with the monarch as head of state.