Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0038/00383.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 23KB | 389 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00383}
$Pretitle{235A}
$Title{Bhutan
Chapter 1.    Physical Environment}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{George L. Harris}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{bhutan
british
india
bhutan's
bhutanese
feet
west
government
himalayan
miles}
$Date{1973}
$Log{Figure 19.*0038301.scf
Figure 20.*0038302.scf
}
Country:     Bhutan
Book:        Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, An Area Study: Bhutan
Author:      George L. Harris
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1973

Chapter 1.    Physical Environment

     Bhutan, second largest of the three Himalayan kingdoms, is situated
within the eastern sector of the main range which arcs around Tibet's
southern and western borders. Slightly larger than Switzerland and elliptical
in shape, it has common frontiers with only three states: Tibet, on the west,
north and northeast; India on the east, south and southwest; Sikkim on the
west. Its total population, estimated in 1964 at approximately 725,000,
consists principally of Bhote, a people of Tibetan origin, and a large
Nepalese minority (see fig. 1).

     The country's rugged mountainous terrain was of major importance in
determining its history. Because the few high valleys in which the population
was concentrated were accessible only with great difficulty, the Bhote lived
in isolation in the Himalayan range for centuries, their only uninterrupted
contact with the outside world having been by way of trade caravans to and
from Tibet. Internally the terrain made for centuries of feudal fragmentation
and internecine warfare among rival groups, whose fierce jealousies led to
almost continual conflict and bloodshed.

     Tibetan Buddhist cultural influences have long dominated Bhutanese
society. Lamas from Tibet introduced Buddhism to the area, eventually
establishing it as the dominant faith, and in the early seventeenth century
set up a formal government structure based on a division of authority between
temporal and spiritual leaders, which persisted unchanged until the turn of
the twentieth century.

     Under the present Maharaja, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk, who has ruled since
1962, Bhutan is confronted with powerful forces for change, especially in view
of the tension created by the Chinese Communist aggressions along the Indian
border which took place in October 1962. With strong support from India, which
since 1959 has had the responsibility for conducting Bhutan's external
affairs, it is undertaking a carefully planned program of economic and social
development and slowly entering the modern world.

     The society is predominantly rural, and no towns or urbanized communities
in the Western sense exist. The largest populated places are clusters of
houses built around a structure called a dzong, a combination of fortress and
administrative and religious center. Neither great concentrations of wealth
nor grinding poverty are evident. Farming is the principal means of
livelihood, and families are generally self-sufficient, producing their own
food, weaving their own cloth, and building and repairing their own houses.
On the whole they eat and dress well, show little desire to possess luxuries
and are seemingly content to follow a way of life which has as yet barely been
touched by modern influences.

     Barter is the basis of Bhutan's economy; with the exception of two token
Bhutanese coins, Indian currency is used for the infrequent cash transactions.
The total annual revenue of the government is not more than IR5 million to IR6
million (for value of the Indian rupee, see Glossary). Land tax accounts for
more than half the total revenue, other sources being the cattle tax, grazing
fees and excises. More than half the government's expenditures are for
defense; a traditional practice of supporting several thousand lamas in eight
monasteries accounts for an additional 25 percent. India, on its part, has
financed the Five-Year Plan (1961-66) of economic development and provides an
annual subsidy of IR1.2 million.

     The Maharaja theoretically is an absolute monarch, but by the Indo-Bhutan
Treaty of Perpetual Peace and Friendship signed on August 8, 1949, his
government agreed to be guided by the advice of India in the conduct of
external affairs, while the government of India agreed to refrain from
interference in Bhutan's internal administration. To assist in his
administration the Maharaja has a Prime Minister, an Advisory Council of eight
persons and a National Advisory Assembly called the Tsongdu, composed of about
140 members.

     Bhutan is virtually autonomous in the administration of its internal
affairs and has more influence over the conduct of its foreign affairs than
does Sikkim. Some Bhutanese leaders contend that, in view of the vague
phrasing of the Indo-Bhutan Treaty, Bhutan is not strictly obliged to accept
India's advice. However, the Maharaja and his government, recognizing their
dependent status, have always heeded India's counsel, and the divergent
viewpoints in this respect have not become the subject of serious dispute.
India maintains liaison with both the Bhutanese and Sikkimese Governments by
means of a political officer in Gangtok.

     For defense purposes India regards Bhutan's northern boundary as a part
of its own frontier. The invasion of Tibet in 1950 by Communist China raised
the question of that country's intentions toward Bhutan and the other
Himalayan states. The threat to Bhutan seemed particularly serious as early as
1954, when the Peiping authorities distributed maps showing extensive areas in
northeastern and northwestern Bhutan within Communist China.

     Apprehensions mounted in October 1962 when Chinese Communist forces moved
across the frontier into India's North East Frontier Agency, just east to
Bhutan. But as of early 1964 the Chinese Communists had refrained from
entering Bhutanese territory, and the Bhutanese authorities had consistently
rejected Peiping's offers for aid and its proposals to enter unilateral
discussions regarding the demarcation of Bhutan's northern boundary. The
Chinese Communist actions have, in fact, served to strengthen Bhutan's ties
with India.

The Land

Size and Population Density

     The total area of Bhutan is some 18,000 square miles, its maximum
distance from north to south being approximately 110 miles and that from east
to west about 200 miles. In comparison with the other Himalayan kingdoms, the
country is sparsely settled, with slightly more than 40 persons per square
mile, as against 60 for Sikkim and 180 for Nepal.

Boundaries

     The boundaries of the country cannot be identified by easily recognizable
natural features. The indefinite common border with Tibet extends some 300
miles along the snow-capped and almost inaccessible crest of the main
Himalayan Range, except for short distances in the northeast, northwest and
west, where it lies south of the watershed. The alignment of this boundary has
been repeatedly disputed by Communist China.

     The border with India, extending some 330 miles, was established by the
British in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The eastern section of
this border, following spurs and valleys on the southern slopes of the main
Himalayan Range, runs some 90 miles between Bhutan and the Indian territory
known as the North East Frontier Agency. On the south, the border with Assam
(150 miles) and with West Bengal (90 miles) extends generally along the
southern base of the abruptly rising Himalayan foothills. In some areas it
includes the northern rim of the malarial Brahmaputra River lowlands, called
the Duars Plain in this area. On the west, the boundary with Sikkim, extending
only about 20 miles, was likewise established by the British and accepted by
the Indian Government (see fig. 21).

Strategic Passes

     The five passes through the Himalayas have determined the course of
Bhutan's caravan routes with Tibet. Bhutanese chieftains formerly competed
fiercely for control of these passes and the trade through them; the winners
usually became rulers or