Gross National Happiness (GNH)

Three factors have exerted great influence on the course of Bhutan's development. The first being the culture. As Bhutan was never conquered or colonized, the country developed a culture relatively free from outside influence, the institution of monarchy, and a deep sense of nationhood. The second factor is the environment, which is protected by mountainous, often with difficult terrain. Thirdly, vajrayana Buddhism has given the country a view of the world on which the 3rd and 4th Kings based their policies of Developing Bhutan's potential in every field. The continuing development of Bhutan has been crystallized in a philosophy crafted by His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, known as Gross National Happiness (GNH) in the late 1980s. The concept of the GNH defines Bhutan's development objective as impovement in the happiness and satisfaction of the people rather than growth of Gross National Product (GNP). GNH has been the ever arching development philosophy of Bhutan as the concept has guided the country's development policies and programs. GNH suggest that happiness is the ultimate objective of development. It recognizes that there are many dimensions to development other than those associated with Gross National Product, and that development needs to be understood as a process that seeks to maximize happiness rather than purely economic growth.

The country believes that for a holistic development of the individual and the society, it is esential that development achieves a sustainable balance between the economic, social, emotional, spiritual and cultural needs of the people. This has led to the declared objective of viewing development as a continuous process towards achieving a balance between the material and intangible needs of individuals and society. The concept reminds the country that the means must always be considered in terms of the end and, therefore, every step in material development and change must be measured and evaluated to ensure that it will lead to happiness, not just more development.

Bhutan has identified four major areas as the main pillars of GNH as follows:
1. Economic growth and development.
2. Preservation and promotion of cultural heritage.
3. Preservation and sustainable use of the environment.
4. And a good governance.

Guided by the ideas of GNH, Bhutan has been making steady progress in every sector towards the goal of modernization.