Gross National Happiness In the last century, newtechnology improved the lives of many people in many countries. Howev-er, onecountry resisted these changes. High in the Himalayan mountains of Asia, the kingdom of Bhutan remained separate. Its people andBuddhist (佛教) culture had not been affected for almost a thousand years.Bhutan,however, was a poor country. People died at a young age. Most of its peoplecould not read, and they did not know much about the outside world. Then, in1972, a new ruler named King Jigme Singye Wangchuck decided to helpBhutantobecome modern, but without losing its traditions. King Wangchuck looked atother countries for ideas. He saw that most countries measured their progressby their Gross National Product (GNP). The GNP measures products and money.When the number of products sold increases people say the country is makingprogress. King Wangchuck had a different idea forBhutan. He wanted to measure hiscountry's progress by people's happiness. If the people's happiness increased,the king could say thatBhutanwas making progress. To decide if people were happier, he created a measure called Gross National Happiness(GNH). GNH is based on certainprinciples that create happiness. People are happier if they have healthcare,education, and jobs. They are happier when they live in a healthy, protectedenvironment. They are happier when they can keep their traditional culture andcustoms.-Finally, people are happier when they have a good, stable government. Now this is some evidence ofincreased GNH inBhutan.People are healthier and are living longer.More people are educated andemployed. Twenty-five percent of the land has become national parks,and thecountry has almost no pollution. The Bhutanese continue to wear ttheirtraditional clothing and follow their ancient Buddhist customs.Bhutanhas alsobecome a democracy. In 2008, King Wangchuck gave hispower to his son. Althoughthe country still had a king, it held its first democratic elections that year.Bhutanhad political parties and political candidates for the first time. Finally,Bhutanhasconnected to the rest of the world through television and internet. Bhutanis a symbol for socialprogress. Many countries are now interested inBhutan's GNH.These countries areinvestigating their own ways to measure happiness. They want to create newpoli-cies that take care of their people, cultures, and land. Brazilmay be the next country touse the principles of GNH. Brazilian leaders see the principles of GNH as asource of inspiration.Brazilis a large country with a diverse population. If' happiness works as a measureof progress inBrazil,perhaps the rest of the world will follow. Who was Jigme Singye Wangchuck?