Wangchuck, Jigme Singye
(b. 1955), King of Bhutan. Fourth of the Wangchuck dynasty founded by Ugyen Wangchuck in 1907, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck was born in Dechenchholing Palace, Thimphu (the capital of Bhutan), on 11 November 1955 and was educated in Bhutan and in England. He ascended the throne in 1972, following the premature death of his father, Jigme Dorje Wangchuck. He was crowned in 1974, the coronation allowing the outside world a rare glimpse of the remote Himalayan kingdom. The Wangchuck family claims descent from the most famous Bhutanese saint, Pema Lingpa (1450–1521). In 1988 the king married four sisters related, according to tradition, to an incarnation of the founder of the Bhutanese state, Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594–c. 1651). The crown prince is the king's eldest son, Jigme Khesar Namgyal (b. 1980).
The king maintains a policy of balancing modernization with tradition, called Gross National Happiness. He believes that as a small, landlocked, and undeveloped country, Bhutan must promote national unity based on the Bhutanese cultural heritage, including environmental awareness, while expanding its international role in the U.N., South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, or SAARC (which includesIndia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Nepal), and other bodies.
King Jigme Singye Wangchuck. (ALAIN LE GARSMEUR/CORBIS)Although a proactive ruler, the king has gradually yielded more power to his ministers. Since 1998 a rotating chairman of the Council of Ministers functions as head of government. The king has also reduced the powers of the civil service, privatized many state enterprises, and devolved decision making to the local level. He has also pledged to make himself personally responsible for the solution of the so-called southern problem of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal and has toured the country repeatedly requesting southern Bhutanese not to leave.
Further Reading
Aris, Michael. (1994) The Raven Crown. London: Serindia.
Rose, Leo. (1977) The Politics of Bhutan. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
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