Bhutan is the last intact Himalayan kingdom — Sikkim was annexed by India in 1975, and Nepal’s monarchy was abolished after a civil war in 2008.

Bhutan opened to the outside world in 1952, abolishing slavery and undertaking the arduous task of reconciling its medieval infrastructure, politics and culture to late-20th-century life. For millennia, Bhutan had been isolated: a land of devout Buddhism and pristine natural beauty, cradled by the Himalayas, which served as a bulwark against both military aggressors and modernity.

Bhutan has long guarded its small population from the outside world. Before 1961, the country had no paved roads. Satellite television was introduced in 1999. And outsiders still must pay up to $250 a day to enter and stay in the country.

Bhutan’s Constitution, which went into effect in 2008 with the transition to democracy, directs the kingdom’s leaders to consult the four pillars of ‘Gross National Happiness’ when considering legislation.

The four pillars of Gross National Happiness are good governance, sustainable socioeconomic development, preservation and promotion of culture, and environmental conservation. Bhutan measures prosperity by taking into consideration the citizens’ happiness levels and not the gross domestic product.

In 2006, Bhutan’s king at the time, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, shocked his subjects by unilaterally ending the country’s absolute monarchy, leading an effort to draft a constitution and institute free elections, a process that culminated, in 2008, with the country’s first general election. But the former king’s most celebrated contribution is in the realm of what might be called political philosophy. It was he who formulated Bhutan’s signature quality of life indicator, Gross National Happiness, which has made Bhutan a fashionable name to drop in international development circles and among New Age enlightenment seekers.

There are now around a dozen bookshops in Bhutan’s capital, Thimphu, and a few more in far-flung districts.

Not long ago, when Bhutan’s government tried to enrol children in school, parents hid them in the attic and bribed government agents with butter and cheese to go away. Families needed their children as field hands. The last thing they cared about were books. But flash forward just a few generations, and the situation in this tiny Himalayan kingdom has changed. Literacy is taking root across these deep green mountain valleys — it’s now around 60 percent, compared with 3 percent in the 1950s.

Archery is the national sport of Bhutan.

Its national championship, the Yangphel archery tournament, is held here on an archery pitch, which is centuries old, just as the monsoon season ends.

Archery injuries are among the most common reasons for hospital admissions in Bhutan, officials said. One possible reason is that drinking is encouraged during tournaments, as is the competitors’ near-constant chewing of pan, a mild narcotic that stains their teeth red. Taunting opponents is common, and on rare occasions, archers stand in front of the target and get shot rather than allow a competitor to win crucial points, though that has become even less common with the more powerful and accurate compound bows.

A Buddhist fatalism may also play a role. Archery and Buddhism have long been linked.