Bhutan was one of those happy accidents of geography. Its north half abuts the Himalayan mountains, and the southern half is protected by several strategic mountain passages which can be eaily controlled. Defensively it is the perfect landscape, and not for nothing was the tiny kingdom, never conquered, called “The Mountain Fortress of the Gods.” The location allowed for perfect isolationism, which the country practiced to a large degree until the later half of the 20th century.

On this day, March 24, in 2008 the country of Bhutan held its first democratic elections, with about 80% of eligible voters heading to the polls. It was a remarkable feat – a peaceful change of government – for a country that was a monarchy just three years before.

The king’s announcement in 2005 that he would make way for an elected democracy was just the latest in a series of gradual openings of the notoriously secretive country. In 1999 it gained television, including foreign stations (an episode of Desperate Housewives was broadcast on election day.) And roads were built to India in the 1960s, part of a modernization project that included establishing a national museum, a national library, and – perhaps most notably – a sports stadium.