I n most countries, progress is measured in terms of GNP or GDP -- gross national or domestic product. But one small country has adopted a startlingly different yardstick. In 1972, the king of Bhutan declared that progress in the landlocked Himalayan mini-kingdom would henceforward be gauged in terms of GNH -- gross national happiness.

The king was not joking. Contentment, not capital, became Bhutan's official priority. As indicators of national well-being, profits, losses, surpluses and deficits were folded into just one of four "pillars of gross national happiness" -- and even then with key qualifications. Thus, in his annual report to the National Assembly, the Bhutanese prime minister testifies not just about "equitable and sustainable" socioeconomic development, but also about "preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance."

Bhutan might seem an odd place for a revolutionary social philosophy to bubble up. About the size of Switzerland, it boasts fewer than a million people. Already isolated by geography, it has locked in its image as an enigmatic Shangri-La by tightly controlling access. Fewer than 6,000 tourists visited the hard-to-get-to nirvana last year, most of them via Druk Air, one of the world's smallest national carriers (according to Bhutan's official Web site, it boasts "a fleet of two BAe-146 aircraft.") It's the kind of place that celebrates "Wood Male Monkey Year." The temptation is strong to see GNH as just another charming expression of Bhutanese eccentricity.