Nearly three-quarters of the population is Buddhist (with most of the remaining quarter being Hindu). Both the faiths of Buddhism and Hinduism have greatly impacted the people as each has dietary restrictions and a great respect for all life, including animals. These religions have caused the people to eat very little meat and they have affected the people's culture and lifestyles in other ways as well.
Although these similarities are uniting, the differences among the people are great and this begins with the various native languages spoken in Bhutan. The government has only one recognized language and this is a source of anger among the people as every group seeks the freedom to speak their own language and most people do so in their homes on a daily basis.
The government also has dress codes for the people and again this has created disagreements among some ethnic groups since this clothing has no meaning to them and many interpret this as demeaning and biased. In fact, the government has attempted to dictate the culture and way of life in numerous ways and with each attempt more division seems to arise, yet the people comply with the government's requests and laws as most people are peaceful.
In addition to telling the people what language to speak and how to dress, the government has also restricted both technology and tourism. While these changes may seem to be in poor taste, all have had both positive and negative effects. These laws maintain a traditional culture and way of life based on using the resources the land gives the people; they have also allowed governmental resources to be used to advance education, infrastructure, and healthcare. However, these laws also restrict people from increasingly advanced communication methods (television wasn't introduced to Bhutan until 1999) and suppresses minority freedoms.
With recent changes to the constitution Bhutan is now a democracy and changes to the culture and way of life could be drastic and sudden in the upcoming years as laws are changed, revoked, or added. However, there seems to be a consensus that maintaining a traditional lifestyle based on Buddhist and Hindu beliefs is important to all groups.