Myanmar

enUK

Myanmar

(myän`mär, mēän'mär`) or

Burma

(bûr`mə), officially Republic of the Union of Myanmar, republic (2015 est. pop. 52,404,000), 261,789 sq mi (678,033 sq km), SE Asia. It is bounded on the west by Bangladesh, India, and the Bay of Bengal; on the north and northeast by China; on the east by Laos and Thailand; and on the south by the Andaman Sea. The traditional capital and by far the largest city is YangonYangon
, formerly Rangoon
, city (1983 pop. 2,458,712), former capital of Myanmar and capital of Yangon region, S central Myanmar, on the Yangon River (a mouth of the Ayeyarwady) near its entrance into the Gulf of Martaban.
..... Click the link for more information. (Rangoon), but in late 2005 the government began transferring many government ministries to the new capital, NaypyidawNaypyidaw
or Naypyitaw
, capital city of Myanmar and union territory (2009 est. pop. 925,000), 2,724 sq mi (7,054 sq km), in the S central part of the country.
..... Click the link for more information. , in central Myanmar.

Land and People

The most densely populated part of the country is the valley of the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River, which, with its vast delta, is one of the main rice-growing regions of the world. MandalayMandalay
, city (1983 pop. 532,895), capital of Mandalay region, central Myanmar, on the Ayeyarwady River. The second largest city in Myanmar, it is the terminus of the main rail line from Yangon and the starting point of branch lines to Lashio and Myitkyina.
..... Click the link for more information. , the country's second largest city, is on the Ayeyarwady in central Myanmar. The Ayeyarwady basin is inhabited by the Bamar, the Burmans proper, a Mongolic people who came down from Tibet by the 9th cent. and now represent about two thirds of Myanmar's population, which is mainly rural. The valley is surrounded by a chain of mountains that stem from the E Himalayas and spread out roughly in the shape of a giant horseshoe; the ranges and river valleys of the Chindwinn (a tributary of the Ayeyarwady) and of the Sittaung and the Thanlwin, or Salween (both to the E of the Ayeyarwady), run from north to south.

In the mountains of N Myanmar (rising to more than 19,000 ft/5,790 m) and along the India-Myanmar frontier live various Mongolic peoples; the most important are the Kachins (in the Kachin State in the north) and the Chins (in the Chin State in the west). These peoples practice shifting cultivation (taungya) and cut teak in the forests.

Between the Bay of Bengal and the hills of the Arakan (or Rakhine) Mts. is Rakhine StateRakhine State
, formerly Arakan
, state (1983 pop. 2,045,891), 14,194 sq mi (36,762 sq km), W Myanmar, extending along the Bay of Bengal. It lies at the foot of the Arakan Mts., which rises to 10,016 ft (3,053 m) at Mt. Victoria. The capital is Sittwe.
..... Click the link for more information. , a narrow coastal plain with the port of SittweSittwe
or Akyab
, city (1983 pop. 107,607), capital of Rakhine State, W Myanmar, at the mouth of the Kaladan River and on the Bay of Bengal. It is an important port and rice-milling center.
..... Click the link for more information. , which is home to the Arakanese, or Rakhine. Also in the state are the Muslim Rohingya, who are not recognized as a native minority by the government and are considered Bengali immigrants and noncitizens. In E Myanmar on the Shan Plateau is Shan StateShan State
, state (1983 pop. 3,718,706), c.60,000 sq mi (155,400 sq km), E central Myanmar. Taunggyi, the capital, and Lashio are its principal cities. It borders on China in the north, Laos in the east, and Thailand in the south.
..... Click the link for more information. , home of the Shans, a Tai people closely related to the Thai who, at nearly 10% of the population, are Myanmar's largest minority. South of Shan State are the mountainous Kayah State and Kayin State; the Karens, who inhabit this region, are of Tai-Chinese origin, and many are Christians. South of Kayin State is the TanintharyiTanintharyi
, formerly Tenasserim
, region (1983 pop. 917,628), 21,297 sq mi (55,159 sq km), extreme S Myanmar. Dawei (Tavoy), the capital, and Myeik (Mergui) are the chief towns.
..... Click the link for more information. region, a long, narrow strip of coast extending to the Isthmus of Kra. At its northern end is the port of MawlamyineMawlamyine
or Moulmein,
, city (1983 pop. 219,991), SE Myanmar, near the mouth of the Thanlwin (Salween) River; the third largest city of Myanmar and the capital of Mon State.
..... Click the link for more information. , Myanmar's third largest city.

Most of Myanmar has a tropical monsoon climate; however, N of the Bago Hills around Mandalay is the so-called Dry Zone with a rainfall of 20 to 40 in. (51–102 cm). On the Shan Plateau temperatures are moderate. Theravada Buddhism is the religion of about 90% of the population; there are Christian and Muslim minorities. Burmese (the tongue of the Bamar) is the official language, but each of Myanmar's ethnic minorities has its own language; in all, over 100 languages are spoken.

Economy

Myanmar suffered extensive damage in World War II, and some sectors of its economy have not yet fully recovered. About 70% of the population works in agriculture and forestry, and rice accounts for about half of the agricultural output. Other important crops are pulses, sesame, peanuts, and sugarcane. Myanmar also produces illegal opium in the northeast (bordering China, Laos, and Thailand), part of the "Golden Triangle"; heroin produced in the country's laboratories contributes to the black-market trade. Myanmar's forests, which are government-owned, are the source of teak and other hardwoods. Fishing is also important.

The country is rich in minerals. Petroleum is found east of the Ayeyarwady in the Dry Zone. Tin and tungsten are mined in E Myanmar; the Mawchi mines in Kayah State are also rich in tungsten. In Shan State, northwest of Lashio, are the Bawdwin mines, the source of lead, silver, and zinc. Coal, copper, natural gas, and iron deposits have also been found in Myanmar. Gems (notably rubies and sapphires) are found near MogokMogok
, village, N central Myanmar, on the Shan Plateau. It is the centuries-old center of the Myanmarese ruby trade.
..... Click the link for more information. . Since the 13th cent., Myanmar has exported jade from the Hunkawng valley in the north to China.

Aside from food processing, other manufacturing industries include wood and wood products, construction materials, pharmaceuticals, fertilizer, natural gas, and textiles and clothing. Exports include gas, wood products, pulses, fish, rice, clothing, jade, and gemstones. The chief imports are fabric, petroleum products, fertilizer, plastics, machinery, transportation equipment, construction materials, crude oil, food products, and edible oil. The country's chief trade partners are Thailand, China, Singapore, and India. Myanmar's developing economy, depressed by political turmoil, began to recover in the 1980s with increased private activity and foreign investment, but efforts to liberalize the economy stalled in the late 1990s amid new political turmoil and did not resume until the 2010s.

Government

Myanmar is governed under the constitution of 2008. The president, who is both head of state and of government, is elected by the national legislature. The bicameral national legislature, the Assembly of the Union, consists of the House of Nationalities with 224 members, 168 of which are popularly elected and 56 of which are appointed by the military, and the House of Representatives with 440 members, 330 of which are popularly elected and 110 of which are appointed by the military. Members of both houses serve five-year terms. In addition to the seats it controls in the parliament, the military retains control over its own affairs, and the commander in chief can remove the president. Administratively, the country is divided into seven regions, seven states, and a union territory (Naypyidaw).

History

Early History through World War II

Myanmar's early history is mainly the story of the struggle of the Bamar against the Mons, or Talaings (of Mon-Khmer origin). In 1044, King Anawratha established Bamar supremacy over the Ayeyarwady delta and over Thaton, capital of the Mon kingdom. Anawratha adopted Theravada Buddhism from the Mons. His capital, Bagan, "the city of a thousand temples," was the seat of his dynasty until it was conquered by Kublai Khan in 1287. Then Shan princes predominated in upper Myanmar, and the Mons revived in the south.

In the 16th cent. the Bamar Toungoo dynasty unified the country and initiated the permanent subjugation of the Shans to the Bamar. In the 18th cent. the Mons of the Ayeyarwady delta overran the Dry Zone. In 1758, Alaungapaya rallied the Bamar, crushed the Mons, and established his capital at Yangon. He extended Bamar influence to areas in present-day India (Assam and Manipur) and Thailand. Myanmar was ruled by his successors (the Konbaung dynasty) when friction with the British over border areas in India led to war in 1824.

The Treaty of Yandabo (1826) forced Myanmar to cede to British India the Rakhine and Tanintharyi coasts. In a second war (1852) the British occupied the Ayeyarwady delta. Fear of growing French strength in the region, in addition to economic considerations, caused the British to instigate the third Anglo-Burmese War (1885) to gain complete control of Myanmar. The king of Burma was captured, and the remainder of the country was annexed to India. Under British rule rice cultivation in the delta was expanded, an extensive railroad network was built, and the natural resources of Myanmar were developed. Exploitation of the rich oil deposits of Yenangyaung in central Myanmar was begun in 1871; the export of metals also became important.

Until the 20th cent. Myanmar was allowed no self-government. In 1923 a system of "dyarchy," already in effect in the rest of British India, was introduced, whereby a partially elected legislature was established and some ministers were made responsible to it. In 1935 the British gave Myanmar a new constitution (effective 1937), which separated the country from British India and provided for a fully elected assembly and a responsible cabinet.

During World War II, Myanmar was invaded and quickly occupied by the Japanese, who set up a nominally independent Burmese regime under Dr. Ba Maw. Disillusioned members of the Burmese Independent Army (which the Japanese had formed secretly before the war to assist in expelling the British) under Aung San formed an anti-Japanese resistance movement, the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL). Allied forces drove the Japanese out of Myanmar in Apr., 1945.

Independence and Civil Strife

In 1947 the British and Aung San reached agreement on full independence for Myanmar. Most of the non-Bamar peoples supported the agreement, although the acquiescence of many proved short-lived. Despite the assassination of Aung San in July, 1947, the agreement went into effect on Jan. 4, 1948. Myanmar became an independent republic outside the Commonwealth of Nations. The new constitution provided for a bicameral legislature with a responsible prime minister and cabinet. Non-Bamar areas were organized as the Shan, Kachin, Kayin, Kayah, and Chin states; each possessed a degree of autonomy.

The government, controlled by the socialist AFPFL, was soon faced with armed risings of Communist rebels and of Karen tribespeople, who wanted a separate Karen nation. International tension grew over the presence in Myanmar of Chinese Nationalist troops who had been forced across the border by the Chinese Communists in 1950 and who were making forays into China. Myanmar took the matter to the United Nations, which in 1953 ordered the Nationalists to leave Myanmar. In foreign affairs Myanmar followed a generally neutralist course. It refused to join the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization and was one of the first countries to recognize the Communist government in China.

In the elections of 1951–52 the AFPFL triumphed. In 1958 the AFPFL split into two factions; with a breakdown of order threatening, Premier U Nu invited General Ne Win, head of the army, to take over the government (Oct., 1958). After the 1960 elections, which were won by U Nu's faction, civilian government was restored. However, as rebellions among the minorities flared and opposition to U Nu's plan to make Buddhism the state religion mounted, conditions deteriorated rapidly.

In Mar., 1962, Ne Win staged a military coup, discarded the constitution, and established a Revolutionary Council, made up of military leaders who ruled by decree. While the federal structure was retained, a hierarchy of workers' and peasants' councils was created. A new party, the Myanmar Socialist Program party, was made the only legal political organization. The Revolutionary Council fully nationalized the industrial and commercial sectors of the economy and imposed a policy of international isolation.

Insurgency became a major problem of the Ne Win regime. Pro-Chinese Communist rebels—the "White Flag" Communists—were active in the northern part of the country, where, from 1967 on, they received aid from Communist China; the Chinese established links with the Shan and Kachin insurgents as well. The deposed U Nu, who managed to leave Myanmar in 1969, also used minority rebels to organize an anti–Ne Win movement among the Shans, Karens, and others in the east. However, in 1972, U Nu split with minority leaders over their assertion of the right to secede from Myanmar.

By the early 1970s the various insurgent groups controlled about one third of Myanmar. Ne Win and other top leaders resigned from the military in 1972 but continued to retain power. A new constitution, providing for a unicameral legislature and one legal political party, took effect in Mar., 1974. At that time the Revolutionary Council was disbanded and Ne Win was installed as president. Economic strife and ethnic tensions throughout the 1970s and 80s led to antigovernment riots in 1988, which caused Ne Win to resign from office. The series of governments that followed failed to restore order, and the military seized control under the name of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC); some 3,000 were killed when the demonstrations were suppressed. In June, 1989, the military government officially changed the name of the country from Burma to Myanmar.

In elections held in May, 1990, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won a large majority of assembly seats. However, the SLORC declared the election results invalid and arrested many leaders and members of the NLD. Aung San Suu KyiAung San Suu Kyi
, 1945–, Burmese political leader, B.A. Oxford, 1969, Ph.D. Univ. of London, 1985. The daughter of assassinated (1947) nationalist general U Aung San, who is regarded as the founder of modern Myanmar, she lived outside the country after 1960.
..... Click the link for more information. , the leader of the NLD, had been placed under house arrest in 1989; she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In 1992, General Than ShweThan Shwe
, 1933–, Burmese soldier and military dictator of Myanmar. He joined the army in 1953, attended training school, and became a commissioned officer. In 1963 he was named an instructor in the ideological training school operated by the Burmese Socialist Program
..... Click the link for more information. became head of the junta and assumed the position of prime minister; many political prisoners were released, most martial law decrees were lifted, and plans to draft a new constitution were announced. However, there was little evidence that the army was prepared to return the government to civilian control. A UN General Assembly committee unanimously condemned the military regime for its refusal to surrender power to a democratically elected parliament.

During the mid-1990s the military government signed cease-fires with the insurgent ethnic minorities except the Karens; the government launched a major offensive against their stronghold in E Myanmar along the Thai border in 1997. Aung San Suu Kyi was released in 1995 and became active as an opposition leader; the military government denounced her and harassed her followers. In Jan., 1996, Khun Sa, a major opium lord and leader of a private army, surrendered and allowed government troops to enter his jungle headquarters; it was speculated that he might have been granted amnesty and allowed to continue drug activities in return for ending his insurgency.

In 1997 the SLORC changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Myanmar moved toward closer political and economic relations with neighboring India and Thailand in the 1990s, and in 1999 it was accepted as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Human-rights groups continued to report numerous abuses, including the jailing of trade unionists and the increased use of members of ethnic minority groups as forced laborers, and harassment of and crackdowns on the opposition were regular occurrences. In Nov., 2000, the International Labor Organization called for sanctions against Myanmar because of the country's use of forced labor, but significant economic measures were not imposed because they would be barred by the World Trade Organization, to which Myanmar belongs.

Aung San Suu Kyi was again placed under house arrest from Sept., 2000, to May, 2002. Although many of her supporters had hoped that her 2002 release signaled a new attitude on the part of the SPDC, talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and the government, which had begun during her confinement, did not resume as expected. As she increased her criticism of the SPDC in 2003, her motorcade was attacked in May, her supporters were blamed for the violence, and she and other NLD leaders again placed in detention or under house arrest. The renewed repression led to new international sanctions and criticism of the government; like the earlier sanctions, these did not have a significant effect, in large part because of significant trade with and investments from China, Thailand, India, and Singapore. A number of NLD leaders were freed beginning in November. Meanwhile, in Aug., 2003, Gen. Khin Nyunt, who headed military intelligence, succeeded Than Shwe as prime minister; the latter remained head of the junta.

In May, 2004, the government convened a constitutional convention, but the NLD boycotted the convention because of Aung San Suu Kyi's continuing detention. The convention adjourned in July. Khin Nyunt, who was regarded as one of the more moderate SPDC members, was forced from office in Oct., 2004. Lt. Gen. Soe Win replaced him. Khin Nyunt was subsequently (2005) secretly tried on corruption and bribery charges and given a suspended sentence.

The country did not suffer significant damage as a result of the Dec., 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami. The government reconvened the constitutional convention in Feb., 2005, but adjourned it again at the end of March. The government arrest of Shan leaders on treason charges in Feb., 2005, following a government call for Shan forces to disarm, led the Shan that had signed a 1995 cease-fire with the government to resume their struggle and declare (May, 2005) Shan State independent. In Nov., 2005, the government announced that the capital would be moved to near PyinmanaPyinmana
, town and township (1983 pop. 52,962), Naypyidaw union territory, S central Myanmar, 55 mi (89 km) NNW of Toungoo. Pyinmana is located on the Yangon–Mandalay railroad in a mountainous, forested region.
..... Click the link for more information. from Yangon and that it had begun relocating ministries there. The move was presented as a transfer of the government to a more central location, but outside observers regarded it as an attempt to relocate to a more isolated and secure site.

The constitutional convention was again reconvened from Dec., 2005, to Jan., 2006, from Oct., 2006, to Dec., 2006, and from July to Sept., 2007, which the government announced that it had completed its work of writing the detailed guidelines for a new constitution. Under the guidelines the military would control important government ministries and sizable blocks of legislative seats. Meanwhile, in Apr., 2006, the government accused the NLD of having ties to terrorist groups, a charge the NLD denied. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which usually raises issues of concern confidentially with national governments, publicly criticized Myanmar's military regime of major human rights abuses in June, 2007.

In May, Lt. Gen. Thein SeinThein Sein
, 1945–, Burmese general and political leader. A graduate of the Defense Services Academy, he commanded an infantry battalion and later served under strongman Than Shwe when he was military commander-in-chief.
..... Click the link for more information. became acting prime minister; Soe Win, the prime minister, was seriously ill, and died in October. Fuel price rises in Aug., 2007, led to antigovernment demonstrations that came to involve large numbers of Buddhist monks. The protests continued into September, when the government brutally suppressed them and arrested some 3,000 people (the official figure). In Feb., 2008, the government announced that the new constitution was completed and that a national referendum on it would be held in May. The proposed constitution was not published, however, until April.

In May, 2008, Cyclone Nargis devastated areas of Myanmar bordering the Andaman Sea, especially in the Ayeyarwady delta and greater Yangon regions. An estimated 138,000 persons were killed, and rebuilding costs were estimated at $1 billion. The junta initially appeared reluctant to accept international aid and for a time refused international help in distributing the aid. Despite the cyclone, the constitutional referendum went ahead as scheduled (with a two-week delay in devastated areas); the vote, criticized internationally as a sham, overwhelming approved the charter, which entered into force later in the month. In Nov., 2008, Myanmarese oil-and-gas exploration ships in disputed waters in the Bay of Bengal were confronted by the Bangladeshi navy; both nations subsequently withdrew their vessels.

The government broke a 20-year cease-fire with the rebels in Kokang, in NE Shan State, in Aug., 2009; the small rebel force was soon defeated, but some 37,000 refugees fled across the Chinese border. (Fighting continued with Wa rebels, who had joined the conflict; an accord was signed with the Wa in 2013.) China called on Myanmar to maintain stability in the border region, and most refugees soon returned. The government's move was part of its campaign to force the members of the various ethnic rebel armies to join the border guards and to have members of the ethnic groups participate in the elections under the new constitution.

In Mar., 2010, in advance of expected elections under the constitution adopted in 2008, the government announced election laws forbidding civil servants, members of religious orders, and persons imprisoned for crimes from being members of political parties. These and other restrictions appeared intended to abolish the NLD or force it to oust Aung San Suu Kyi and other prominent jailed members. At the same time, the government also officially annulled the 1990 election that the NLD won. In April, Thein Sein and other government leaders resigned from the army prior to run as civilians in upcoming elections; additional senior officers resigned in August.

The NLD refused to reregister under the new election laws, and it and several other parties were dissolved by the government later in 2010. An NLD faction that objected to the election boycott formed the National Democratic Force to run in the November elections. The Union Solidarity and Development party (USDP), the main party aligned with the military, won more than three quarters of the nonappointed seats in parliament in November; opposition parties, including a second party aligned with the military, accused the USDP of fraud, and the elections were widely condemned internationally. Following the election, Aung San Suu Kyi was released.

In Feb., 2011, the new parliament elected Thein Sein president. The military junta was officially dissolved the following month when the new government took office, but it was unclear if Than Shwe remained the country's real leader as head of the State Supreme Council, a shadowy extraconstitutional body. In June, significant fighting erupted in Kachin and Shan states with Kachin rebels (who had maintained a cease-fire since the 1990s); the conflict was centered on the Momauk area in S Kachin State, where China was building a hydroelectric project. In September the government halted work on another Chinese-funded hydroelectric project that had aroused much opposition, Myitsone, in central Kachin. In addition to these and other projects on the tributaries of the Ayeyarwady, proposed dams on the Thanlwin also became a sources of tension with ethnic groups, and the army was used to forcibly residents from construction areas.

The second half of 2011 saw a number of improvements in relations between the government and the opposition, including a meeting between the president and Aung San Suu Kyi and the release of some political prisoners (nearly all political prisoners were released by the end of 2013), and in Jan., 2012, the NLD received approval to run candidates in the upcoming April elections. A cease-fire was signed in early 2012 with Karen rebels, who had been fighting government forces since the country's indepedence in 1948. The agreement was perhaps the most significant of the several cease-fires reached between the government and ethnic rebel groups in 2011–12, but many groups remain at war with the government. The national cease-fire agreement signed in Oct., 2015, included only eight of the country's rebel groups; a few additional groups signed in subsequent years. Aung San Suu Kyi and more than 40 NLD candidates won seats in parliament in the Apr., 2012, voting; the NLD captured nearly all the seats that were up for election. The changes in the political situation in Myanmar led to the easing or removal of sanctions that had been imposed on the country, and revived contacts with Western nations.

In June, 2012, ethnic violence between Buddhist Arakanese and Muslim Rohingyas in Rakhine State in W Myanmar displaced tens of thousands and led the government to declare a state of emergency there. Tensions between the groups continued, however, and in October significant violence again erupted. Many Rohingyas ended up living in squalid camps. Beginning in Mar., 2013, recurring violence erupted between Buddhists and Muslims, first in Meikhtila, central Myanmar; mainly involving attacks against Muslims, the violence spread to a number of towns and villages elsewhere in the country. In early 2015, fighting erupted with the Kokang rebels in Shan State, leading to a new surge of refugees across the Chinese border. In the Nov., 2015, elections, the NLD won solid majorities in both houses of the Assembly of the Union, giving it the power to elect the next president. Htin KyawHtin Kyaw
, 1946–, Burmese political leader, grad. Rangoon Univ. (1968, 1975). He served in the ministries of industry (1975–1980) and planning and treasury (1980–92) before resigning from government service.
..... Click the link for more information. , a close aide to Suu Kyi, was elected president in Mar., 2016; he became Myanmar's first civilian head of state since U Nu was overthrown in 1962. Suu Kyi, constitutionally barred from the presidency, became foreign minister, and was then named state counselor, a position with prime ministerial powers that was created by parliament.

After a Rohingya insurgent group mounted a deadly attack against police in Oct., 2016, military forces in the subsequent four-month government crackdown in N Rakhine State were accused of committing atrocities against Rohingya villagers. The crackdown led in Aug., 2017, to Rohingya insurgent attacks against police posts and an army base in N Rakhine, which then sparked attacks on Rohingyas by the military and Buddhist mobs. Rohingya villages were burned, some 7,000 Rohingyas were believed to have been killed, and some 700,000 fled to Bangladesh; another 125,000 were forced into camps in Rakhine. The military claimed Rohingya insurgents were burning the villages. A United Nations report later (2018) accused Myanmar of genocide. A Nov., 2017, agreement called for the refugees to return to Myanmar, but they remained in Bangladesh because few desired to return. Htin Kyaw stepped down as president in Mar., 2018; Win MyintWin Myint,
1951–, Burmese lawyer and political leader. A member of the National League for Democracy (NLD), he spent a brief time in prison during the 1988 uprising against the military government.
..... Click the link for more information. , the speaker of the House of Representatives and a close Suu Kyi ally, succeeded him.

Bibliography

See F. N. Trager, Burma: From Kingdom to Republic (1966); M. Htin Aung, A History of Burma (1967); H. Tinker, The Union of Burma (4th ed. 1967); N. Bixler, Burma: A Profile (1971); E. D. Smith, Battle for Burma (1979); D. Steinberg, Burma's Road to Development (1981); M. Smith, Burma: Insurgency and the Politics of Insurgency (1991); T. Myint-U, The Making of Modern Burma (2001), The River of Lost Footsteps (2006), and Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia (2011); M. W. Charney, A History of Modern Burma (2009).

Myanmar/Burma

Official name: Union of Burma/Myanmar

Capital city: Rangoon

Internet country code: .mm

Flag description: Red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 14 white, five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a stalk of rice; the 14 stars represent the seven administrative divisions and seven states

National anthem: “Kaba Makye” (Our Free Homeland; first line in English translation: “We shall always love Myanmar, Land of our forefathers”) by Y. M. B. Saya Tin

Geographical description: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand

Total area: 261,228 sq. mi. (676,578 sq. km.)

Climate: Tropical monsoon; cloudy, rainy, hot, humid summers (southwest monsoon, June to September); less cloudy, scant rainfall, mild temperatures, lower humidity during winter (northeast monsoon, December to April)

Nationality: noun: Burmese (singular and plural); adjective: Burmese

Population: 47,373,958 (July 2007 CIA est.)

Ethnic groups: Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, other 5%

Languages spoken: Burmese, minority languages

Religions: Buddhist 89%, Muslim 4%, Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%, traditional indigenous 1%, other 2%

Legal Holidays:

Armed Forces Day	Mar 27
Christmas Day	Dec 25
Independence Day	Jan 4
Martyrs' Day	Jul 19
May Day	May 1
Peasants' Day	Mar 2
Union Day	Feb 12

Myanmar

, Myanma a republic in SE Asia, on the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea: unified from small states in 1752; annexed by Britain (1823--85) and made a province of India in 1886; became independent in 1948. It is generally mountainous, with the basins of the Chindwin and Irrawaddy Rivers in the central part and the Irrawaddy delta in the south. Official language: Burmese. Religion: Buddhist majority. Currency: kyat. Capital: Yangon. Pop.: 50 101 000 (2004 est.). Area: 676 577 sq. km (261 228 sq. miles). Former name (until 1989): Burma

Myanmar

Myan·mar

Myanmar

Myanma

My•an•mar

Myanmar

Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma

Land and People

Economy

Government

History

Early History through World War II

Independence and Civil Strife

Bibliography

Myanmar/Burma

Legal Holidays:

Myanmar

Myanmar

Synonyms for Myanmar

noun a mountainous republic in southeastern Asia on the Bay of Bengal

Synonyms

Related Words