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MYANMAR (FORMERLY BURMA)

Capital
Rangoon (Yangon)

Area
678,576 square km (1 km = 0.62 miles), bordering Bangladesh to the west; India to the northwest; China and Laos to the northeast and Thailand to the east. Myanmar has a coastline on the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. About 15 percent of the territory is cultivated and 40 percent is forest.

Language
Burmese is the official language, but also spoken are several local dialects and some English.

POLITICAL PROFILE | HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS | ECONOMIC INDICATORS | MILITARY STATISTICS | COMMUNICATIONS

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DETAILS

Population
49 million (2002), 68.5 million (2050)

Ethnic group
Burmese (69 percent), Shan (8.5 percent), Karen (6.2 percent), Rakhine (4.5 percent), Mon (2.4 percent), Chin (2.2 percent) and Kachin (1.4 percent).

Religion
Buddhism is the religion of 89.1 percent of the people. Others are Christian or Muslim.

Climate
Tropical monsoon climate; cool and dry from February to November; hotter and wet in May to September period. The mountainous areas have the most rainfall and humidity is high all year round along the coast.

Currency
Kyat

Time zone
GMT +6 1/2

Public holidays
2004: Jan 4, Feb 12, March 2, 27, April 13-16*, 17*, May 1, Dec 25

*These and other unlisted Buddhist holidays in January, March, April, May, July, October, November and December depend on lunar sightings.

Electricity
220/230V AC 50Hz

Travel rules
Passport valid for six months, visa and transit visa required by all. North Korean nationals are banned from the country.

Driving
Tourists are not permitted to drive.

Health rules
Yellow fever certificate required if arriving within six days from or via infected areas. Nationals and residents must have a certificate of vaccination on departure to an infected area. Hepatitis A, malaria, polio, tetanus, typhoid immunisation recommended. Diphtheria and hepatitis B immunisation recommended in some circumstances; seek further advice.

Source: Europa World Year Book 2003

POLITICAL PROFILE

Peoples have populated the geographical area of Burma, or Myanmar, for thousands of years. Societies advanced in agriculture and architecture were recorded as early as the 6th century BC.

Battles between the Burmans and the Mons punctuated Burma's early history, and in 1044, King Anawratha established Burman supremacy by declaring the state of Pagan. He then adopted Theravada Buddhism from the conquered Mons.

Kublai Khan and the Mongols conquered Pagan in 1287, but Burman dynasties were eventually re-established and Mongolian rulers driven out.

Over the next several centuries, various Mon uprisings were crushed, and Burman influence was extended to areas of present-day India and Thailand. This occupation led to tension with Great Britain over the border areas of India. Burma lost coastal territory to British-ruled India in battles in 1826. After two more Anglo-Burmese wars, Britain gained complete control of Burma in 1885.

Under British control, railroads were built and Burma's rich deposits of oil and metal ores were exploited. Burma was not allowed any form of self-rule until 1935, when Britain gave Burma a new constitution that separated the country from British India and allowed for an elected assembly and independent cabinet.

Burma was invaded and occupied by Japanese forces during World War II (1939-1945), who set up a nominally independent government. Before the war began, Japan set up the Burmese Independent Army (BIA) to drive out British forces. Under the leadership of Burman Aung San, disillusioned members of the BIA formed a socialist anti-Japanese resistance movement, the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL). The Japanese were driven out of Burma in April 1945.

Aung San's resistance movement and Great Britain agreed on full Burmese independence in 1947. Aung San was assassinated by a military commando in July 1947, but the agreement still went into effect in January 1948.

By the early 1950s, the government was faced with challenges from armed Communist rebels and uprisings from ethnic Karens, who wanted a separate Karen nation. Chinese Nationalist troops had been forced into Burma by the ruling Chinese Communist government, but the United Nations forced the Nationalist troops to leave Burma in 1953.

The AFPFL regularly triumphed in elections, but living conditions deteriorated as rebellion flared. Various ethnic minorities demanded independence, and there was widespread opposition to Premier U Nu's plan to make Buddhism the state religion.

General Ne Win, armed forces Chief of Staff, established military leadership through a coup in March 1962. Ne Win's government nationalised most of the economy and virtually sealed off the country from the outside world. The military rulers also made political parties illegal and muzzled the press. Burma was one of Asia's richest countries when Ne Win took over, but the economy suffered from state control and low world prices for rice and other exports.

Burma was plunged into upheaval in the 1970s. Various insurgent groups controlled almost one third of Burma. Occasional internal dissent against Ne Win's government was consistently crushed by the military-backed government, but nevertheless grew among students. Ne Win resigned from the military in 1972, but was installed as President in 1974. The democracy movement continued to grow through 1988.

Massive pro-democracy street protests in 1988 forced Ne Win to resign. The military suppressed the pro-democracy movement in September 1988, killing and jailing thousands. When a subsequent series of governments failed, the military seized control again as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). SLORC officially changed the name of the country from Burma to Myanmar in June 1989.

The popular but illegal National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a large majority of assembly seats in May 1990. SLORC declared those results invalid and arrested hundreds of NLD members and sympathisers, including NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Aung San. Suu Kyi, living under house arrest since May 1989, received the Nobel Peace Prize for her activism in 1991.

After General Than Shwe became head of SLORC in 1992, hundreds of political prisoners were freed, most martial law decrees were lifted and plans to draw up a new constitution were announced.

Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in July 1995, and continued to call for dialogue on political reform between SLORC, the democracy movement and ethnic groups. She also urged international businesses to refrain from investing in Myanmar. In response, SLORC denounced her and harassed her followers.

Bowing to international pressure from the United States and European Union, SLORC dissolved itself at the end of 1997 and formed the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), but it soon became obvious that nothing but the name had changed.

Myanmar became a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 1997, and rekindled diplomatic relations with China and Japan. Human rights groups like Amnesty International continued to denounce Myanmar for human rights violations, such as the imprisonment of political protestors and forced labour of ethnic minorities.

Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest again in September 2000, after increasing criticism of the government. This led to international economic sanctions against Myanmar. These sanctions, coupled with levies on Myanmar's fossil fuel and mineral trade, were crippling to Myanmar's economy, so the SPDC released Suu Kyi in 2002.

Myanmar sent reinforcements for a fresh assault on ethnic rebels near the border with Thailand in 2002. SLORC signed peace accords with most armed insurgent groups, but the Karen and Shan ethnic groups did not surrender to the SPDC and remained armed.

Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest again in May 2003, after clashes between her supporters and members of a pro-military group during a tour to the north. The United States, Britain and the European Union threatened more economic sanctions against Myanmar.

According to the U.S. Committee for Refugees, about 276,000 Burmese refugees lived in Thailand at the end of 2002, and another 250,000 were living under refugee-like circumstances in Thailand.

Members of both Rohingya and Chin ethnic groups still faced religious persecution from the military government at the end of 2003 for practicing Islam and Christianity. According to the U.S. Committee for Refugees, there were 22,000 Rohingya (Burmese Muslim) refugees in Bangladesh at the end of 2002, and another 100,000 who lived outside the Bangladeshi refugee camps. About 52,000 Chin (Burmese Christian) lived in India as refugees. Between 100,000 and 1 million Burmese were internally displaced at the end of 2002.

At least 3 million Burmese people were HIV-positive at the end of 2002, according to UNAIDS, the Joint U.N. Programme on HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS said in 2003 Myanmar was on the brink of a serious HIV epidemic, since the government was slow to take preventative action.

Source: BBC, Europa World Year Book 2003, NI World Guide 2003/2004, Reuters

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS

Infant mortality
77 per 1,000 live births (2001)

Maternal mortality
230 per 100,000 live births (1985-2001)

Life expectancy
54.4 years male, 59.8 years female (2001)

Illiteracy
10.9 percent male, 19.0 percent female (2001)

Access to basic care
50-79 percent (access to essential drugs) (1999)

Access to safe water
72 percent (access to an improved water source) (2000)

Human development index value
0.549 (2002)

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2003

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

GDP
$60 billion (2002)

Per capita
$1,233 (2002)

Growth
4.2 percent (2002)

Inflation
15.0 percent (2002)

Debt
$5.6 billion (2001)

Defence budget
$1.5 billion (2003)

Defence expenditure
$3.0 billion (2002) (estimated)

Source: Military Balance 2003/2004, IISS

MILITARY STATISTICS

Armed forces
488,000 active forces

Paramilitary: 250 forces (estimated) (People's Police Force, People's Militia, People's Pearl and Fishery Ministry)

Army
350,000 forces with 100 main battle tanks

Navy
16,000 forces with six missile craft and 75 patrol and coastal combat vessels

Air force
15,000 forces, with 123 combat aircraft and 29 armed helicopters

Opposition rebels
There are 13 identifiable opposition groups, with an estimated total of about 50,000 forces. Nine have signed ceasefire agreements (an estimated 40,000 forces), but four groups are still in opposition (an estimated 10,000 forces).

Source: Military Balance 2003/2004, IISS

COMMUNICATIONS

Civil aviation
Mingaladon Airport, 19 km north of Rangoon, is equipped to international standards and is being extended. In December 1993, Kyauktheingan in Bago (Pegu) was selected as the location of the proposed Hanthawaddy international airport. Myanmar Airways International, Rangoon, privatised in 1993, operates services to Bangkok, Dhaka, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. The Mandalay International Airport, opened in September 2000, boasts the most modern international airport in the country. Located in Tada U township, Mandalay International Airport is about 7 miles south of that town and 18 miles southwest of Mandalay. Direct flights to upper Myanamar are open to all airlines, and crow flights are possible between Mandalay and cities such as Beijing, Calcutta, Dhaka, Kutamundu, Chienmai, Kunming, Seam Reap, Phnom Phenh, Vientiane, Hanoi and Bangkok.

Air Mandalay, Rangoon, operates domestic and international passenger services.

Railways
Myanmar has 3,955 km of railways, most of which is a single track.

Roads
In 2002, the total length of the road accessible to motor vehicles was 28,598 km.

Telecomms
281,200 main telephone lines in use (2001)

Inland waterways
The principal artery of traffic is the River Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy), which is navigable as far as Bhamo, about 1,450 km inland, while parts of the Thanlwin and Chindwinn rivers are also navigable.

Source: Europa World Year Book 2003

(Country Profiles on AlertNet have been compiled by Reuters bureaux around the world and from other named sources).

Copyright © 2001 AlertNet.

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Related links

University of Texas resources

Burma Daily newspaper

ReliefWeb- Myanmar

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Last updated:Wed Feb 10 11:34:01 2010