World Countries Info Britain conquered Burma over a period of 62 years (1824-1886) and incorporated it into its
Indian Empire. Burma was administered as a province of India until 1937 when it became a
separate, self-governing colony; independence outside of the Commonwealth was attained in
1948. Gen. NE WIN dominated the government from 1962 to 1988, first as military ruler,
then as president, and later as political kingmaker. Despite multiparty elections in 1990
that resulted in the main opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) -
winning a landslide victory, the ruling junta refused to hand over power. NLD leader and
Nobel Peace Prize recipient AUNG SAN SUU KYI, who was under house arrest from 1989 to 1995
and 2000 to 2002, was arrested in May 2003 and is currently under house arrest. Her
supporters are routinely harassed or jailed.
Geography of Burma
|
Location:
|
Southeastern Asia,
bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and
Thailand |
|
Geographic coordinates:
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22 00 N, 98 00 E |
|
Area:
|
total: 678,500 sq km
land: 657,740 sq km
water: 20,760 sq km |
|
Area - comparative:
|
slightly smaller than Texas |
|
Land boundaries:
|
total: 5,876 km
border countries: Bangladesh 193 km, China 2,185 km, India 1,463
km, Laos 235 km, Thailand 1,800 km |
|
Coastline:
|
1,930 km |
|
Maritime claims:
|
contiguous zone: 24
NM
territorial sea: 12 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental
margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM |
|
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) |
|
Terrain:
|
central lowlands ringed by
steep, rugged highlands |
|
Elevation extremes:
|
lowest point:
Andaman Sea 0 m
highest point: Hkakabo Razi 5,881 m |
|
Natural resources:
|
petroleum, timber, tin,
antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal, some marble, limestone,
precious stones, natural gas, hydropower |
|
Land use:
|
arable land: 14.53%
permanent crops: 0.9%
other: 84.57% (1998 est.) |
|
Irrigated land:
|
15,920 sq km (1998 est.) |
|
Natural hazards:
|
destructive earthquakes and
cyclones; flooding and landslides common during rainy season (June to
September); periodic droughts |
|
Environment - current issues:
|
deforestation; industrial
pollution of air, soil, and water; inadequate sanitation and water
treatment contribute to disease |
|
Environment - international agreements:
|
party to:
Biodiversity, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law
of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
|
Geography - note:
|
strategic location near
major Indian Ocean shipping lanes
|
Population of Burma
|
Population:
|
42,720,196
note: estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality
due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death
rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age
and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2004 est.) |
|
Age structure:
|
0-14 years: 27.6% (male 6,023,874;
female 5,774,055)
15-64 years: 67.5% (male 14,317,308; female 14,504,500)
65 years and over: 4.9% (male 927,570; female 1,172,889) (2004 est.) |
|
Median age:
|
total: 25.7 years
male: 25.2 years
female: 26.3 years (2004 est.) |
|
Population growth rate:
|
0.47% (2004 est.) |
|
Birth rate:
|
18.64 births/1,000 |
|
Death rate:
|
12.16 deaths/1,000 |
|
Net migration rate:
|
-1.8 migrant(s)/1,000 |
|
Infant mortality rate:
|
total: 68.78 deaths/1,000 live
births
female: 62.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 74.78 deaths/1,000 live births |
|
Life expectancy at birth:
|
total population: 56.01 years
male: 54.22 years
female: 57.9 years (2004 est.) |
|
Total fertility rate:
|
2.08 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
|
1.99% (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
|
530,000 (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
|
65,000 (2001 est.) |
|
Nationality:
|
noun: Burmese (singular and plural)
adjective: Burmese |
|
Ethnic groups:
|
Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%,
Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, other 5% |
|
Religions:
|
Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%,
Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%, animist 1%, other 2% |
|
Languages:
|
Burmese, minority ethnic groups have their
own languages |
|
Literacy:
|
definition: age 15 and over can read
and write
total population: 83.1%
male: 88.7%
female: 77.7% (1995 est.)
note: these are official statistics; estimates of functional literacy are likely
closer to 30% (1999 est.)
|
Government
|
Country name:
|
conventional long form: Union of
Burma
conventional short form: Burma
local short form: Myanma Naingngandaw
local long form: Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw (translated by the US Government as
Union of Myanma and by the Burmese as Union of Myanmar)
former: Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
note: since 1989 the military authorities in Burma have promoted the name Myanmar
as a conventional name for their state; this decision was not approved by any sitting
legislature in Burma, and the US Government did not adopt the name, which is a derivative
of the Burmese short-form name Myanma Naingngandaw |
|
Government type:
|
military regime |
|
Capital:
|
Rangoon (regime refers to the capital as
Yangon) |
|
Administrative divisions:
|
7 divisions* (taing-myar, singular - taing)
and 7 states (pyi ne-myar, singular - pyi ne); Chin State, Ayeyarwady*, Bago*, Kachin
State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Magway*, Mandalay*, Mon State, Rakhine State, Sagaing*,
Shan State, Tanintharyi*, Yangon* |
|
Independence:
|
4 January 1948 (from UK) |
|
National holiday:
|
Independence Day, 4 January (1948) |
|
Constitution:
|
3 January 1974 (suspended since 18
September 1988); national convention started on 9 January 1993 to draft a new
constitution; progress has since been stalled |
|
Legal system:
|
has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction |
|
Suffrage:
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18 years of age; universal |
|
Executive branch:
|
chief of state: Chairman of the
State Peace and Development Council Sr. Gen. THAN SHWE (since 23 April 1992)
head of government: Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Sr. Gen.
THAN SHWE (since 23 April 1992); note - the appointed Prime Minister, Gen. KNIN NYUNT
(since 25 August 2003), is not the head of government
cabinet: State Peace and Development Council (SPDC); military junta, so named 15
November 1997, which initially assumed power 18 September 1988 under the name State Law
and Order Restoration Council; the SPDC oversees the cabinet
elections: none |
|
Legislative branch:
|
unicameral People's Assembly or Pyithu
Hluttaw (485 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 27 May 1990, but Assembly never convened
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NLD 392, SNLD
23, NUP 10, other 60 |
|
Judicial branch:
|
remnants of the British-era legal system
are in place, but there is no guarantee of a fair public trial; the judiciary is not
independent of the executive |
|
Political parties and leaders:
|
National League for Democracy or NLD [AUNG
SHWE, chairman, AUNG SAN SUU KYI, general secretary]; National Unity Party or NUP
(progovernment) [THA KYAW]; Shan Nationalities League for Democracy or SNLD [KHUN HTUN
OO]; and other smaller parties |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders:
|
All Burma Student Democratic Front or
ABSDF; Kachin Independence Army or KIA; Karen National Union or KNU; National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma or NCGUB [Dr. SEIN WIN] consists of individuals
legitimately elected to the People's Assembly but not recognized by the military regime
(the group fled to a border area and joined with insurgents in December 1990 to form a
parallel government); several Shan factions; United Wa State Army or UWSA; Union
Solidarity and Development Association or USDA (progovernment, a social and political
organization) [THAN AUNG, general secretary] |
Economy
Burma is a resource-rich country that suffers from government controls and abject
rural poverty. The military regime took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the
economy after decades of failure under the "Burmese Way to Socialism", but
those efforts have since stalled. Burma has been unable to achieve monetary or fiscal
stability, resulting in an economy that suffers from serious macroeconomic imbalances -
including a steep inflation rate and an official exchange rate that overvalues the
Burmese kyat by more than 100 times the market rate. In addition, most overseas
development assistance ceased after the junta suppressed the democracy movement in 1988
and subsequently ignored the results of the 1990 election. A crisis in the private
banking sector in early 2003 followed by economic moves against Burma by the United
States, the European Union, and Japan - including a US ban on imports from Burma and a
Japanese freeze on new bilateral economic aid - further weakened the Burmese economy.
Burma is data poor, and official statistics are often dated and inaccurate. Published
estimates of Burma's foreign trade are greatly understated because of the size of the
black market and border trade - often estimated to be one to two times the official
economy. Better relations with foreign countries and relaxed controls at home are needed
to promote foreign investment, exports, and tourism. In February 2003, a major banking
crisis hit the country's 20 private banks, shutting them down and disrupting the
economy. In July and August 2003, the United States imposed a ban on all Burmese imports
and a ban on provision of financial services, hampering Burma's ability to obtain
foreign exchange. As of January 2004, the largest private banks remained moribund,
leaving the private sector with little formal access to credit outside of government
contracts.
|
GDP:
|
purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion
(2003 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate:
|
5.2% (2003 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita:
|
purchasing power parity - $1,900 (2003
est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector:
|
agriculture: 60%
industry: 9%
services: 31% (2002 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line:
|
25% (2000 est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
|
lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 32.4% (1998) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|
52.8% (2003 est.) |
|
Labor force:
|
23.7 million (1999 est.) |
|
Labor force - by occupation:
|
agriculture 70%, industry 7%, services 23%
(2001 est.) |
|
Unemployment rate:
|
5.1% (2001 est.) |
|
Budget:
|
revenues: $7.9 billion
expenditures: $12.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.7 billion
(FY96/97) |
|
Industries:
|
agricultural processing; knit and woven
apparel; wood and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials;
pharmaceuticals; fertilizer; cement |
|
Industrial production growth rate:
|
NA% |
|
Electricity - production:
|
6.139 billion kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity - production by source:
|
fossil fuel: 44.5%
hydro: 43.4%
other: 12.1% (2002)
nuclear: 0% |
|
Electricity - consumption:
|
5.709 billion kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity - exports:
|
0 kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity - imports:
|
0 kWh (2001) |
|
Oil - production:
|
18,590 bbl/day (2002 est.) |
|
Oil - consumption:
|
38,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
|
Oil - proved reserves:
|
115 million bbl (1 January 2003) |
|
Natural gas - production:
|
7.35 billion cu m (2001 est.) |
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Natural gas - consumption:
|
2.15 billion cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - exports:
|
5.2 billion cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - imports:
|
0 cu m (2001 est.) |
|
Natural gas - proved reserves:
|
314.4 billion cu m (1 January 2003) |
|
Agriculture - products:
|
rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts,
sugarcane; hardwood; fish and fish products |
|
Exports:
|
$2.434 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.) |
|
Exports - commodities:
|
Clothing, gas, wood products, pulses,
beans, fish, rice |
|
Exports - partners:
|
Thailand 31.6%, US 13.1%, India 7.4%, China
4.7% (2002) |
|
Imports:
|
$2.071 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.) |
|
Imports - commodities:
|
Fabric, petroleum products, plastics,
machinery, transport equipment, construction materials, crude oil; food products |
|
Imports - partners:
|
China 27%, Singapore 19.6%, Thailand 12.1%,
Malaysia 8.9%, South Korea 5.4%, Taiwan 4.9%, Japan 4.3% (2002) |
|
Debt - external:
|
$6.2 billion (2002 est.) |
|
Economic aid - recipient:
|
$127 million (2001 est.) |
|
Currency:
|
kyat (MMK) |
|
Currency code:
|
MMK |
|
Exchange rates:
|
kyats per US dollar - 6.08 (2003), 6.57
(2002), 6.68 (2001), 6.52 (2000), 6.29 (1999), Note: these are official exchange rates;
unofficial exchange rates ranged in 2003 from 100 kyat/US dollar to nearly 1000 kyat/US
dollar. |
SOURCES: The CIA World Factbook, U.S. Department of State, Area Handbook of the US Library of Congress
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