Official name: Republic of the Union of Myanmar Area: 676,578 km² Residents: 54.09 million (2019, estimated) Seat of government: Naypyidaw Growth of population: 0.65% per year (2020, estimated) Official language: Burmese / Myanma Regional languages: over 100 languages, e.g. Shan, Kayin, Mon, Jing-Hpo Waters The longest and most important river in the country is the […]
National development efforts According to franciscogardening, Myanmar has come a little closer to the goal of poverty reduction in recent years. According to a report by the World Bank, the rural poverty rate fell between 2004/2005 and 2015 from 32.1% to 19.4%, and in urban areas from 21.5% to 9%. One focus of the activities […]
According to areacodesexplorer, Myanmar is the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia. It is rich in natural and cultural treasures and one of the most ethnically diverse societies in the world. Formerly a kingdom, a British colony, then a longstanding military dictatorship with many ethnic conflicts, the country has been in a process of democratization […]
Country overview Myanmar stretches from the foothills of the Himalayas to the Malay Peninsula. The central plain, traversed by the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) and a few other rivers, is surrounded by hills and mountains in the shape of a horseshoe. Myanmar – Burma? Until 1989, the internationally common name was Burma (in German Burma). The British […]
Pa-O Most of them live in Shan State and ethnologists class them as part of the Karen groups. A good half a million people belong to them. A political organization and its own army fought against the government until 1991. An armistice gave them economic concessions, including in the tourism sector. A reorganization took place […]
Basics of the history of Burma up to the colonial era The official view of the history of Myanmar by the military, which initiated the constitution of 2008, can be read from the picture above, which shows a military parade in a square in the capital Naypyidaw. The founders of the three great Burmese dynasties […]
Since the classification of the Burmese population carried out in the colonial times, which determined a number of 135 ethnicities, this number has persisted until today. Of these, 52 subgroups are said to belong to the Chin ethnic group in the west of the country. The ethnic diversity implied by this led early on to […]
The colonial era (1826-1948) Between 1826 and 1886, Burma was annexed to the British-Indian colonial empire in three stages. The first Anglo-Burmese war from 1824 to 1826 had its cause in a conflict over the respective spheres of influence caused by the expansion of both sides. The British East India Company, based in Calcutta, also […]
The period of independence until 1988 The cyclical movement typical of the time of the dynasties can also be observed in independent Burma / Myanmar. Nu, Aung San’s successor and close companion, failed with his program of Buddhist socialism and was overthrown by another of Aung San’s campaigners, General Ne Win. Its attempt to realize […]
Developments since 1988 and the role of Aung San Suu Kyi The student-led popular uprising since March 1988, which escalated in August and September, suddenly moved Burma into the center of world interest after long years of oblivion. According to computerannals, two unexpected events played a central role. On the one hand joined the longtime […]