Union of Myanmar

National name: Pyidaungsu Myanmar Naingngandau

Head of State: Senior Gen. Than Shwe (1992)

Prime Minister: Lt. Gen. Soe Win (2004)

Area: 261,969 sq mi (678,500 sq km)

Population (2005 est.): 42,909,464 density per sq mi: 164

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Rangoon (Yangon), 4,344,100

Other large city: Mandalay, 1,147,400

Monetary unit: Kyat

Languages: Burmese, minority languages

Ethnicity/race: Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Mon 2%, Indian 2%, other 5%

Religions: Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Islam 4%, Animist 1%, other 2%

Burma to Myanmar

After gaining independence from Britain in 1948, the country became known as the Union of Burma, deriving its name from the British spelling of Myanmar. The renegade government that is in control now after overthrowing the past state in 1989 renamed it the Union of Myanmar, derived from the Burmese Myanma naingandaw, literally meaning “country of Myanmar”. This change has been rejected by opponents of the current government, both within the nation and throughout the international community because of the belief that the current military government, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) (formerly the State Law and Order Restoration Council [SLORC]), does not have the authority to institute it. Though the United Nations acknowledges the name, several Western countries refer to the nation as Burma.

Geography

Myanmar is located in Southeast Asia in the Thailand/Cambodia portion of the Indochinese peninsula. Slightly smaller than Texas, the nation is nestled between two world powers with India to the northwest and China to the northeast. It also neighbors Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand, touching the Bay of Bengal at the southwest coast. The terrain is mainly central lowlands bordered by steep, rugged highlands.

History

Before its independence from British rule on January 4th, 1948 Burma was colonized first by the English and then by the Japanese who took it over during World War II. After regaining the land from Japanese rule after the war, the English relinquished Burma from their hold and the nation was declared independent. In 1962, under the rule of left-wing general Ne Win, a coup was staged. As a result, political opposition was banned, the constitute was suspended and “the Burmese way of socialism” was introduced. 25 years of economic struggle and repression eventually led to cataclysmic reaction, when the Burmese people held massive demonstrations in 1987 and 1988, which were ruthlessly suppressed by the State Law and Order Council (SLORC) . In the 1989 the military government officially changed the name of the nation to Myanmar. Despite the fact that the May 1990 elections ended with a landslide victory on the part of the National League of Democracy, the opposition party, the SLORC government refused to see the election as valid and refused to give up government control. The ruling junta has maintained a tight hold over the people of Myanmar since 1989; However, it has been unable to quell an insurgency that has been growing in the southern portion of the region for decades. Various ethnic tribes, most notably the Karen National Union, have combated against the government of Myanmar with violent uprising, fighting from independence from the constraints of the military government that they are suppressed by.