Myanmar

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Union of Myanmar

Pyi-daung-zu Myan-ma Naing-ngan-daw

Official flag

National information

National motto:

None

About the people

Population: (# of people)

- Total:

54,000,000 (ranked 29)

- Density:

62 per km²

Geography / Places

Here is the country on a map of the world.

Capital city:

Naypyidaw

Largest city:

Yangon

Area

- Total:

678,500 (ranked 39)

- Water:

n/a km² (3.06%)

Politics / Government

Established:

January 4, 1948 as the Union of Burma

Leaders:

Chairman, SPDC: Senior-General Than Shwe
Prime Minister: Lieutenant-General Soe Win

Economy / Money

Currency:
(Name of money)

Kyat (MMK)

International information

Time zone:

+06:30

Telephone dialing code:

Internet domain:

.mm

Map of Myanmar.

The Union of Myanmar, (originally known as the Union of Burma), is the largest country in South Asia that is not an island. It is bordered by China on the north, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan region/1947-1971) on the west, and the Republic of India on the northwest, with the Andaman Sea to the south, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest. There are over 2,000 kilometers (1,243 mi) of coast line. The country was ruled by a military junta led by General Ne Win from 1962 to 1988, and its political system today stays under the tight control of its military government. Since 1992, Myanmar has been ruled by Senior General Than Shwe.

1 Origin and history of the name
2 History
3 Land
4 Photos

[change] Origin and history of the name

In 1989, the military junta officially changed the English version of its name from Burma to Myanmar. It also made a new name in English for places in the country, such as its former capital city, from Rangoon to Yangon. The official name of the country in the Burmese language, Myanma did not change, however. The renaming was controversial, seen by some as linguistically bad. Accepting the name change in the English-speaking world has been slow, with many people still using the name Burma to refer to the country. Major news organizations like the BBC still call it Burma. Some question the military junta's authority to "officially" change the name in English in the first place. Aung San Suu Kyi, however, calls the country Myanmar now.

[change] History

Myanmar had a strong kingdom in ancient times, but the nation was taken over by the British in the 1800s. Myanmar became independent in 1948 as the Union of Burma, and had a democratic government at first. However, in 1962, a coup d'état brought the military into power, where it has been ever since. The founder of modern Myanmar, Aung San was assassinated months before independence. His daughter Aung San Suu Kyi is currently under house arrest for leading the democracy movement.

In 1991, the military junta agreed to democratic elections, which were won by the National League for Democracy, and should have made Aung San Suu Kyi the Prime Minister. However, the dictatorship ignored the results of the elections and continued ruling. In November 2005, the military government stated that the national capital would be moved from Yangon to a location near Pyinmana, which was renamed Naypyidaw in March 2006.