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Basic Facts |
Country name |
conventional long form: Union of Burma
conventional short form: Burma local long form: Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw (translated by the US Government as Union of Myanma and by the Burmese as Union of Myanmar) local short form: Myanma Naingngandaw 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 |
Gevernment type | military junta |
Capital |
name: Rangoon (Yangon)
geographic coordinates: 16 47 N, 96 10 E time difference: UTC+6.5 (11.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Nay Pyi Taw is administrative capital |
Flag description | red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing, 14 white five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a stalk of rice; the 14 stars represent the seven administrative divisions and seven states |
Currency | kyat (MMK) |
Internet country code | .mm |
Ports and terminals | Moulmein, Rangoon, Sittwe |
Agriculture products | rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane; hardwood; fish and fish products |
Industries | agricultural processing; knit and woven apparel; wood and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer; cement; natural gas |
Geography |
Location | Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand |
Coordinates | 22 00 N, 98 00 E |
Continent | Southeast Asia |
Area |
total: 678,500 sq km
land: 657,740 sq km water: 20,760 sq km |
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 |
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 |
Natural resources | petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal, some marble, limestone, precious stones, natural gas, hydropower |
Natural hazards | destructive earthquakes and cyclones; flooding and landslides common during rainy season (June to September); periodic droughts |
People |
Population | 47,382,633
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 2006 est.) |
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 |