Myanmar

The Union of Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a country in Southeast Asia. The country has been ruled by a military government since a coup in 1988. The country is becoming an underdeveloped country. It has a population of approximately 54 million.

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Table of contents

1 Name 2 History 3 Politics 4 Administrative divisions 5 Geography 6 Economy 7 Demographics 8 Culture 9 Miscellaneous topics 10 Footnotes 11 See also 12 External links

Name

Upon achieving independence in 1948, the country became known as the "Union of Burma", derived from the British spelling of present-day Myanmar. In 1989, the ruling military government renamed the country "The Union of Myanmar". This change has been rejected by opponents of the present-day government, both within and outside of the country, who argue that the government does not have the authority to institute it. The name Union of Myanmar is recognized by the United Nations, but several countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada refer to Myanmar as Burma. Myanmar derives from the Burmese name Myanma naingandaw, which literally translates as "country of Myanmar".

History

Previously an independent kingdom, in 1886 Burma was annexed by the British Empire as a part of India. The Japanese invaded and occupied the country during World War II but it was retaken by the British in 1945.

In 1948 the nation became sovereign, as the Union of Burma, with U Nu as the first Prime Minister. Democratic rule ended in 1962 with a military coup led by General Ne Win. Ne Win ruled for nearly 26 years, bringing in harsh reforms. In 1990 free elections were held for the first time in almost 30 years, but the landslide victory of NLD, the party of Aung San Suu Kyi was voided by the military, which refused to step down.

One of the top figures in Burmese history over 20th Century is Army founder and freedom figure General Aung San, a student-turned activist whose daughter is 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate and world's peace, freedom and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi of NLD. The third most recognised figure of Burma in the world is U Thant, the UN Secretary General for two terms and highly respected throughout United Nations' history.

The picture in the History page displays the Burmese map at its heights in the history before 1886. Burmese kings occasionally occupied some parts of China, India, small part of Bangladesh, Laos and mostly the hearts of Thailand's ancient kingdoms for some times in history.

Politics

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1988. The current head of state is General Than Shwe who holds the title of "Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council." His appointed prime minister was Khin Nyunt until 19 October 2004, when he was replaced by Lt.-Gen. Soe Win. Almost all cabinet offices are held by military officers. US sanctions against the military government have been largely ineffective, due to loopholes in the sanctions and the willingness of mainly Asian business to continue investing in Myanmar and to initiate new investments, particularly in natural resource extraction. For example, the French petroleum company Total is able to buy Myanmar's oil despite the country being under sanctions, although Total (formerly TotalFinaElf) is the subject of a lawsuit in French and Belgian courts for alleged connections to human rights abuses along the gas pipeline jointly owned by Total, the American company Unocal, and the Myanmarian military¹. The United States clothing and shoe industry could also be affected if all the sanctions loopholes were to be closed, although they were already subject to boycotts prior to US sanctions imposed in June of 2002².

The regime is accused of having a poor human rights record, and the human rights situation in the country is a subject of concern for a wide number of international organizations. There is no independent judiciary in Myanmar and political opposition to the military government is not tolerated.

Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won 83% of parliamentary seats in a 1990 national election, but who was prevented from becoming prime minister by the military, has earned international praise as an activist for the return of democratic rule to Myanmar. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She has been repeatedly placed under house arrest, although in recent years the regime has been willing to enter into negotiations with her and her party, the National League for Democracy. She was most recently placed under house arrest on May 31, 2003, following an attack on her convoy in northern Myanmar. She remains under house arrest. [1]

Administrative divisions

Myanmar is divided into 7 divisions and 7 states. The divisions are Ayeyarwady, Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing, Tanintharyi and Yangon. The states are Chin State, Kachin State, Kayin State or Karen state, Kayah State, Mon State, Rakhine State, and Shan State.

Geography

• Myanmar Maps of over 20 destinations

Economy

Demographics

Culture

Many of the people, both men and women, wear longyis or a type of sarong.

See also:

• Music of Myanmar
• Literature of Myanmar
• Myanmar Travel Info

Miscellaneous topics

• Myanmar
• Communications in Myanmar
  • Myanmar Wide Web
• Foreign relations of Myanmar
• Military of Myanmar
• Myanmar Baptist Convention
• Transportation in Myanmar
• Myanmar Government
• Wa State
• Golden Triangle

Footnotes

1. See:

• "Dilemma of dealing with Burma". Article retrieved from BBC.co.uk on 2nd November, 2004.
• "Myanmar: Promoting Human Development in a Heavily-Criticized Country" from Total.com
• "TotalFinaElf in the line of fire" from Earthrights International

2. See:

• "How Best to Rid the World of Monsters" from Washingtonpost.com
• "Belgian group seeks Total boycott over Myanmar", Reuters report reproduced on Ibilio.

See also

• CIA World Factbook. The source of much of the material in this article.
• Burma Campaign UK. A prominent organization dedicated to raising European awareness of the political situation in Myanmar and condemning companies aligned with the military government.
• Political prisoner
• Political protest
• Indian Ocean earthquake

External links

• Euro-Mon Community
• Geopium: Geopolitics of Illicit Drugs in Asia
• Burma News, Myanmar News. News website opposed to the military government.
• The Irrawaddy. A magazine covering Burma and Southeast Asia.
• FreeBurma.org
• Burma: Army of the Child God
• "Burma scraps intelligence agency". Article from BBC.co.uk
• Canadian position on relations with Burma
• Unocal Settles Burma Lawsuit

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