Myanmar (MYAHN-MAHR), republic (261,789 sq mi/ 678,034 sq km; 1994 estimated population 44,277,014; 2004 estimated population 42,720,196), SE Asia; (cap.) Yangon (formerly Rangoon). The country’s name was changed from the Union of Burma to the Union of Myanmar in 1989.
Geography and Population
Myanmar is bounded on the W by Bangladesh, India, and the Bay of Bengal; on the N and NE by China; on the E by Laos and Thailand; and on the S by the Andaman Sea. The most densely populated part of the country is the valley of the Ayeyarwady River, which, with its vast delta, is one of the main rice-growing regions of the world. Mandalay, the country’s second largest city, is on the Ayeyarwady in central Myanmar. The Ayeyarwady basin is inhabited by the Burmans proper, a Mongoloid race who came S from Tibet by the 9th century. The valley is surrounded by a chain of mountains that stem from the E Himalayas and spread out roughly in the shape of a giant horseshoe; the ranges and river valleys of the Chindwinn (a tributary of the Ayeyarwady) and of the Sittang and the Thanlwin (both to the E of the Ayeyarwady) run from N to S. Between the Bay of Bengal and the hills of the Arakan Yoma is the Arakan, a narrow coastal plain with the port of Sittwe. In the mountains of N Myanmar (rising to more than 19,000 ft/5,791 m) and along the India-Myanmar frontier live various Mongoloid peoples; the most important are the Kachins (in the Kachin State in the N) and the Chins (in the Chin Special State in the W). These peoples practice shifting cultivation (taungya) and cut teak in the forests. In E Myanmar on the Shan Plateau is the Shan State, home of the Shans, a Tai race closely related to the Siamese. S of the Shan State are the mountainous Kayah State and the Kayin State; the Karens, who inhabit this region, are of Tai-Chin. origin, and many are Christians. S of the Kayin State is the Tenasserim region, a long, narrow strip of coast extending to the Isthmus of Kra. At its N end is the port of Mawlamyine, Myanmar’s fourth-largest city. Most of Myanmar has a tropical, monsoon climate; however, N of the Pegu Hills around Mandalay is the so-called dry zone with a rainfall of 20 in/51 cm to 40 in/102 cm. On the Shan Plateau temperatures are moderate.
Religion, Language, and Education
Theravada Buddhism is the religion of about 85% of the population Burmese (the tongue of the Burmans) is the official language, but the Shans, Kachins, and Karens speak their own languages; in all, over 100 languages are spoken in Myanmar. There are colleges and universities in Yangon, Mandalay, and Mawlamyine.
Economy
Myanmar suffered extensive damage in World War II, when it was called Burma, and some sectors of its economy have not yet fully recovered. Most of the population work in agriculture and forestry, and rice accounts for about half of the agricultural output. (Until 1964, Burma was the world’s largest rice exporter.) Other important crops are maize, groundnuts, and pulses. It is also a producer of illegal opium in a N region bordering Laos and Thailand, known as the “Golden Triangle” and its laboratories produce two-thirds of the world’s heroin. Myanmar’s forests, which are government-owned, are the source of teak and other hardwoods. The country is rich in minerals. Petroleum is found E of the Ayeyarwady in the dry zone. Tin and tungsten are mined in E Myanmar; the Mawchi mines in Kayah State are also rich in tungsten. In the Shan State, NW of Lashio, are the Bawdwin mines, the source of lead, silver, and zinc. Coal and iron deposits have also been found in Myanmar. Gems (notably rubies and sapphires) are found near Mogok. Since the 13th century, Myanmar has exported to China jade from the Hukawng Valley in the N. Aside from food-processing establishments, there are few manufacturing industries in Myanmar. The country’s chief trade partners are Southeast Asia, the EU, India, and China. Rice and teak are the leading exports, and machinery, transportation equipment, and textiles are the chief imports.
History to 1900
Myanmar’s early history is mainly the story of the struggle of the Burmans against the Mons, or Talaings (of Mon-Khmer origin, now assimilated). In 1044, King Anawratha established Burman supremacy over the Ayeyarwady delta and over Thaton, capital of the Mon kingdom. Anawratha adopted Hinayana Buddhism from the Mons. His capital, Pagan, “the city of a thousand temples,” was the seat of his dynasty until it was conquered by Kublai Khan in 1287. Then Shan princes predominated in upper Burma, and the Mons revived in the S. In the 16th century the Burman Toungoo dynasty unified the country and initiated the permanent subjugation of the Shans to the Burmans. In the 18th century the Mons of the Ayeyarwady delta overran the dry zone. In 1758, Alaungapaya rallied the Burmans, crushed the Mons, and established his capital at Rangoon. He extended Burman influence to areas in present-day India (Assam and Manipur) and Thailand. Burma was ruled by his successors (the Konbaung dynasty) when friction with the British over border areas in India led to war in 1824. The Treaty of Yandabo (1826) forced Burma to cede to British India the Arakan and Tenasserim coasts. In a second war (1852) the British occupied the Ayeyarwady delta. Fear of growing French strength in the region, in addition to economic considerations, caused the British to instigate the Third Anglo-Burman War (1885) to gain complete control of Burma. The Burman king was captured, and the remainder of the country was annexed to India. Under British rule rice cultivation in the delta was expanded, an extensive railroad network was built, and the natural resources of Burma were developed. Exploitation of the rich oil deposits of Yenangyaung in central Burma was begun in 1871; the export of metals also became important.
History - 1900 to 1950
Until the 20th century, however, Burma was allowed no self-government. In 1923 a system of “dyarchy,” already in effect in the rest of British India, was introduced, whereby a partially elected legislature was established and some ministers were made responsible to it. In 1935 the British gave Burma a new constitution (effective 1937), which separated the country from British India and provided for a fully elected assembly and a responsible cabinet. During World War II, Burma was invaded and quickly occupied by the Japanese, who set up a nominally independent Burman regime under Dr. Ba Maw. Disillusioned members of the Burmese Independent Army (which the Japanese had formed secretly before the war to assist in expelling the British) under Aung San formed an anti-Japanese resistance movement, the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL). Allied forces drove the Japanese out of Burma in April 1945. In 1947 the British and Aung San reached agreement on full independence for Burma. Most of the non-Burman peoples supported the agreement, although the acquiescence of many proved short-lived. Despite the assassination of Aung San in July 1947, the agreement went into effect on January 4, 1948. Burma became an independent republic outside the British Commonwealth of Nations. The new constitution provided for a bicameral legislature with a responsible prime minister and cabinet. Non-Burman areas were organized as the Shan, Kachin, Kawthule, and Kayah states and the Chin Special Division; each possessed a degree of autonomy. The government, controlled by the socialist AFPFL, was soon faced with armed risings of Communist rebels and of Karen tribesmen, who wanted a separate Karen nation. International tension grew over the presence in Burma of Chinese Nationalist troops who had been forced across the border by the Chinese Communists in 1950 and who were making forays into China.
History - 1950 to 1990
Burma took the matter to the UN, which in 1953 ordered the Nationalists to leave Burma. In foreign affairs Burma has followed a generally neutralist course. It refused to join the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization and was one of the first countries to recognize the Communist government in China. In the elections of 1951–1952 the AFPFL triumphed. In 1958 the AFPFL split into two factions; with a breakdown of order threatening, Premier U Nu invited General Ne Win, head of the army, to take over the government. After the 1960 elections, which were won by U Nu’s faction, civilian government was restored. In March 1962, Ne Win staged a military coup, discarded the constitution, and established a Revolutionary Council, made up of military leaders who ruled by decree. While the federal structure was retained, a hierarchy of workers’ and peasants’ councils was created. A new party, the Burma Socialist Program party, was made the only legal political organization. The Revolutionary Council fully nationalized the industrial and commercial sectors of the economy and imposed a policy of international isolation. Discussions were entered into with the minority peoples in 1963, but no agreement was reached. Insurgency became a major problem of the Ne Win regime. Pro-Chinese Communist rebels—the “White Flag” Communists—were active in the N part of the country, where, from 1967 on, they received aid from Communist China; the Chinese established links with the Shan and Kachin insurgents as well. The deposed U Nu, who managed to leave Burma in 1969, also used minority rebels to organize an anti-Ne Win movement, the National Liberation Council, among the Shans, Karens, and others in the E. By the early 1970s the various insurgent groups controlled about one-third of Burma. A new constitution, providing for a unicameral legislature and one legal political party, took effect in March 1974. At that time the Revolutionary Council was disbanded and Ne Win was installed as president. Economic strife and ethnic tensions throughout the 1970s and 1980s led to anti-government riots in 1988, which caused Ne Win to resign from office. The series of governments that followed failed to restore order, and the military seized control. In June 1989 the military government officially changed the name of the country to the Union of Myanmar to better reflect the nation’s ethnic diversity.
History - 1990 to 1994
Elections were held in May 1990 and the National League for Democracy (NCD) won a large majority of seats in the assembly. However, the military government declared the election results invalid, and arrested many leaders and members of the NCD. Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the NCD, was placed under house arrest. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In 1992, under new SLORC head General Than Shwe, many political prisoners were released, most martial law decrees were lifted (the ban on assembly by more than five persons still stands), and plans to draft a new constitution were announced. But there was little evidence that the army was prepared to return the government to civilian control, and Aung San Suu Kyi remained under house arrest. In December 1992, a UN General Assembly committee unanimously condemned the Myanmar military regime for its refusal to surrender power to a democratically elected parliament. The committee also called for the unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi. She was released on July 10, 1995, and continued to work for social and political change. Non-violent protest and the holding of meetings in defiance of the government decree are the tactics used. By the end of 1995 the UN had condemned extensive human rights offenses by the government, and calls for a boycott had grown. While the international situation remained tense, relations improved with ASEAN and particularly with neighboring India and Thailand over the issues of the hot pursuit of rebels, refugee movement, and sporadic violent border clashes. In 1992, India took steps to improve relations in regards to refugee movement and actions, and Thailand agreed to delineate its border with Myanmar in 1993, as well as constructing a “friendship bridge” in 1994.
History - 1994 to Present
Myanmar was invited to attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Annual Meeting in July of 1994, marking the first time the new government has been invited. These are positive indicators of a desire for closer economic and political relations by ASEAN as well as India and Thailand. Other positive economic changes include allowing the private sector to engage in most economic activities; legalizing border trade and allowing it to be conducted at market exchange rates; signing border trade agreements with India, Thailand, China, and Bangladesh; privatizing some state-owned enterprises; allowing farmers to sell around 80% of their rice crop on the free market and permitting most agricultural crops other than rice to be exported by the private sector; and easing procedures for issuing business and tourist visas. Also in 1996, the Myanmar government forces negotiated the surrender of the ailing drug lord Khun Sa and his Mong Tai Army. It was widely thought by his followers that, ailing from high blood pressure, diabetes, and a heart attack, he had sold them out when the government occupied his headquarters in July of 1996 without resistance. The U.S., which had outstanding warrants for drug offenses, asked for but failed to obtain extradition under these charges. Economically there has been a slight increase in oil production in 1995 (10% overall), however, the production of natural gas has soared by 42% over the previous year. This is particularly evident in the Aphauk field. Also in 1995, foreign oil exploration firms withdrew from their offshore sights due to either lack of sufficient discovery or government pressure. China has invested in the Indaw oil field, as well as other oil activities in central Myanmar, and has instituted other economic exchanges during 1993–1995, which may be an indicator of increased oil availability or increased Chinese interest in Myanmar. China has also invested in the Mawchi mining activity. U.S. State Department estimates suggest that this increase in economic activity is less an example of Myanmar’s economic strength and more an indication that the government is selling off national reserves to build up military equipment stores. 1996 was heralded as the “Year of Visiting Myanmar” in order to bring in tourist dollars. This met with moderate success due to efforts of various organizations such as Amnesty International in a call for a boycott. A natural-gas off-coast pipeline is planned across S Myanmar through Tenasseria rain forest to Thailand.
Government
The chief of state (since 1992) is Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Senior General Than Shwe.
