Myanmar |
|
| OVERVIEW |
| |
| Background |
Britain conquered Burma over a
period of 62 years (1824-1886) and incorporated it into its
Indian Empire. Burma was administered as a province of India
until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony;
independence outside of the Commonwealth was attained in 1948.
Gen. NE WIN dominated the government from 1962 to 1988, first
as military ruler, then as president, and later as political
kingmaker. Despite multiparty elections in 1990 that resulted
in the main opposition party winning a decisive victory, the
ruling military junta refused to hand over power. Key opposition
leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient AUNG SAN SUU KYI, under
house arrest from 1989 to 1995, was again placed under house
detention from September 2000 to May 2002 and again in May 2003;
her supporters are routinely harassed or jailed. |
| Natural
resources |
petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper,
tungsten, lead, coal, some marble, limestone, precious stones,
natural gas, hydropower |
| Land
use |
arable land: 14.53%
permanent crops: 0.9%
other: 84.57% (1998 est.) |
| Population |
42,510,537
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
and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population
by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2003 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 |
| Literacy |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83.1%
male: 88.7%
female: 77.7% (1995 est.)
note: these are official statistics; estimates of functional
literacy are likely closer to 30% (1999 est.) |
| Capital |
Rangoon (regime refers to the capital as Yangon) |
| Government
type |
military regime |
| Independence |
4 January 1948 (from UK) |
| National
holiday |
Independence Day, 4 January (1948) |
|
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