matt2819.com/myanmar

This page introduces you to the country of Myanmar, also known as Burma.

———

Myanmar

Myanmar is correctly pronounced meean-mar — meean is pronounced as one syllable similar to the way you would pronounce the first part of ‘piano’ if you said it very quickly. The underlined part of the word is where the stressed, or strong, part of the word is.

Myanmar, officially the Union of Myanmar (also known as Burma or the Union of Burma by bodies and states who do not recognize the ruling military junta), is the largest country (in geographical area) in mainland Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Tibet and the People’s Republic of China on the north, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, and India on the northwest, with the Andaman Sea to the south, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest. There are over 2,000 kilometres (1,243 mi) of coastline. The country was ruled by a military junta led by General Ne Win from 1962 to 1988, and its political system today remains under the tight control of its military government, since 1992, led by Senior General Than Shwe.

Origin and history of the name

The name “Myanmar” comes from the two words “myan”, which translates “swift”, and “ma(r)”, which translates “strong”. It also refers to a resident or citizen of Myanmar, or more specifically, a person from the majority Bamar ethnic group.

In 1989, the military junta officially changed the English version of the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar, along with changes to the English versions of many place names in the country, such as its former capital city from Rangoon to Yangon. This decision has however not received legislative approval in Burma. Within the Burmese language, Myanma is the written, literary name of the country, while Bama or Bamar (from which “Burma” derives) is the oral, colloquial name. In spoken Burmese, the distinction is less clear than the English transliteration suggests.

The renaming proved to be politically controversial and Burmese opposition groups continue to use the name “Burma” since they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government nor its authority to rename the country. Some western governments, namely those of the United States, Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, continue to use “Burma”, while the European Union uses “Burma/Myanmar” as an alternative. The United Nations uses “Myanmar”.

Economy

Under British colonial administration, Myanmar was the wealthiest country in Southeast Asia and was believed to be on the fast track to development. Today, it is one of the poorest nations in the world, suffering from the 1962 military takeover and Burmese Way to Socialism, a plan to consolidate and nationalise all industries. During this period, there was economic mismanagement and stagnation. In 1989, the government of Myanmar began decentralising economic control and has since liberalised certain sectors of the economy. However, the lucrative industries of gems, oil and forestry remain under the control of the military government. The United Nations lists Myanmar as an LDC (least developed country).

Religion

Buddhism in Myanmar is predominantly Theravada Buddhism and is practised by 89% of the population, especially the Bamar (and its subgroups, including the Rakhine), Shan, Mon, and Chinese. Christianity is practised by 4% of the population, predominantly among the hill dwelling Kachin, Chin and Kayin as a result of missionary work in their respective areas. Christianity is also prevalent among the Anglo-Burmese and Anglo-Indians. Most Christians are Protestants, in particular Baptists of the Myanmar Baptist Convention, founded by the American missionary Adoniram Judson in the 19th century. Small segments of the population practise Islam, Hinduism or animism. Due to a lack of accurate census data these percentages are only estimates. There are no reliable figures for the percentages of the population that follow particular religions.

The government continually persecutes Christians and Muslims. Religious tolerance does exist, in theory, but because of stigmas attached to certain religions, particularly Christianity and Islam, by association with foreign rule and colonialism and for certain customs and attempts at proselytisation, such tolerance is often undermined.

———

For more information about Myanmar’s history, politics, administrative divisions, geography, demographics, ethnicity, education, culture, and much more, I would recommend you visit wikipedia.org from where I sourced most of the above information.