Myanmar

Location

• Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand
• strategic location near major Indian Ocean shipping lanes; the north-south flowing Irrawaddy River is the country's largest and most important commercial waterway

Population

Notable Population Centers

City	Population	Note
Yangon	4,477,638
Mandalay	1,208,099
Nay Pyi Taw	925,000	Capital
Mawlamyine	438,861
Kalemyo	348,573
Insein	247,675
Kyain Seikgyi Township	246,065
Bago	244,376
Amarapura	237,618
Pathein	237,089

Size

• 261,969 square miles
• 678,500 square kilometers
• slightly smaller than Texas

History

Burma is home to ethnic Burmans and scores of other ethnic and religious minority groups that have resisted external efforts to consolidate control of the country throughout its history. Britain conquered Burma over a period extending from the 1820s to the 1880s and administered it as a province of India until 1937, when Burma became a self-governing colony.  Burma gained full independence in 1948. In 1962, General NE WIN seized power and ruled the country until 1988 when a new military regime took control. In 1990, the military regime permitted an election but then rejected the results after the main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) and its leader AUNG SAN SUU KYI (ASSK) won in a landslide. The military regime placed ASSK under house arrest until 2010. In 2007, rising fuel prices in Burma led pro-democracy activists and Buddhist monks to launch a "Saffron Revolution" consisting of large protests against the regime, which violently suppressed the movement. The regime prevented new elections until it had drafted a constitution designed to preserve the military's political control; it passed the new constitution in its 2008 referendum. The regime conducted an election in 2010, but the NLD boycotted the vote, and the military’s political proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, easily won; international observers denounced the election as flawed. Burma nonetheless began a halting process of political and economic reforms. ASSK's return to government in 2012 eventually led to the NLD's sweeping victory in the 2015 election. With ASSK as the de facto head of state, Burma’s first credibly elected civilian government drew international criticism for blocking investigations into Burma’s military operations -- which the US Department of State determined constituted genocide -- against its ethnic Rohingya population. When the 2020 elections resulted in further NLD gains, the military denounced the vote as fraudulent. In 2021, the military's senior leader General MIN AUNG HLAING launched a coup that returned Burma to authoritarian rule, with military crackdowns that undid reforms and resulted in the detention of ASSK and thousands of pro-democracy actors.Pro-democracy organizations have formed in the wake of the coup, including the National Unity Government (NUG). Members of the NUG include representatives from the NLD, ethnic minority groups, and civil society. In 2021, the NUG announced the formation of armed militias called the People's Defense Forces (PDF) and an insurgency against the military junta. As of 2024, PDF units across the country continued to fight the regime with varying levels of support from and cooperation with the NUG and other anti-regime organizations, including armed ethnic groups that have been fighting the central government for decades.

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

Languages

Burmese (official)major-language sample(s): ကမ္ဘာ့အချက်အလက်စာအုပ်- အခြေခံအချက်အလက်တွေအတွက် မရှိမဖြစ်တဲ့ အရင်းအမြစ် (Burmese)The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.note: minority ethnic groups use their own languages

Religions

Buddhist 87.9%, Christian 6.2%, Muslim 4.3%, Animist 0.8%, Hindu 0.5%, other 0.2%, none 0.1% (2014 est.)note: religion estimate is based on the 2014 national census, including an estimate for the non-enumerated population of Rakhine State, which is assumed to mainly affiliate with the Islamic faith; as of December 2019, Muslims probably make up less than 3% of Burma's total population due to the large outmigration of the Rohingya population since 2017

Government

military regime

• Constitution: history: previous 1947, 1974 (suspended until 2008); latest drafted 9 April 2008, approved by referendum 29 May 2008amendment process: proposals require at least 20% approval by the Assembly of the Union membership; passage of amendments to sections of the constitution on basic principles, government structure, branches of government, state emergencies, and amendment procedures requires 75% approval by the Assembly and approval in a referendum by absolute majority of registered voters; passage of amendments to other sections requires only 75% Assembly approval; military granted 25% of parliamentary seats by default
• Political Parties and Leaders: n/a
• Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
• Legal System: mixed legal system of English common law (as introduced in codifications designed for colonial India) and customary law
• Executive Branch: chief of state: Acting President Sr. Gen. MIN AUNG HLAING (since 31 July 2025)head of government: Prime Minister NYO SAW (since 31 July 2025)cabinet: Cabinet appointments shared by the president and the commander-in-chiefelection/appointment process: prior to the military takeover in 2021, president was indirectly elected by simple majority vote by the full Assembly of the Union from among 3 vice-presidential candidates nominated by the Presidential Electoral College (consists of members of the lower and upper houses and military members); the other 2 candidates became vice presidents (president elected for a 5-year term)most recent election date: 8 November 2020election results: 2020:  the National League for Democracy (NLD) won 396 seats across both houses -- well above the 322 required for a parliamentary majority -- but on 1 February 2021, the military claimed the results of the election were illegitimate and deposed State Counsellor AUNG SAN SUU KYI and President WIN MYINT of the NLD, causing military-affiliated Vice President MYINT SWE (USDP) to become acting president; MYINT SWE subsequently handed power to coup leader MIN AUNG HLAING; WIN MYINT and other key leaders of the ruling NLD party were placed under arrest after the military takeover2018: WIN MYINT elected president in an indirect by-election held on 28 March 2018 after the resignation of HTIN KYAW; Assembly of the Union vote for president - WIN MYINT (NLD) 403, MYINT SWE (USDP) 211, HENRY VAN THIO (NLD) 18, 4 votes canceled (636 votes cast)expected date of next election: on 31 July 2025, the military government announced that it was preparing for elections to be held in December 2025state counsellor: State Counselor AUNG SAN SUU KYI (since 6 April 2016); note - under arrest since 1 February 2021note 1: on 31 July 2025, the military ended the state of emergency that had been in place since taking over the government in February 2021, although martial law continues to exist in parts of the country; at the same time, the military dissolved the State Administrative Council (SAC), which had been the official name of the military government in Burma, and replaced it with the National Security and Peace Commission (NSPC), chaired by Sr. Gen. MIN AUNG HLAING, who also retains his position as chief of the armed forcesnote 2: prior to the military takeover, the state counsellor served the equivalent term of the president and was similar to a prime minister
• Judicial Branch: highest court(s): Supreme Court of the Union (consists of the chief justice and 7-11 judges)judge selection and term of office: chief justice and judges nominated by the president, with approval of the Lower House, and appointed by the president; judges normally serve until mandatory retirement at age 70subordinate courts: High Courts of the Region; High Courts of the State; Court of the Self-Administered Division; Court of the Self-Administered Zone; district and township courts; special courts (for juvenile, municipal, and traffic offenses); courts martial
• Legislative Branch: legislature name: Assembly of the Union (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw)legislative structure: bicameralmost recent election date: 8 November 2020expected date of next election: on 31 July 2025, the military government announced that it was preparing for elections to be held in late December 2025note: on 1 February 2021, the Burmese military claimed the results of the 2020 general election were illegitimate and launched a coup led by Sr. General MIN AUNG HLAING; the military subsequently dissolved the Assembly of the Union and replaced it with the military-led State Administration Council

Demographic Profile

n/a

Economy

• prior to COVID-19 and the February 2021 military coup, massive declines in poverty, rapid economic growth, and improving social welfare; underdevelopment, climate change, and unequal investment threaten progress and sustainability planning; since coup, foreign assistance has ceased from most funding sources
• Budget: revenues: $10.945 billion (2019 est.)expenditures: $10.22 billion (2019 est.)note: central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenses converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated
• Credit Rating: n/a
• Natural Resources: petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal, marble, limestone, precious stones, natural gas, hydropower, arable land
• Industries: agricultural processing; wood and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; cement, construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer; oil and natural gas; garments; jade and gems
• Agricultural Products: rice, sugarcane, vegetables, beans, maize, groundnuts, plantains, fruits, coconuts, onions (2023)note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
• Land Use: agricultural land: 19.9% (2022 est.)arable land: 16.8% (2022 est.)permanent crops: 2.3% (2022 est.)permanent pasture: 0.7% (2022 est.)forest: 42.8% (2022 est.)other: 37.3% (2022 est.)
• Labor Force by Occupation: n/a
• Imports
• Imported Commodities: refined petroleum, synthetic fabric, fertilizers, crude petroleum, fabric (2023)note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
• Import Partners: China 40%, Thailand 18%, Singapore 15%, Indonesia 4%, Malaysia 4% (2023)note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
• Exports
• Exported Commodities: garments, natural gas, dried legumes, rare-earth metal compounds, precious stones (2023)note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
• Export Partners: China 32%, Thailand 16%, Japan 7%, Germany 6%, India 5% (2023)note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports