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| Flag of Myanmar |
Burma, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar or commonly known as Myanmar, is a sovereign state. The population of Burma is 55 million. This makes it the 25th most populous country in the world.
LOCATION
Myanmar is located on the mainland of Southeast Asia. Myanmar is bordered by Laos and Thailand to the east and southwest, China to the north and northeast, on the south by the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal and on the west by Bangladesh and India. Myanmar covers an area of about 675,000 sq km (over 260,000 sq mi). The capital city is Naypyidaw. Yangon was the capital from 1948 to 2005.
GEOGRAPHY
HISTORY
The first known people who lived in what is now Myanmar were the Mon. The Mon was a group of people who were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Thailand and Burma. The Mon moved to Myanmar as early as 3000 B.C. and settled near the mouths of the Sittang and Salween rivers. The people who migrated later were from an area in Central Asia or what is now southwestern China. In the A.D 600s, the Pyu, coming from Tibet, arrived. During the 800s, the Burmans, Kachin, Chin, Shan and Karen came. They lived apart from each other and kept their own cultures.
In 1044, a Burman ruler named Anawrahta united the region and founded a kingdom that lasted around 250 years. The kingdom's capital was Pagan (or Bagan), located on the Irrawady River in the central part of the country. In 1287, Kublai Khan, the leader of Mongol invaders, captured Pagan and shattered the kingdom. During the 1500s, a new Burman kingdom arose at Toungoo. In 1752, the kingdom was brought down by the Mon rebellion. After the Mon rebellion, the last Burman kingdom was founded by Alaungpaya.
There were three wars with the British. They were triggered by Burmese resistance to the United Kingdom's territorial ambitions and commercialism, and led to the kingdom's collapse. The first war was fought from 1824 to 1826, the second in 1852, and the third in 1885. Then, British gradually conquered all of what was then called Burma. Burma became a province of India, which the British ruled after the third war. Burma's economy and population grew rapidly under British control. Educated Burmese wanted to separate from India. In 1920, the United Kingdom set up a legislature after Burmese protests to give the people a small role in the government.
In the early 1930's, Saya San, a former Buddhist monk, led thousands of peasants in an unsuccessful rebellion.
At the same time, university students founded the All-Burma Students' Union to work for independence. Leaders of the movement included Thakin Aung San and Thakin Nu, and in 1936, they organized a student strike. In 1937, Burma was separated from India by the United Kingdom, and that gave the Burmese partial self-government. However, the struggle for full independence still continued.
Japan conquered Burma in 1942. The Burma Independence Army was formed by the Thakins, a Burmese nationalist group. They helped the Japanese drive the British out of Burma. In 1943, the Japanese declared Burma independent, but actually it was controlled by the Japanese government. The Burmese disliked Japanese rule even more than British rule. The Thakins then formed the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL), led by General Aung San, to fight the Japanese. In 1945, the AFPFL then helped the United Kingdom and other Allied powers regain Burma.
Following Japan's defeat, the British regained power over Burma. The AFPFL had become a strong political party and they challenged British control. In 1947, they decided to name AFPFL President Aung San Prime Minister of Burma. However, he was assassinated before Burma got independence. U Nu, who had been vice president of the AFPFL, became the party's president, and later, the British appointed him as a prime minister. Burma got full independence from the British on Jan. 4, 1948.
RELIGION
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| Monks at Mahagandhayon Monastic Institution in Amarapura carry alms bowls (thabeik) in order to receive alms. |
Myanmar is a multi-religious country. They don't have any official religion, however, the government shows preference for the major religion, Theravada Buddhism. About 90% of the population practices Theravada Buddhism, 4% are Muslim, 4% are Christianity, 1% Hinduism and 1% other religions.
LANGUAGE
Burmese, the official language of Burma, is related to Chinese and Tibetan languages. Approximately 65% of the population speak Burmese. Burmese is also the language of education, media, business and administration. However, various types of languages are spoken, representing four major language families: Austro-Asiatic, Tai–Kadai, Sino-Tibetan, Indo-European and Austro-Asiatic.
Burmese has also been in contact with speakers of other languages such as Mon and Pali, the earliest groups to occupy Burma in the 12th-13th centuries, and later with European languages such as Dutch, Portuguese, French and English in the 16th-19th centuries. As a result, modern Burmese used in everyday conversations significantly different from the formal written form of the language used in textbooks, fiction, formal writing expository prose and newspapers. Pali words are still used in the written language of Burmese.
Today, English is the second language of Myanmar. In the late 19th century to 1964, English was the main language of instruction in higher education until Gen. Ne Win mandated educational reforms to "Burmanize". English continues to be used by the national government and educated urbanites.
ART
Burmese art was based on Hindu or Buddhist cosmology and myths. There are some regional styles of Buddha images, each with their own characteristics. For example, the Mandalay style consists of an oval-shaped Buddha with naturally curved eyebrows, a draping robe and smaller but still prominent ears. There are some other common categories of art, such as ba-bu, the art of carving wood or ivory and Pan-ta-mot, the art of making stone sculptures.
In addition to the traditional arts, there is pottery, gemstone engraving, silk weaving, gold leaf making and tapestry making. Temples are normally built by bricks and stucco. However, pagodas are usually covered with layers of gold leaf, while monasteries tend to be build of wood. Some monasteries in cities are more likely to be built of modern materials. Pyatthat is a very common roofing style in Burmese architecture, which is a spired and multi-tiered roof.
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| Pyatthat, which is a multi-tiered and spired roof. |
CUISINE
Myanmar has an abundant supply of food because the country has favorable seasonal conditions, diverse geographical features and fertile soil and water resources. About 75% of Myanmar people eat rice as their main food. Rice is served with fish or meat, soup, vegetables and salad. Mohinga, a rice noodle soup with fish, is the favorite Myanmar dish and usually eaten as breakfast. Lahpet are pickled tea leaves with a dash of oil served with roasted peanuts, sesame seeds, and fried garlic. This is a popular snack typical of Myanmar.
MUSIC
A lot of Burmese music uses traditional musical instruments. Kyaw Kyaw Naing has made traditional musical instruments, called hsaing waing, more widely known in the West. Another traditional Burmese instrument is the saung-gauk, an arched harp that can be traced to pre-Hittite times. Mahagita is a collection of songs related to religion or the glory of monarchs and about natural beauty of the land, forests and the seasons. Today, pop music dominates the music of Burma.
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| Someone is playing hsaing waing |
CLOTHING
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| Burmese men in a longyi |
Indian lungi or longyi is the typical clothing of the Burmese people. This replaced the traditional tamein for women and paso for men by the 20th century. For formal occasions and business, Manchu Chinese jackets are worn by Bamar men over an English collar shirt and sometimes they wear a turban called gaung baung. For Bamar women, they wear a blouse buttoned at the front called yinbon. Bamar people are dominant ethnic group in Burma covering about two-thirds of the population. Today in urban areas, pants and skirts are becoming more common, especially among the young.
TODAY
The value of life expectancy for Myanmar is 65.2 years. The leading cause of death is "other injuries". Other injuries deaths in Myanmar reached 142,460 or 26.83% of total deaths. Heart disease, influenza and pneumonia are also leading causes of death in Myanmar. Today, Muslim people in Rohingya, western Myanmar, do not get citizenship, and the government forbids their missionary activities. This forces Rohingyas to flee to neighboring Bangladesh or to other Muslim countries. From last 11 December until 22 December, the 27th Southeast Asian Games took place in Myanmar and they got number two overall with 86 golds after Thailand.
When Thein Sein became President in 2011, Myanmar started on a major policy of reforms including currency exchange rate, anti-corruption, foreign investment laws and taxation. In 2009-10, foreign investments was US$300 million, then it increased about 667% in 2010-11 by US$20 billion. According to a report released by the McKinsey Global Institute on 30 May 2013, Myanmar's economy is expected to quadruple by 2030 if it invests more in high-tech industries. Myanmar is the largest methamphetamines producer in the world. Myanmar is also the second largest producer of opium in the world after Afghanistan. 90% of the world's rubies come from this country.
SOURCES
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Burma
*http://www.guideformyanmar.com/location.html
*http://aboutworldlanguages.com/burmese
*http://www.myanmar.ca/art/index.htm
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma
*Software MacKiev's World Book 2012 Edition
*http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/myanmar-life-expectancy
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Burma
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