Portal:Myanmar
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Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma (the official name until 1989), is a country in Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has a population of about 55 million. It is bordered by Bangladesh and India to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city is Yangon (formerly Rangoon).
Myanmar is a member of the East Asia Summit, Non-Aligned Movement, ASEAN, and BIMSTEC, but it is not a member of the Commonwealth of Nations despite once being part of the British Empire. Myanmar is a Dialogue Partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The country is very rich in natural resources, such as jade, gems, oil, natural gas, teak and other minerals, as well as also endowed with renewable energy, having the highest solar power potential compared to other countries of the Great Mekong Subregion. However, Myanmar has long suffered from instability, factional violence, corruption, poor infrastructure, as well as a long history of colonial exploitation with little regard to human development. In 2013, its GDP (nominal) stood at US$56.7 billion and its GDP (PPP) at US$221.5 billion. The income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by cronies of the military junta. Myanmar is one of the least developed countries; as of 2020, according to the Human Development Index, it ranks 147 out of 189 countries in terms of human development, the lowest in Southeast Asia. Since 2021, more than 600,000 people were displaced across Myanmar due to the surge in violence post-coup, with more than 3 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance. (Full article...)
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The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a 415 km (258 mi) railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 by civilian laborers impressed or recruited by the Japanese and prisoners of war taken by the Japanese, to supply troops and weapons in the Burma campaign of World War II. It completed the rail link between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma. The name used by the Japanese Government was Tai–Men Rensetsu Tetsudō (泰緬連接鉄道), which means Thailand-Burma-Link-Railway.
Between 180,000 and 250,000 Southeast Asian civilians and over 60,000 Allied prisoners of war were subjected to forced labour during its construction. Around 90,000 civilians died, as did more than 12,000 Allied prisoners. (Full article...) -
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China–Myanmar relations (Chinese: 中缅关系; Burmese: တရုတ်မြန်မာဆက်ဆံရေး) are the international relations between the People's Republic of China and Myanmar. China and Myanmar have active bilateral relations with each other. The relation is often described as a pauk-phaw relationship (Burmese: ပေါက်ဖော်), based a Burmese term for kinsfolk that implicates special asymmetric obligations between the two countries.
Bilateral relations between China and Myanmar have faced difficulties due to the effects of alleged Chinese-sponsored debt-traps and alleged Chinese backing of rebels in Myanmar's territories. In recent years, the relations between China and Myanmar have faced some problems due to ongoing clashes between ethnic Chinese rebels and the Myanmar military near the China–Myanmar border. (Full article...) -
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The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and the west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated from the Bay of Bengal to its west by the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands. Its southern end is at Breueh Island just north of Sumatra, with the Strait of Malacca further southeast.
Traditionally, the sea has been used for fishery and transportation of goods between the coastal countries and its coral reefs and islands are popular tourist destinations. The fishery and tourist infrastructure was severely damaged by the December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. (Full article...) -
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Burmese (Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ; MLCTS: Mranma bhasa; pronounced [mjəmà bàθà]) is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Myanmar, where it is the official language, lingua franca, and the native language of the Bamar, the country's principal ethnic group. Burmese is also spoken by the indigenous tribes in Chittagong Hill Tracts (Rangamati, Bandarban, Khagrachari, Cox's Bazar) in Bangladesh, and in Tripura state in India. The Constitution of Myanmar officially refers to it as the Myanmar language in English, though most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese, after Burma—a name with co-official status that had historically been predominantly used for the country. Burmese is the most widely-spoken language in the country, where it serves as the lingua franca. In 2007, it was spoken as a first language by 33 million. Burmese is spoken as a second language by another 10 million people, including ethnic minorities in Myanmar like the Mon and also by those in neighboring countries. In 2022, the Burmese-speaking population was 38.8 million.
Burmese is a tonal, pitch-register, and syllable-timed language, largely monosyllabic and agglutinative with a subject–object–verb word order. It is a member of the Lolo-Burmese grouping of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The Burmese alphabet is ultimately descended from a Brahmic script, either the Kadamba or Pallava alphabets. (Full article...) -
Image 5Thado Dhamma Yaza III (Burmese: သတိုးဓမ္မရာဇာ, pronounced [ðədó dəma̰ jàzà]; also known as Mingyi Hnaung (မင်းကြီးနှောင်း, [mɪ́ɴdʑí n̥áʊɴ]); c. 1571–1597) was viceroy of Prome (Pyay) from 1589 to 1595, and self-styled king of Prome from 1595 to 1597. Hnaung was initially a loyal vassal of his father King Nanda until 1594 when he openly clashed with his brother Crown Prince Minye Kyawswa. Hnaung revolted in 1595 during the Siamese siege of Pegu (Bago). His revolt started a string of other revolts by the major vassal states of the Toungoo Empire in the next two years. His attempts to take over territories beyond Prome's traditional vassals in the present-day Magwe Region were unsuccessful. The self-proclaimed king was assassinated by Yan Naing, one of his trusted advisers, on the eve of his planned invasion of Upper Burma in 1597. (Full article...)
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Image 6The National League for Democracy (Burmese: အမျိုးသား ဒီမိုကရေစီ အဖွဲ့ချုပ်, IPA: [ʔəmjóðá dìmòkəɹèsì ʔəpʰwḛdʑoʊʔ]; abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a deregistered liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (Burma). It became the country's ruling party after a landslide victory in the 2015 general election but was overthrown in a military coup d'état in February 2021 following another landslide election victory in 2020.
Founded on 27 September 1988, the NLD has become one of the most influential parties in Myanmar's pro-democracy movement. Aung San Suu Kyi, the former State Counsellor of Myanmar, serves as its leader. The party won a substantial parliamentary majority in the 1990 Myanmar general election. However, the ruling military junta refused to recognise the result. On 6 May 2010, the party was declared illegal and ordered to be disbanded by the junta after refusing to register for the elections slated for November 2010. In November 2011, the NLD announced its intention to register as a political party to contest future elections, and Myanmar's Union Election Commission approved their application for registration on 13 December 2011. (Full article...) -
Image 7Ashin Wirathu (Burmese: ဝီရသူ, Pali: Vīrasū; born 10 July 1968 in Kyaukse, Mandalay Division, Burma) is a Burmese Buddhist monk, and the leader of the 969 Movement in Myanmar. He has been accused of supporting the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar through his speeches, although he claims to be a peaceful preacher and not to have advocated violence—which is disputed by others. Facebook banned his page on the charge of allegedly spreading religious hatred towards other communities, after repeated warnings to not post religiously inflammatory content. (Full article...)
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The economy of Myanmar is the seventh largest in Southeast Asia. After the return of civilian rule in 2011, the new government launched large-scale reforms, focused initially on the political system to restore peace and achieve national unity and moving quickly to an economic and social reform program. Current economic statistics were a huge decline from the economic statistics of Myanmar in the fiscal year of 2020, in which Myanmar’s nominal GDP was $81.26 billion and its purchasing power adjusted GDP was $279.14 billion. Myanmar has faced an economic crisis since the 2021 coup d'état. (Full article...) -
Image 9Nga Tet Pya (Burmese: ငတက်ပြား, [ŋə tɛʔ pjá], also [ŋə dɛʔ bjá]; also spelled Ngatetpya or Nga Tat Pya) was a 14th-century Burmese outlaw who later became a commander in the royal army during the reign of King Thado Minbya of Ava. A well-known folkloric figure in Burmese culture, he is remembered as a Robin Hood-like character, who robbed the rich, and shared his loot with the poor. He is also known as the husband of Chantha, who is venerated by believers as the Amay Gyan nat spirit. (Full article...)
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Lake of No Return (Naung Yang in Tai languages) is a body of water in Myanmar, lying in the area of the Pangsau Pass (3727') on the India–Myanmar border south of Pangsau (also called Pansaung) village. The lake is 1.4 km in length and 0.8 km in width at its widest part. It is located 2.5 km to the southwest of the Ledo Road, formerly called Stilwell Road, the road the Western Allies started building in 1942 to supply the Chinese armies of Chiang Kai-shek.
The area is home to the Tangsa community. Since the improvement of relations between India and Myanmar , the lake has come to play a part in the development of tourism in the nearby Indian Changlang District, which borders on Myanmar. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch
- ... that Rangoon kept its own time for more than two decades after Burma Standard Time first came into effect?
- ... that Rolling Stone named Mission of Burma's "Academy Fight Song" as one of the 100 greatest debut singles of all time?
- ... that Molly Burman resumed releasing music three years later after finding that "Happy Things" had accrued a million streams on Spotify?
- ... that Thinzar Shunlei Yi hid in the Burmese jungle for a month and joined a rebel militia following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état?
- ... that one academic described the introduction of femboys to Myanmar as a tactic to achieve an "ideological revolution"?
- ... that Aung Myo Min, Union Minister of Human Rights for the National Unity Government of Myanmar, is the country's first openly LGBT minister?
- ... that while defending Zaw Myint Maung following his arrest by the Myanmar junta, lawyer Ywet Nu Aung was herself arrested and charged?
- ... that Maw Htun Aung, a Shan Nationalities League for Democracy candidate in the 2020 Myanmar general election, is Kachin, not Shan?
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Image 1Salween river at Mae Sam Laep on the Thai-Myanmar border (from Geography of Myanmar)
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Image 2Protesters in Yangon with a banner that reads non-violence: national movement in Burmese, in the background is Shwedagon Pagoda. (from History of Myanmar)
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Image 4The paddle steamer Ramapoora (right) of the British India Steam Navigation Company on the Rangoon river having just arrived from Moulmein. 1895. Photographers: Watts and Skeen (from History of Myanmar)
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Image 5Recorder's Court on Sule Pagoda Road, with the Sule Pagoda at the far end, Rangoon, 1868. Photographer: J. Jackson. (from History of Myanmar)
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Image 6British soldiers on patrol in the ruins of the Burmese town of Bahe during the advance on Mandalay, January 1945. (from History of Myanmar)
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Image 7Hlei pyaingbwè - a Burmese regatta (from Culture of Myanmar)
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Image 9British soldiers dismantling cannons belonging to King Thibaw's forces, Third Anglo-Burmese War, Ava, 27 November 1885. Photographer: Hooper, Willoughby Wallace (1837–1912). (from History of Myanmar)
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Image 10Saint Mary's Cathedral in Downtown Yangon is the largest Roman Catholic cathedral in Burma. (from Culture of Myanmar)
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Image 11Former US President Barack Obama poses barefoot on the grounds of Shwedagon Pagoda, one of Myanmar's major Buddhist pilgrimage sites. (from Culture of Myanmar)
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Image 12Myanmar (Burma) map of Köppen climate classification (from Geography of Myanmar)
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Image 13Pagan Kingdom during Narapatisithu's reign. Burmese chronicles also claim Kengtung and Chiang Mai. Core areas shown in darker yellow. Peripheral areas in light yellow. Pagan incorporated key ports of Lower Burma into its core administration by the 13th century. (from History of Myanmar)
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Image 14Boxing match, 19th-century watercolour (from Culture of Myanmar)
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Image 15British soldiers remove their shoes at the entrance of Shwedagon Pagoda. To the left, a sign reads "Foot wearing is strictly prohibited" in Burmese, English, Tamil, and Urdu. (from Culture of Myanmar)
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Image 16The restored Taungoo or Nyaungyan dynasty c. 1650 CE. (from History of Myanmar)
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Image 17A large fracture on the Mingun Pahtodawgyi caused by the 1839 Ava earthquake. (from Geography of Myanmar)
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Image 18A group of Buddhist worshipers at Shwedagon Pagoda, an important religious site for Burmese Buddhists (from Culture of Myanmar)
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Image 1919th-century funeral cart and spire, which would form part of the procession from the home to the place of cremation (from Culture of Myanmar)
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Image 20A bull fight, 19th-century watercolour (from Culture of Myanmar)
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Image 21Two female musicians play the saung at a performance in Mandalay. (from Culture of Myanmar)
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Image 23The shores of Irrawaddy River at Nyaung-U, Bagan (from Geography of Myanmar)
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Image 24Aung San Suu Kyi addresses crowds at the NLD headquarters shortly after her release. (from History of Myanmar)
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Image 25Sculpture of Myanmar mythical lion (from Culture of Myanmar)
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Image 26Political Map of Burma (Myanmar) c. 1450 CE. (from History of Myanmar)
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Image 29A theatrical performance of the Mon dance (from Culture of Myanmar)
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Image 30Grandfather Island, Dawei (from Geography of Myanmar)
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Image 33A wedding procession, with the groom and bride dressed in traditional Burmese wedding clothes, reminiscent of royal attire (from Culture of Myanmar)
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Image 34Myinhkin thabin - equestrian sport (from Culture of Myanmar)
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Image 35Protesters in Yangon carrying signs reading "Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi" on 8 February 2021. (from History of Myanmar)
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Image 37Temples at Mrauk U, was the capital of the Mrauk U Kingdom, which ruled over what is now Rakhine State. (from History of Myanmar)
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Image 38Vegetable stall on the roadside at the Madras Lancer Lines, Mandalay, January 1886. Photographer: Hooper, Willoughby Wallace (1837–1912). (from History of Myanmar)
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Image 39Portuguese ruler and soldiers mounting an Elephant. Philips, Jan Caspar (draughtsman and engraver) (from History of Myanmar)
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Image 40Aerial view of a burned Rohingya village in Rakhine state, Myanmar, September 2017 (from History of Myanmar)
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