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 from the Commonwealth was attained in 1948. Gen. NE WIN dominated the government from 1962 to 1988, first as military ruler, then as self-appointed president, and later as political kingpin. In September 1988, the military deposed NE WIN and established a new ruling junta. Despite multiparty legislative elections in 1990 that resulted in the main opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) - winning a landslide victory, the junta refused to hand over power. NLD leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient AUNG SAN SUU KYI, who was under house arrest from 1989 to 1995 and 2000 to 2002, was imprisoned in May 2003 and subsequently transferred to house arrest. She was finally released in November 2010. After the ruling junta in August 2007 unexpectedly increased fuel prices, tens of thousands of Burmese marched in protest, led by prodemocracy activists and Buddhist monks. In late September 2007, the government brutally suppressed the protests, killing at least 13 people and arresting thousands for participating in the demonstrations. Since then, the regime has continued to raid homes and monasteries and arrest persons suspected of participating in the pro-democracy protests. Burma in early May 2008 was struck by Cyclone Nargis, which claimed over 138,000 dead and tens of thousands injured and homeless. Despite this tragedy, the junta proceeded with its May constitutional referendum, the first vote in Burma since 1990. Parliamentary elections held in November 2010, considered flawed by many in the international community, saw the junta's Union Solidarity and Development Party garnering over 75% of the seats. Parliament convened in January 2011 and selected former Prime Minister THEIN SEIN as president. The vast majority of national-level appointees named by THEIN SEIN are former or current military officers.

Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand

slightly smaller than Texas

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)

central lowlands ringed by steep, rugged highlands

petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal, marble, limestone, precious stones, natural gas, hydropower

1,045.6 cu km (1999)

destructive earthquakes and cyclones; flooding and landslides common during rainy season (June to September); periodic droughts

deforestation; industrial pollution of air, soil, and water; inadequate sanitation and water treatment contribute to disease

strategic location near major Indian Ocean shipping lanes

53,999,804 (July 2011 est.)

19.31 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)

8.16 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)

-0.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)

RANGOON (capital) 4.259 million; Mandalay 1.009 million; Nay Pyi Taw 992,000 (2009)

2.26 children born/woman (2011 est.)

urban: 75% of population

rural: 69% of population

total: 71% of population

urban: 25% of population

rural: 31% of population

total: 29% of population (2008)

urban: 86% of population

rural: 79% of population

total: 81% of population

urban: 14% of population

rural: 21% of population

total: 19% of population (2008)

Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, other 5%

Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%, animist 1%, other 2%

military regime (a nominally civilian government has been named, but a formal transfer of power has not yet taken place)

7 divisions (taing-myar, singular - taing) and 7 states* (pyi ne-myar, singular - pyi ne)

4 January 1948 (from the UK)

Independence Day, 4 January (1948); Union Day, 12 February (1947)

3 January 1974; suspended 18 September 1988; a new constitution was to take effect when the bicameral legislature convened 31 January 2011, but no announcement has been made

mixed legal system of English common law (as introduced in codifications designed for colonial India) and customary law

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

18 years of age; universal

bicameral, consists of the House of Nationalities [Amyotha Hluttaw] (224 seats, 168 directly elected and 56 appointed by the military; members serve five-year terms) and the House of Representatives [Pythu Hluttaw] (440 seats, 330 directly elected and 110 appointed by the military; members serve five-year terms)

remnants of the British-era legal system are in place, but there is no guarantee of a fair public trial; the judiciary is not independent of the executive; the 2011 constitution calls for a Supreme Court, a Courts-Martial, and a Constitutional Tribunal of the Union

All Mon Region Democracy Party or AMRDP [NAING NGWE THEIN]; National Democratic Force or NDF [KHIN MAUNG SWE, Dr.THAN NYEIN]; National League for Democracy or NLD [AUNG SHWE, U TIN OO, AUNG SAN SUU KYI]; note - the party was deregisted because it did not register for the 2010 election, but it is still active; National Unity Party or NUP [TUN YE]; Rakhine Nationalities Development Party or RNDP [Dr. AYE MG]; Shan Nationalities Democratic Party [SAI AIKE PAUNG]; Shan Nationalities League for Democracy or SNLD [HKUN HTUN OO]; Union Solidarity and Development Party or USDP [SHWE MANN, HTAY OO]; numerous smaller parties

ADB, ARF, ASEAN, BIMSTEC, CP, EAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OPCW (signatory), SAARC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

design consists of three equal horizontal stripes of yellow (top), green, and red; centered on the green band is a large white five-pointed star that partially overlaps onto the adjacent colored stripes; the design revives the triband colors used by Burma from 1943-45, during the Japanese occupation

Burma, a resource-rich country, suffers from pervasive government controls, inefficient economic policies, corruption, and rural poverty. Despite Burma's emergence as a natural gas exporter, socio-economic conditions have deteriorated under the regime's mismanagement, leaving most of the public in poverty, while military leaders and their business cronies exploit the country's ample natural resources. The transfer of state assets, especially real estate, to cronies and military families in 2010 under the guise of a privatization policy further widened the gap between the economic elite and the public. The economy suffers from serious macroeconomic imbalances - including unpredictable inflation, fiscal deficits, multiple official exchange rates that overvalue the Burmese kyat, a distorted interest rate regime, unreliable statistics, and an inability to reconcile national accounts. Burma's poor investment climate hampers the inflow of foreign investment; in recent years, foreign investors have shied away from nearly every sector except for natural gas, power generation, timber, and mining. The exploitation of natural resources does not benefit the population at large. The business climate is widely perceived as opaque, corrupt, and highly inefficient. Over 60% of the FY 2009-10 budget was allocated to state owned enterprises - most operating at a deficit. The most productive sectors will continue to be in extractive industries - especially oil and gas, mining, and timber - with the latter two causing significant environmental degradation. Other areas, such as manufacturing, tourism and services, struggle in the face of inadequate infrastructure, unpredictable trade policies, neglected health and education systems, and endemic corruption. A major banking crisis in 2003 caused 20 private banks to close; private banks still operate under tight restrictions, limiting the private sector's access to credit. The United States, the European Union, and Canada have imposed financial and economic sanctions on Burma. US sanctions, prohibiting most financial transactions with Burmese entities, impose travel bans on senior Burmese military and civilian leaders and others connected to the ruling regime, and ban imports of Burmese products. These sanctions affected the country's fledgling garment industry, isolated the struggling banking sector, and raised the costs of doing business with Burmese companies, particularly firms tied to Burmese regime leaders. The global crisis of 2008-09 caused exports and domestic consumer demand to drop. Remittances from overseas Burmese workers - who had provided significant financial support for their families - slowed or dried up as jobs were lost and migrant workers returned home. Although the Burmese government has good economic relations with its neighbors, significant improvements in economic governance, the business climate, and the political situation are needed to promote serious foreign investment.

$76.47 billion (2010 est.)

$72.65 billion (2009 est.)

$69.1 billion (2008 est.)

$42.95 billion (2010 est.)

31.68 million (2010 est.)

15.1% of GDP (2010 est.)

12% (31 December 2009)

12% (31 December 2008)

17% (31 December 2009 est.)

17% (31 December 2008 est.)

$4.907 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$4.038 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$7.8 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$6.231 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$8.552 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$6.858 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane; hardwood; fish and fish products

agricultural processing; wood and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; cement, construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer; oil and natural gas; garments, jade and gems

6.286 billion kWh (2007 est.)

4.403 billion kWh (2007 est.)

18,880 bbl/day (2009 est.)

42,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

2,200 bbl/day (2007 est.)

18,250 bbl/day (2007 est.)

50 million bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

12.4 billion cu m (2008 est.)

3.85 billion cu m (2008 est.)

8.55 billion cu m (2008 est.)

283.2 billion cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

$652 million (2010 est.)

$705 million (2009 est.)

$7.841 billion (2010 est.)

$6.862 billion (2009 est.)

natural gas, wood products, pulses, beans, fish, rice, clothing, jade and gems

Thailand 46.57%, India 12.99%, China 9.01%, Japan 5.65% (2009)

$4.532 billion (2010 est.)

$4.02 billion (2009 est.)

fabric, petroleum products, fertilizer, plastics, machinery, transport equipment; cement, construction materials, crude oil; food products, edible oil

China 33.1%, Thailand 26.28%, Singapore 15.18% (2009)

$3.762 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$3.561 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$7.145 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$7.079 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

kyats (MMK) per US dollar -

government controls all domestic broadcast media; 2 state-controlled television stations with 1 of the stations controlled by the armed forces; a third TV channel, a pay-TV station, is a joint state-private venture; access to satellite TV is limited; 1 state-controlled domestic radio station and 6 FM stations that are joint state-private ventures; transmissions of several international broadcasters are available in parts of Burma; the opposition-backed station Democratic Voice of Burma broadcasts into Burma via shortwave (2009)

gas 3,046 km; oil 551 km (2010)

Moulmein, Rangoon, Sittwe

Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw): Army (Tatmadaw Kyi), Navy (Tatmadaw Yay), Air Force (Tatmadaw Lay) (2011)

18-35 years of age (men) and 18-27 years of age (women) for compulsory military service; service obligation 2 years; male (ages 18-45) and female (ages 18-35) professionals (including doctors, engineers, mechanics) serve up to 3 years; service terms may be extended to 5 years in an officially declared emergency; forced conscription of children, although officially prohibited, reportedly continues (2011)

2.1% of GDP (2005 est.)

over half of Burma's population consists of diverse ethnic groups who have substantial numbers of kin in neighboring countries; the Naf river on the border with Bangladesh serves as a smuggling and illegal transit route; Bangladesh struggles to accommodate 29,000 Rohingya, Burmese Muslim minority from Arakan State, living as refugees in Cox's Bazar; Burmese border authorities are constructing a 200 km (124 mi) wire fence designed to deter illegal cross-border transit and tensions from the military build-up along border with Bangladesh in 2010; Bangladesh referred its maritime boundary claims with Burma and India to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea; Burmese forces attempting to dig in to the largely autonomous Shan State to rout local militias tied to the drug trade, prompts local residents to periodically flee into neighboring Yunnan Province in China; fencing along the India-Burma international border at Manipur's Moreh town is in progress to check illegal drug trafficking and movement of militants; 140,000 mostly Karen refugees fleeing civil strife, political upheaval and economic stagnation in Burma live in remote camps in Thailand near the border

remains world's second largest producer of illicit opium with an estimated production in 2008 of 340 metric tons, an increase of 26%, and poppy cultivation in 2008 totaled 22,500 hectares, a 4% increase from 2007; production in the United Wa State Army's areas of greatest control remains low; Shan state is the source of 94% of Burma's poppy cultivation; lack of government will to take on major narcotrafficking groups and lack of serious commitment against money laundering continues to hinder the overall antidrug effort; major source of methamphetamine and heroin for regional consumption (2008)