Various ethnic Burmese and ethnic minority city-states or kingdoms occupied the present borders through the 19th century. Over a period of 62 years (1824-1886), Britain conquered Burma and incorporated the country into its Indian Empire. Burma was administered as a province of India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony; in 1948, Burma attained independence from the Commonwealth. 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. Multiparty legislative elections in 1990 resulted in the main opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) - winning a landslide victory. Instead of handing over power, the junta placed NLD leader (and Nobel Peace Prize recipient) AUNG SAN SUU KYI (ASSK) under house arrest from 1989 to 1995, 2000 to 2002, and from May 2003 to November 2010. In late September 2007, the ruling junta brutally suppressed protests over increased fuel prices led by prodemocracy activists and Buddhist monks, killing at least 13 people and arresting thousands for participating in the demonstrations. In early May 2008, Burma was struck by Cyclone Nargis, which left 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 ruling 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. Although the vast majority of national-level appointees named by THEIN SEIN are former or current military officers, the government has initiated a series of political and economic reforms leading to a substantial opening of the long-isolated country. These reforms have included a senior-level dialogue with ASSK, re-registering the NLD as a political party, enabling party members, including ASSK, to contest parliamentary by-elections on 1 April 2012, the release of many (but not all) political prisoners, preliminary peace agreements with some armed ethnic groups, a reduction in media censorship, and an increasingly open debate in the Parliament.

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

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%

54,584,650 (July 2012 est.)

19.11 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

8.1 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

-0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

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

200 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

2.23 children born/woman (2012 est.)

0.457 physicians/1,000 population (2008)

0.6 beds/1,000 population (2006)

urban: 86% of population

rural: 79% of population

total: 81% of population

urban: 14% of population

rural: 21% of population

total: 19% of population

nominally civilian parliamentary government took power in March 2011

7 regions (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)

approved by referendum 29 May 2008; reformed by a series of acts in 2011

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 SAN SUU KYI]; 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, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC (NGOs), NAM, OPCW (signatory), SAARC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, 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

chinthe (mythical lion)

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 mismanagement of the previous regime. Approximately 32% of the population lives in poverty and Burma is the poorest country in Southeast Asia. The business climate is widely perceived as opaque, corrupt, and highly inefficient. Wealth from country's ample natural resources is concentrated in the hands of an elite group of military leaders and business associates. In 2010-11, the transfer of state assets - especially real estate - to military families 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 multiple official exchange rates that overvalue the Burmese kyat, fiscal deficits, lack of commercial credit further distorted by a non-market interest rate regime, unpredictable inflation, unreliable economic data, and an inability to reconcile national accounts. Burma's poor investment climate - including weak rule of law - 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 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 poor infrastructure, unpredictable trade policies, undeveloped human resources (the result of neglected health and education systems), endemic corruption, and inadequate access to capital for investment. Private banks still operate under tight domestic and international restrictions, limiting the private sector's access to credit. During the past decade the United States, the European Union, and Canada had imposed financial and economic sanctions on Burma. US sanctions prohibited most financial transactions with Burmese entities, imposed travel bans on senior Burmese military and civilian leaders and others connected to the ruling regime, and banned 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. Many of these sanctions are being lifted, in response to the new liberalization that is taking place in Burma. Remittances from overseas Burmese workers - who had provided significant financial support for their families - have driven the Ministry of Finance to license domestic banks to carry out overseas operations. In 2011 the government took initial steps toward reforming and opening up the economy by lowering export taxes, easing restrictions on its financial sector, and reaching out to international organizations for assistance. 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.

$89.23 billion (2012 est.)

$84.02 billion (2011 est.)

$79.67 billion (2010 est.)

$54.05 billion (2012 est.)

33.41 million (2012 est.)

16.3% of GDP (2012 est.)

4.1% of GDP (2012 est.)

-4% of GDP (2012 est.)

9.95% (31 December 2010 est.)

12% (31 December 2009 est.)

13% (31 December 2012 est.)

16.33% (31 December 2011 est.)

$9.965 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$8.652 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$2.178 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)

$1.68 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

$15.66 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$11.83 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

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

-$891.2 million (2012 est.)

$96.1 million (2011 est.)

$8.529 billion (2012 est.)

$8.196 billion (2011 est.)

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

Thailand 36.7%, China 18.8%, India 14.1%, Japan 6.6% (2011)

$7.137 billion (2012 est.)

$5.982 billion (2011 est.)

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

China 38.8%, Thailand 22.6%, Singapore 9.7%, South Korea 5.4%, Malaysia 4.5%, Japan 4.1% (2011)

$4.107 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$3.931 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$5.448 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$5.804 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

kyats (MMK) per US dollar -

5.708 billion kWh (2009 est.)

3.794 billion kWh (2009 est.)

1.86 million kW (2009 est.)

67.7% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

32.3% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

20,200 bbl/day (2011 est.)

880 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

50 million bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

16,700 bbl/day (2008 est.)

40,620 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

12,730 bbl/day (2008 est.)

12.1 billion cu m (2010 est.)

3.29 billion cu m (2010 est.)

8.81 billion cu m (2010 est.)

283.2 billion cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

12.8 million Mt (2010 est.)

1.244 million (2011)

government controls all domestic broadcast media; 2 state-controlled TV stations with 1 of the stations controlled by the armed forces; 2 pay-TV stations are joint state-private ventures; 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 Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia (RFA), BBC Burmese service, and the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) use shortwave to send broadcasts into Burma; VOA, RFA, and DVB produce daily TV news programs that are transmitted by satellite to audiences in Burma (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; on 27 June 2012, the regime signed a Joint Action Plan on prevention of child recruitment (2012)

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

world's third largest producer of illicit opium with an estimated production in 2009 of 250 metric tons, a decrease of 27%, and poppy cultivation in 2009 totaled 17,000 hectares, a 24% decrease from 2008; production in the United Wa State Army's areas of greatest control remains low; Shan state is the source of 94.5% 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)