"Burma" redirects here. For other uses, see Burma (disambiguation).

Republic of the Union of Myanmar

 ပြည်ထောင်စု သမ္မတ
မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ (Burmese)

 Pyidaungzu thămăda myama naingngandaw

Flag

State Seal

Anthem: ကမ္ဘာမကျေ
Kaba Ma Kyei
"Till the End of the World"

Duration: 40 seconds.0:40

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Location of Myanmar (green)

in ASEAN (dark grey) – [Legend]

Capital Naypyidaw[b]
21°00′N 96°00′E
Largest city Yangon[a]

Official language Burmese

Recognised regional  Chin

languages[1]
 Kachin

 Karen

 Kayah

 Mon

 Rakhine

 Shan

Ethnic groups  68.78% Bamar

(2019[2][3][4])  6.69% Kayin

 4.61% Rakhine

 4.51% Shan

 2.19% Mon

 2.09% Chin

 1.50% Kachin

 0.39% Kayah

 9.24% other

Religion  89.8% Buddhism (offici

al)[5]

 6.2% Christianity

 2.3% Islam

 1.6% other[6]

Demonym(s)  Burmese

 Myanma[c]

 Myanmar[d]
[7]

Government Unitary assembly-independent

 republic under a military junta

• Acting President, S Min Aung Hlaing

AC Chairman,
and Prime Minister

• SAC Vice Soe Win[e]

Chairman and Deput
y Prime Minister

Legislature State Administration Council

Formation

• Pagan era 23 December 849

• Taungoo era 16 October 1510

• Konbaung era 29 February 1752

• Colonial era 1 January 1886

• Independence fro 4 January 1948

m the United
Kingdom

• 1962 coup d'état 2 March 1962

• 1988 coup d'état 18 September 1988

• Current 31 January 2011

constitution

• 2021 coup d'état 1 February 2021

Area

• Total 676,579 km2 (261,229 sq mi)

(39th)

• Water (%) 3.06

Population

• 2022 estimate 55,770,232[11] (26th)

• Density 196.8/sq mi (76.0/km2) (125th)

GDP (PPP) 2024 estimate

• Total $283.572 billion[12] (64th)

 • Per capita $5,200[13] (146th)

GDP (nominal) 2024 estimate

• Total $68.006 billion[14] (87th)

• Per capita $1,250[15] (167th)

Gini (2017) 30.7[16]

medium inequality (106th)

HDI (2022) 0.608[17]

medium (144th)

Currency Kyat (K) (MMK)

Time zone UTC+06:30 (MMT)

Drives on right

Calling code +95

ISO 3166 code MM

Internet TLD .mm

This article contains Burmese script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question
marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Burmese script.

Myanmar,[f] officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar[g] and also rendered Burma (the official
English form until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area
in Mainland Southeast Asia and has a population of about 55 million.[18] It is bordered by India to its
west, Bangladesh to its southwest, 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).[19]

Early civilisations in the area included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper
Myanmar and the Mon kingdoms in Lower Myanmar.[20] In the 9th century, the Bamar
people entered the upper Irrawaddy valley, and following the establishment of the Pagan Kingdom in
the 1050s, the Burmese language, culture, and Theravada Buddhism slowly became dominant in the
country. The Pagan Kingdom fell to Mongol invasions, and several warring states emerged. In the
16th century, reunified by the Taungoo dynasty, the country became the largest empire in the history
of Southeast Asia for a short period.[21] The early 19th-century Konbaung dynasty ruled over an area
that included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Assam, the Lushai Hills, and Manipur as well.
The British East India Company seized control of the administration of Myanmar after three Anglo-
Burmese Wars in the 19th century, and the country became a British colony. After a brief Japanese
occupation, Myanmar was reconquered by the Allies. On 4 January 1948, Myanmar
declared independence under the terms of the Burma Independence Act 1947.

Myanmar's post-independence history has been checkered by continuing unrest and conflict to this
day. The coup d'état in 1962 resulted in a military dictatorship under the Burma Socialist Programme
Party. On 8 August 1988, the 8888 Uprising then resulted in a nominal transition to a multi-party
system two years later, but the country's post-uprising military council refused to cede power, and
has continued to rule the country through to the present. The country remains riven by ethnic strife
among its myriad ethnic groups and has one of the world's longest-running ongoing civil wars.
The United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systemic human
rights violations in the country.[22] In 2011, the military junta was officially dissolved following a 2010
general election, and a nominally civilian government was installed. Aung San Suu Kyi and political
prisoners were released and the 2015 Myanmar general election was held, leading to
improved foreign relations and eased economic sanctions,[23] although the country's treatment of
its ethnic minorities, particularly in connection with the Rohingya conflict, continued to be a source
of international tension and consternation.[24] Following the 2020 Myanmar general election, in
which Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won a clear majority in both houses, the Burmese military
(Tatmadaw) again seized power in a coup d'état.[25] The coup, which was widely condemned by
the international community, led to continuous ongoing widespread protests in Myanmar and has
been marked by violent political repression by the military, as well as a larger outbreak of the civil
war.[26] The military also arrested Aung San Suu Kyi in order to remove her from public life, and
charged her with crimes ranging from corruption to violation of COVID-19 protocols; all of the
charges against her are "politically motivated" according to independent observers.[27]

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.[28] 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.[29] In 2013, its GDP (nominal) stood at US$56.7
billion and its GDP (PPP) at US$221.5 billion.[30] 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.
[31]
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.[32] 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.[33]