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- #CARD:Burma:Geography
- #IMAGE 49 66 TWPCX \maps\Burma.PCX
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK Click Here for MAP
- Burma
- Geography
-
-
- Location:
- Southeast Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand
- Map references:
- Asia, Southeast Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World
- Area:
- total area:
- 678,500 km2
- land area:
- 657,740 km2
- comparative area:
- slightly smaller than Texas
- Land boundaries:
- total 5,876 km, Bangladesh 193 km, China 2,185 km, India 1,463 km, Laos 235
- km, Thailand 1,800 km
- Coastline:
- 1,930 km
- Maritime claims:
- contiguous zone:
- 24 nm
- continental shelf:
- 200 nm or to the edge of continental margin
- exclusive economic zone:
- 200 nm
- territorial sea:
- 12 nm
- International disputes:
- none
- Climate:
- 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)
- Terrain:
- central lowlands ringed by steep, rugged highlands
- Natural resources:
- petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal, some
- marble, limestone, precious stones, natural gas
- Land use:
- arable land:
- 15%
- permanent crops:
- 1%
- meadows and pastures:
- 1%
- forest and woodland:
- 49%
- other:
- 34%
- Irrigated land:
- 10,180 km2 (1989)
- Environment:
- subject to destructive earthquakes and cyclones; flooding and landslides
- common during rainy season (June to September); deforestation
- Note:
- strategic location near major Indian Ocean shipping lanes
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Burma:People
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Burma
- People
-
-
- Population:
- 43,455,953 (July 1993 est.)
- Population growth rate:
- 1.88% (1993 est.)
- Birth rate:
- 28.88 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Death rate:
- 10.05 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Net migration rate:
- 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Infant mortality rate:
- 65.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
- Life expectancy at birth:
- total population:
- 59.5 years
- male:
- 57.5 years
- female:
- 61.63 years (1993 est.)
- Total fertility rate:
- 3.7 children born/woman (1993 est.)
- Nationality:
- noun:
- Burmese (singular and plural)
- adjective:
- Burmese
- Ethnic divisions:
- Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Mon 2%, Indian 2%,
- other 5%
- Religions:
- Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%,
- animist beliefs 1%, other 2%
- Languages:
- Burmese; minority ethnic groups have their own languages
- Literacy:
- age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
- total population:
- 81%
- male:
- 89%
- female:
- 72%
- Labor force:
- 16.007 million (1992)
- by occupation:
- agriculture 65.2%, industry 14.3%, trade 10.1%, government 6.3%, other 4.1%
- (FY89 est.)
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Burma:Government
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Burma
- Government
-
-
- Names:
- conventional long form:
- Union of Burma
- conventional short form:
- Burma
- local long form:
- Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw (translated by the US Government as Union of
- Myanma and by the Burmese as Union of Myanmar)
- local short form:
- Myanma Naingngandaw
- former:
- Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
- Digraph:
- BM
- Type:
- military regime
- Capital:
- Rangoon (sometimes translated as Yangon)
- Administrative divisions:
- 7 divisions* (yin-mya, singular - yin) and 7 states (pyine-mya, singular -
- pyine); Chin State, Irrawaddy*, Kachin State, Karan State, Kayah State,
- Magwe*, Mandalay*, Mon State, Pegu*, Rakhine State, Rangoon*, Sagaing*, Shan
- State, Tenasserim*
- Independence:
- 4 January 1948 (from UK)
- Constitution:
- 3 January 1974 (suspended since 18 September 1988); National Convention
- started on 9 January 1993 to draft chapter headings for a new constitution
- Legal system:
- has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
- National holiday:
- Independence Day, 4 January (1948)
- Political parties and leaders:
- National Unity Party (NUP; proregime), THA KYAW; National League for
- Democracy (NLD), U AUNG SHWE; National Coalition of Union of Burma (NCGUB),
- SEIN WIN (which consists of individuals legitimately elected to parliament,
- but not recognized by military regime) fled to border area and joined with
- insurgents in December 1990 to form a parallel government
- Other political or pressure groups:
- Kachin Independence Army (KIA); United Wa State Army (UWSA); Karen National
- Union (KNU - the only non-drug group); several Shan factions, including the
- Mong Tai Army (MTA)
- Suffrage:
- 18 years of age; universal
- Elections:
- People's Assembly:
- last held 27 May 1990, but Assembly never convened; results - NLD 80%; seats
- - (485 total) NLD 396, the regime-favored NUP 10, other 79
- Executive branch:
- chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, State Law and Order
- Restoration Council
- Legislative branch:
- unicameral People's Assembly (Pyithu Hluttaw) was dissolved after the coup
- of 18 September 1988
- Judicial branch:
- none; Council of People's Justices was abolished after the coup of 18
- September 1988
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Burma:Government
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Burma
- Government
- Leaders:
- Chief of State and Head of Government:
- Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Gen. THAN SHWE
- (since 23 April 1992)
- Member of:
- AsDB, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC,
- ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU,
- WHO, WMO
- Diplomatic representation in US:
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador U THAUNG
- chancery:
- 2300 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
- telephone:
- (202) 332-9044 through 9046
- consulate general:
- New York
- US diplomatic representation:
- chief of mission:
- (vacant); Deputy Chief of Mission, Charge d'Affaires Franklin P. HUDDLE, Jr.
- embassy:
- 581 Merchant Street, Rangoon
- mailing address:
- GPO Box 521, AMEMB Box B, APO AP 96546
- telephone:
- [95] (1) 82055, 82181
- FAX:
- [95] (1) 80409
- Flag:
- red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing, all in
- white, 14 five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a stalk of
- rice; the 14 stars represent the 14 administrative divisions
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Burma:Economy
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Burma
- Economy
-
-
- Overview:
- Burma is a poor Asian country, with a per capita GDP of about $660. The
- nation has been unable to achieve any substantial improvement in export
- earnings because of falling prices for many of its major commodity exports.
- For rice, traditionally the most important export, the drop in world prices
- has been accompanied by shrinking markets and a smaller volume of sales. In
- 1985 teak replaced rice as the largest export and continues to hold this
- position. The economy is heavily dependent on the agricultural sector, which
- generates about 40% of GDP and provides employment for 65% of the work
- force. Burma has been largely isolated from international economic forces
- and has been trying to encourage foreign investment, so far with little
- success.
- National product:
- GDP - exchange rate conversion - $28 billion (1992)
- National product real growth rate:
- 1.3% (1992)
- National product per capita:
- $660 (1992)
- Inflation rate (consumer prices):
- 50% (1992)
- Unemployment rate:
- 9.6% (FY89 est.) in urban areas
- Budget:
- revenues $8.1 billion; expenditures $11.6 billion, including capital
- expenditures of $NA (1992)
- Exports:
- $535.1 million (FY92)
- commodities:
- teak, rice, oilseed, metals, rubber, gems
- partners:
- China, India, Thailand, Singapore
- Imports:
- $907.0 million (FY92)
- commodities:
- machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, food products
- partners:
- Japan, China, Singapore
- External debt:
- $4 billion (1992)
- Industrial production:
- growth rate 2.6% (FY90 est.); accounts for 10% of GDP
- Electricity:
- 1,100,000 kW capacity; 2,800 million kWh produced, 65 kWh per capita (1992)
- Industries:
- agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood and wood products;
- petroleum refining; mining of copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction
- materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer
- Agriculture:
- accounts for 40% of GDP (including fish and forestry); self-sufficient in
- food; principal crops - paddy rice, corn, oilseed, sugarcane, pulses;
- world's largest stand of hardwood trees; rice and teak account for 55% of
- export revenues
- Illicit drugs:
- world's largest illicit producer of opium poppy and minor producer of
- cannabis for the international drug trade; opium production has nearly
- doubled since the collapse of Rangoon's antinarcotic programs
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Burma:Economy
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Burma
- Economy
- Economic aid:
- US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $158 million; Western (non-US)
- countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $3.9 billion;
- Communist countries (1970-89), $424 million
- Currency:
- 1 kyat (K) = 100 pyas
- Exchange rates:
- kyats (K) per US$1 - 6.0963 (January 1992), 6.2837 (1991), 6.3386 (1990),
- 6.7049 (1989), 6.46 (1988), 6.6535 (1987); unofficial - 105
- Fiscal year:
- 1 April - 31 March
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Burma:Communications
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Burma
- Communications
-
-
- Railroads:
- 3,991 km total, all government owned; 3,878 km 1.000-meter gauge, 113 km
- narrow-gauge industrial lines; 362 km double track
- Highways:
- 27,000 km total; 3,200 km bituminous, 17,700 km improved earth or gravel,
- 6,100 km unimproved earth
- Inland waterways:
- 12,800 km; 3,200 km navigable by large commercial vessels
- Pipelines:
- crude oil 1,343 km; natural gas 330 km
- Ports:
- Rangoon, Moulmein, Bassein
- Merchant marine:
- 62 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 940,264 GRT/1,315,156 DWT; includes 3
- passenger-cargo, 18 cargo, 5 refrigerated cargo, 4 vehicle carrier, 2
- container, 2 oil tanker, 3 chemical, 1 combination ore/oil, 23 bulk, 1
- combination bulk
- Airports:
- total:
- 83
- usable:
- 78
- with permanent-surface runways:
- 26
- with runways over 3,659 m:
- 0
- with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
- 3
- with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
- 38
- Telecommunications:
- meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service for business and
- government; international service is good; 53,000 telephones (1986);
- radiobroadcast coverage is limited to the most populous areas; broadcast
- stations - 2 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV (1985); 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Burma:Defense Forces
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Burma
- Defense Forces
-
-
- Branches:
- Army, Navy, Air Force
- Manpower availability:
- males age 15-49 11,004,419; females age 15-49 10,945,899; males fit for
- military service 5,894,514; females fit for military service 5,847,958;
- males reach military age (18) annually 435,030; females reach military age
- (18) annually 420,487 (1993 est.); both sexes are liable for military
- service
- Defense expenditures:
- exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP (1992)
-
- #ENDCARD
-