Burma, officially called Myanmar since 1989, is the westernmost country of Southeast Asia's Indochina peninsula. It faces the Bay of Bengal on the south and is bounded on the northwest by Bangladesh and India, on the east by China and Laos, and on the southeast by Thailand. \TRangoon\t (or Yangon), the capital, is the largest city and chief port. The country was at one time the world's leading exporter of rice and remains one of the few developing countries that is a net exporter of food. Cut off from the outside world in ancient times by its mountains and its kings, Burma was again isolated after 1962 by the socialist policies of its government. Its various rulers have long struggled to impose their authority over minority groups in the rugged border regions. LAND AND RESOURCES Physical Regions Laid out in a kitelike shape, the country has a central core of lowlands that are watered by the \TIrrawaddy\t and Sittang rivers. The Irrawaddy itself is the most important feature of the region and is continuously navigable for almost 1,400 km (900 mi) upstream from the sea. Along it were located Burma's great cities of ancient times. The Sittang River, by contrast, is of little navigational importance. The Arakan (western) and Tenasserim (southern) coastal lowlands are separated from the central core region by mountains or water bodies. The chief resource of the lowlands is soil, most of which is alluvial. Petroleum is the other major resource of the lowland core. The central Burma oil fields supplied the needs of the country until the early 1980s, and exploration continues. The remainder of Burma comprises mountain and highland areas. In the north, near the border with China, is Mount Hkaka, the highest point in Burma (5,881 m/19,296 ft). To the west of the central core is the Patkoi-Naga-Chin Hills and Arakan Yoma complex, which extends from Tibet to the sea. To the east, the Shan Plateau rises sharply to more than 600 m (2,000 ft) high. The \TSalween River\t bisects this area. The Shan Highlands are rich in minerals, with substantial deposits of lead, zinc, silver, and more depleted reserves of rubies and other gemstones. Substantial tungsten deposits are found to the south of the Shan Plateau. Resource development has been limited by the general inaccessibility of the region and the inability of the government to provide effective administrative control. East of the Salween River, in the so-called Golden Triangle, poppies are cultivated for illicit opium traffic. Climate Burma has a tropical climate. The annual average temperature is 27 deg C (81 deg F) at Rangoon and 22 deg C (71 deg F) at Lashio on the Shan Highlands. Coastal and mountain regions receive up to 5,080 mm (200 in) of rain annually, and delta regions receive about 2,540 mm (100 in). Northern Burma is the driest area, averaging 510 to 1,015 mm (20 to 40 in) a year. PEOPLE Ethnic Composition and Languages Because of much ethnic intermarriage, Burma's population is best described as composed of ethnolinguistic groups rather than segregated racial or ethnic stocks. Its peoples speak more than 100 distinct languages. Most of this linguistic variety, however, is found among the hill peoples. The dominant (and official) tongue is Burmese, the language of the lowlanders. It is the medium of trade, communications, and education. Until modern times the only indigenous written languages were Burmese (a Sino-Tibetan language), Shan (of the Tai group), and Mon (Mon-Khmer). Large minorities include the \LKaren\ls and Kayahs (10%), SHANS (8%), Chins and Kachins (4%), Indians (2%), and Chinese (3%). Religion Most Burmese speakers are Buddhists; Theravada Buddhism is the practiced religion of about 85% of the population. Historically, Burmese Buddhists have perceived themselves as a bastion of Buddhist orthodoxy. In rural Burma, most males spend time as bhikkus ("monks") in monasteries. The folk religion of many Buddhists also includes adherence to astrology and "nat" spirit worship. About 5% of the population is Christian. Indians adhere to either Hinduism or Islam, and the Chinese to Buddhism or traditional Chinese religions. Most others practice forms of animism. Demography Burma's crude birthrate is substantially higher than its crude death rate. Because approximately two-fifths of the populace are under 15 years of age, a substantial increase in population size may be expected regardless of any short-term decline in the birthrate. In this land of villages, nearly one-half of all urban dwellers live in the Rangoon (Yangon) metropolitan area. Other large cities include \TMandalay\t in central Burma and \TMoulmein\t on the Tenasserim coast. Most small towns are villagelike in appearance and architecture. Houses are built mainly of wood and bamboo with thatch or tile roofs and typically are raised on piles off the ground. Migration today is carefully controlled by the government, which has sought to restrict both immigration and emigration. After British colonial accession in the 19th century, a steady southward movement of people into the Irrawaddy Delta region occurred as the area came under commercial rice production. In previous centuries the Shans had emigrated from what is now southern China. Tibeto-Burmans preceded them from southeastern Tibet. The \TMons\t emigrated even earlier from the east. Social Conditions Literacy in Burma has always been high, and today more than 70% of the population is literate. Monastery schools existed before modern educational curricula were introduced. Primary education today is free, but nominal fees are charged for secondary and higher education. Student enrollment at all levels has greatly expanded in recent decades. Public health-care programs exist but are limited by lack of modern facilities and pharmaceutical supplies. The Burmese folk arts today remain largely un-Westernized; the state supports the arts through schools of dance, drama, music, and the fine arts. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Farming, forestry, and mining activities are the mainstays of the economy. Monoculture of rice characterizes the lower Burma delta. A diversified cropping system exists in the central dry zone, and shifting subsistence cultivation and forestry are carried on in the hills. The commercial rice industry began only about a century ago under British stimulus. Production came to be controlled during the 1930s by absentee landlords, many of whom were Indian or Chinese. Badly damaged by World War II, the economy failed to recover following independence. The military officers who seized control in 1962 expanded earlier efforts to diminish the role of foreign enterprise and make Burma self-reliant by banning foreign investment, nationalizing all foreign and many domestic industries, and taking control of the import-export trade. By the early 1970s, however, they began to accept limited foreign aid; state control over retail trade was lifted in 1987. Irrigation projects and the introduction of improved seed varieties and fertilizer led to a rise in agricultural productivity, but living standards continued to decline. Inflation, shortages, and official efforts to crush the flourishing black market contributed to massive antigovernment protests in 1988. In 1989 free-market policies were introduced in an effort to gain popular support. The varied mineral output includes petroleum, natural gas, tin, tungsten, lead, zinc, precious stones, barite, gypsum, and limestone. Teak replaced rice as the leading export in 1985; manufactured goods constitute the chief imports. GOVERNMENT According to the constitution of 1974, which was suspended following a military coup on Sept. 18, 1988, supreme power of government resided in an elected unicameral legislature which elected a council of state whose chairman was president of the republic. The Burma Socialist Program party (renamed the National Unity party in 1988) was the sole legal political party. After the coup, army leaders named a military council to rule the country. A March 1989 draft electoral law promised multiparty elections to transfer power to a civilian government within 14 months, and opposition parties were allowed to form. The National League for Democracy won overwhelmingly in May 1990 elections, but the military regime refused to recognize the election results, and outlawed the party in December. Military commanders administer the seven divisions of the Burmese heartland and the seven states in which national ethnic minorities form local majorities. HISTORY The early Mon inhabitants of the region established commercial and cultural ties with India and adopted Therevada Buddhism. After a period of domination by the Tibetan Pyu tribes, leadership passed to the Burmese, whose king \TAnawratha\t united the region in 1044. Anawratha established his capital at \TPagan\t and accepted Theravada Buddhism. Pagan remained the capital until 1287, when it was conquered by the \TMongols\t. Burma was again unified in the 16th century by the Toungoo dynasty. Early in the 18th century the Mons gained their independence and control of the Irrawaddy Delta, and in 1753 the whole of Burma came under Mon rule. In 1758, Alaungapaya led the Burmese in overthrowing the Mons, and a new capital was established in Rangoon. Alaungapaya's successors, members of the Konbaung dynasty, continued ruling, and their influence spread into India. In 1824 war broke out between Britain and Burma over Burma's border with India, and as a result Burma had to cede the Arakan and Tenasserim coasts to Britain. In 1852, Britain gained control of the Irrawaddy Delta, and following the Anglo-Burmese War of 1885, Burma became a province of India in 1886. It remained as such until Britain gave Burma a constitution in 1937, thus separating it from India. After the Japanese invasion during World War II, a nominal Burmese government was set up under Dr. Ba Maw. An anti-Japanese resistance movement was headed by the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League, formed by U AUNG \TSan\t. Burma gained independence from British rule in 1948. Since that time, the country has followed a strictly neutralist foreign policy. Civil war broke out in the late 1950s, with selected minorities and Communist groups independently opposing the new government. In 1958, Premier U NU asked Gen. U NE WIN to take over the government and to quell civil disorder. Order was restored, and in the 1960 elections Nu and a civilian government were returned to power. During 1962, in the face of mixed economic performance and threat of a second civil war, Ne Win staged a successful military coup. He and other government leaders resigned from the military in 1972 but retained their governmental positions. Under a new constitution adopted in 1974, Burma became a one-party socialist republic. Ne Win resigned as president in 1981 in favor of former army chief U San Yu, who was reelected in 1985. Ne Win retained, however, the powerful post of party chairman. In 1982 the legislature passed a new citizenship law that largely restricted full political and economic rights to descendants of Burmese nationals (including indigenous minorities). Ethnic and Communist insurgencies in northern and eastern Burma continued. Political unrest erupted in mid-March of 1988, when government troops fought student protestors from a number of Rangoon universities. Discontent had been growing for some time, fueled by government repression and unpopular economic measures such as the September 1987 "demonetizing" of much of the nation's currency, an action that wiped out the savings of many Burmese. Further bloody rioting in Burmese cities in June 1988 led to the resignation of Ne Win and the brief assumption of power by U Sein Lwin, the hard-line military officer who had led the bloody suppression of the student riots in March. U Sein Lwin, who imposed martial law in a futile attempt to contain widespread civilian demonstrations, was forced from office and replaced by U Maung Maung, a civilian. The new Burmese leader proposed a nationwide referendum in mid-September to vote on ending 26 years of one-party military rule. But the military, facing a situation of near-anarchy in Burmese cities, again seized power on Sept. 18, 1988. Gen. U Saw Maung, who assumed control of the government, cracked down brutally on dissent. In late June 1989 the government declared in the United Nations that Burma would henceforth be known as Myanmar, and that the name of the capital, Rangoon, was changed to Yangon. The opposition won an overwhelming victory on May 27, 1990, but the military refused to turn power over to a civilian government until a new constitution could be written. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi remained under house arrest; on Dec. 20, 1990, the government declared that the opposition party, the National League for Democracy, had been outlawed. In March 1991, the United Nations Human Rights Commission condemned the government of Myanmar for persistent rights violations of its citizens. According to the U.N. report, the Myanmar regime continued to imprison and mistreat large numbers of people, "including prominent leaders of political parties." In July 1991, the European Community urged a worldwide arms embargo against the Myanmar regime, and the U.S. administration administration began to implement economic sanctions. David G. Dickason Bibliography: American University, Burma: A Country Study, 3d ed. (1983); Boucaud, A. and L. M., Burma's Golden Triangle (1988); Cady, John F., The United States and Burma (1976); Hall, D. G. E., A History of Southeast Asia (1964); Lintner, B., Outrage: Burma's Struggle for Democracy (1989); Luce, G. 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