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Asia and Oceania
Burma |
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Last reviewed: 08 August 2011 |
Country information
Population: 53.5 million
Capital City: Naypyitaw (population 200,000). Major Centre of Population: Rangoon (population 5.8 million).
People: (All figures estimated) Bamar (69%), Shan (8.5%), Karen (6.2%), Rakhine (4.5%), Mon (2.4%), Chin (2.2%), Kachin (1.4%), Karrenni (0.4%), other indigenous (0.1%) and foreign nationalities (including Burmese Indian & Sino Burmese people) 5.3%
Languages: Burmese is the official language. There are numerous other ethnic minority languages.
Religion(s): Buddhism is the predominant religion. The other main religions are Christianity, Islam and Animism.
Currency: Kyat
Major political parties: Burma’s Parliament convened on 31 January. The military junta’s proxy political party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, has a large majority in the upper and lower national parliaments. Together with the 25% reserved military bloc, former regime officials control over 80% of the total seats in both national parliaments. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) was effectively outlawed in May 2010 after deciding not to participate in general elections. The Burmese Supreme Court rejected the NLD’s appeal against its dissolution on 28 January. Burma’s new government and the inauguration of the new President was announced on 30 March.
Government: Union Solidarity and Development Party.
President: U Thein Sein
Vice-President: Tin Aung Myint Oo and Sai Mauk Kham
Membership of international groupings/organisations: United Nations, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).
BURMA OR MYANMAR?
Britain's policy is to refer to Burma rather than 'Myanmar'. The former military regime changed the name to Myanmar in 1989. Burma's democracy movement prefers the form ‘Burma’ because they do not accept that the military had a legitimate right to change the name of the country. Internationally, both names are used.
TRAVEL
The NLD published a review of their tourism policy in a statement on 20 May 2011. The NLD make clear that they welcome tourism that promotes the welfare of Burma’s people, the conservation of the environment and that seeks to preserve and enjoy the country’s heritage. The NLD statement also seeks to remind potential visitors of some of the negative aspects of tourism including human rights abuses, such as forced labour and displacement as a result of hotel construction, and environmental degradation due to the development of infrastructure aimed at attracting tourists. The full text of the statement is at http://www.nldburma.org/media-press-release.html.