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Country Profile of Myanmar
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, hereinafter referred to as Myanmar, is located in the Southeast Asian region and is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In the southwest of Myanmar is the Andaman Sea and the Bengal Bay, with the coastline length of 2,655 km. To the northwest Myanmar is bounded by India and Bangladesh. To the north and northeast Myanmar is bounded by China's Tibet and Yunnan province, with Sino-Burmese borderline of around 2,185 km, of which Yunnan-Burmese line is 1,997 km. East Myanmar is bounded with Laos and Thailand, with the Myanmar-Thailand and the Myanmar-Laos borderline of 1,799 km and 238 km respectively.
Myanmar has an area of about 678,500 square kilometers, being the 40th largest country in the world and the second largest country in Southeast Asia. Myanmar has its terrain high in the north and low in the south, surrounded by mountains in the north, west, and east. In the north are mountainous areas, in the west are hills and mountains, and in the east is the Shan Plateau. Close to the Chinese border is Hkakabo Razi, the highest peak in the country with an elevation of 5,881 meters. Between the mountains in the west and the plateau in the east is the Irrawaddy River alluvial plain with low terrain.
Myanmar has seven states, seven regions and a Union Territory (Nay Pyi Taw). Nay Pyi Taw is the capital of Myanmar, while Yangon is Myanmar's largest commercial city and economic center.
The population of Myanmar is more than 51 million, ranking the 25th in the world. Yangon has the largest population of about 7.36 million people, while Kayah State is the least populous with only 280 thousand people.
Myanmar has a total of about 135 nationalities. The population of Bamar, as the dominant ethnic group in Myanmar, accounts for 85% of the national population, followed by ethnic minorities including the Shan, the Kachin, the Chin, the Karen, the Karenni, the Mon and the Rakhine and so on.
● Climate
Myanmar has a tropical monsoon climate. Most of the land lies in tropical in the south of the Tropic of Cancer, while the rest part lies in the subtropical in the north of the Tropic of Cancer. The mountains and the plateau surrounding Myanmar in the east, north and west are like a barrier, blocking the cold air of Asian continent in winter heading down south, while warm and humid air from the Indian Ocean can be unimpeded in the south without the block from the mountains. Myanmar has a good ecological environment with few natural disasters.
The temperature of Myanmar changes marginally. The average temperature of the coldest month (January) is 20 ℃ -25 ℃, while that of the hottest month (April and May) is 25 ℃ -30 ℃. The annual temperature range is subtle. Myanmar has plentiful rainfall. The rain often concentrates in June, July and August when the southwest monsoon prevails, followed by May, September and October. Most areas has annual rainfall of 4,000 mm or more, while the central area, as the rain shadow, is the dry area of Myanmar with annual rainfall of less than 1,000 mm. Rainfall from May to October accounts for about 90% -95% of annual rainfall. As a result of the monsoon, Myanmar has the hot season (March to mid-May), the rainy season (mid-May to October), and cool season (November to next February).
● Political Profile
Myanmar is a federal country with the presidential system implementing multiparty democracy. The president is both head of state and head of government. The Myanmar Federal Parliament has a bicameral legislature with the 440-seat lower house Pyithu Hluttaw (House of Representatives) and the 224-seat upper house Amyotha Hluttaw (House of Nationalities). Members are elected by all citizens through the national election. According to the 2008 Constitution, the lower house Pyithu Hluttaw and the upper house Amyotha Hluttaw consist of representatives selected by the national election, and then the two houses and the military nominate a presidential candidate respectively. The federal parliament votes for the next presidential candidate, and the other two candidates will automatically become vice president of the next administration.
Myanmar doesn’t have a prime minister, and the president has the supreme administrative power. And there are ministers and vice-ministers, and the highest chief executive of each state.
Myanmar court and procuratorate are divided into four levels—the Supreme Court and the Supreme Procuratorate, and court and procuratorate of the three levels, i.e., state level, county level and township level. The Supreme Court is the highest judicial organ of Myanmar, while the Supreme Procuratorate is the highest procuratorial organ.
● Religious Profile
In Myanmar, the vast majority of the people are devout hamlet Buddhists. Nevertheless, Myanmar still celebrates religious freedom and allows the existence of multiple religions.
In July 2016, Myanmar published the latest ratio of national religious beliefs (the number of believers). Burmese Buddhists account for 87.9% of the national population, Christians (Catholics) account for 6.2%, Islam account for 4.3% , Hinduism account for 0.5%, folk religion (folk gods) account for 0.8%, other religions accounted for 0.2%, and only 0.1% of people have no religious belief.
Different religious sects in Myanmar practice in different regions, and they can be divided according to ethnic minorities into: seven states, Shan State, Mon State, Karen, part of Rakhine State - Buddhism; Chin state, Kachin state, part of Karen - Christian (Catholic); Part of Rakhine state - Islam. Hinayana Buddhism (Southern Buddhism) and China Mahayana Buddhism (Chinese Buddhism) are quite different.
● Mineral Resources
Myanmar are rich in mineral resources, including oil, natural gas, tungsten, tin, lead, silver, nickel, antimony, gold, iron, chromium, jade and so on. Among them, Myanmar's gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, tin, tungsten, manganese and other non-ferrous metals are widely distributed from the northern part of Kachin to the south of Tanintharyi Region.
Myanmar is also the world famous origin of gem and jade. The main origin of the gemstones is Mogok, which is rich in ruby and sapphire; jade ore mainly distributes in the northern region of Kachin State, and the main origins are Mogaung, Kambaiti, and Pagan; diamonds are mainly produced near a village in the town of Mongmit.
● Forestry Resources
Myanmar is one of countries with most widely distributed forests in the world. The forest coverage rate is 42.92%. The trees are mainly distributed in the north, west and south, and there are 2,300 kinds of forestry species, including more than 1,200 arbor species. Pegu Yoma in central Myanmar is the main producing area of teak; 60% of the world's teak reserves and 75% of the international market teak are produced in Myanmar. In addition, Myanmar is also rich in bamboo and rattan resources. 97 kinds of bamboo varieties and bamboo area of 9,000 square kilometers are mainly distributed in Rakhine and central Myanmar There’re 32 Rattan species, and the annual output is about 70 million. They’re mainly distributed in Kachin, Shan State, with water rattan, red peach, but the export volume is not large.
● Marine Resources
Myanmar coastline is long with many inland lakes. Myanmar is rich in fishery resources, but due to the limitation of funding, technology, fishing, processing, and breeding level and other conditions, foreign cooperation for development has large potential. Myanmar coastline is 2,832 kilometers long, the exclusive economic zone is 486,000 square kilometers, including 225,000 square kilometers of area suitable for fishing, and the average annual catch of 1.05 million tons.
● Hydraulic Resources
In addition to mining, forestry, and fisheries resources, Myanmar also has a wealth of water resources. Myanmar is rich in rivers, and the main rivers are Irrawaddy River, Salween River, Chitun River and Mekong River, with tributaries all over the country. Among them, the Irrawaddy River, Salween River and Mekong River are originated in China. The Irrawaddy River is the largest river in Myanmar with a basin area of 430,000 square kilometers, with abundant and gentle water flowing from north to south through six provinces including Kachin State, Mandalay and Yangon, and finally flows into Indian Ocean from Yangon. The total length is 2,200 km, the total gap is 4,768 meters, the average reduction of the whole river is 2.13 ‰, and the average traffic flow in ocean entry is 13,600 cubic meters/second. Salween River is the second largest river in Myanmar, flowing from Luxi of Yunnan, China into Myanmar, with 1,660 km in the Burmese territory, the basin area being about 205,000 square kilometers, passing Shan State, Kayah State, Karen state and Mon State, and finally flowing into Indian Ocean through Gulf of Martaban. Mekong River flows from Xishuangbanna into Myanmar, mainly passing the borderline of Myanmar’s Shan State and Laos, Thailand.
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