Burma (Myanmar)

Burma is home to ethnic Burmans and scores of other ethnic and religious minority groups that have resisted external efforts to consolidate control of the country throughout its history. Britain conquered Burma over a period extending from the 1820s to the 1880s and administered it as a province of India until 1937, when Burma became a self-governing colony. Burma gained full independence in 1948. In 1962, General NE WIN seized power and ruled the country until 1988 when a new military regime took control.

In 1990, the military regime permitted an election but then rejected the results after the main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) and its leader AUNG SAN SUU KYI (ASSK) won in a landslide. The military regime placed ASSK under house arrest until 2010. In 2007, rising fuel prices in Burma led pro-democracy activists and Buddhist monks to launch a "Saffron Revolution" consisting of large protests against the regime, which violently suppressed the movement.

The regime prevented new elections until it had drafted a constitution designed to preserve the military's political control; it passed the new constitution in its 2008 referendum. The regime conducted an election in 2010, but the NLD boycotted the vote, and the military’s political proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, easily won; international observers denounced the election as flawed.

Burma nonetheless began a halting process of political and economic reforms. ASSK's return to government in 2012 eventually led to the NLD's sweeping victory in the 2015 election. With ASSK as the de facto head of state, Burma’s first credibly elected civilian government drew international criticism for blocking investigations into Burma’s military operations -- which the US Department of State determined constituted genocide -- against its ethnic Rohingya population.

When the 2020 elections resulted in further NLD gains, the military denounced the vote as fraudulent. In 2021, the military's senior leader General MIN AUNG HLAING launched a coup that returned Burma to authoritarian rule, with military crackdowns that undid reforms and resulted in the detention of ASSK and thousands of pro-democracy actors.

Pro-democracy organizations have formed in the wake of the coup, including the National Unity Government (NUG). Members of the NUG include representatives from the NLD, ethnic minority groups, and civil society. In 2021, the NUG announced the formation of armed militias called the People's Defense Forces (PDF) and an insurgency against the military junta. As of 2024, PDF units across the country continued to fight the regime with varying levels of support from and cooperation with the NUG and other anti-regime organizations, including armed ethnic groups that have been fighting the central government for decades.

conventional long form:

Union of Burma

conventional short form:

Burma

local long form:

Pyidaungzu Thammada Myanma Naingngandaw (translated as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar)

local short form:

Myanma Naingngandaw

former:

Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma, Union of Myanmar

etymology:

both "Burma" and "Myanmar" derive from the name of the majority Burman (Bamar) ethnic group, with the term myanma , or "the strong," being the group's name for itself

note: since 1989 the military authorities in Burma and the deposed parliamentary government have promoted the name Myanmar as a conventional name for their state; the US Government has not officially adopted the name

name:

Rangoon (aka Yangon, continues to be recognized as the primary Burmese capital by the US Government); Nay Pyi Taw is the administrative capital

geographic coordinates:

16 48 N, 96 10 E

time difference:

UTC+6.5 (11.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

etymology:

Rangoon/Yangon derives from the Burmese words yan and koun , commonly translated as "end of strife"; Nay Pyi Taw translates as "abode of kings"

chief of state:

Acting President Sr. Gen. MIN AUNG HLAING (since 31 July 2025)

head of government:

Prime Minister NYO SAW (since 31 July 2025)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointments shared by the president and the commander-in-chief

election/appointment process:

• prior to the military takeover in 2021, president was indirectly elected by simple majority vote by the full Assembly of the Union from among 3 vice-presidential candidates nominated by the Presidential Electoral College (consists of members of the lower and upper houses and military members);
• the other 2 candidates became vice presidents (president elected for a 5-year term)

most recent election date:

8 November 2020

election results:

• 2020: the National League for Democracy (NLD) won 396 seats across both houses -- well above the 322 required for a parliamentary majority -- but on 1 February 2021, the military claimed the results of the election were illegitimate and deposed State Counsellor AUNG SAN SUU KYI and President WIN MYINT of the NLD, causing military-affiliated Vice President MYINT SWE (USDP) to become acting president;
• MYINT SWE subsequently handed power to coup leader MIN AUNG HLAING;
• WIN MYINT and other key leaders of the ruling NLD party were placed under arrest after the military takeover

;

• 2018 : WIN MYINT elected president in an indirect by-election held on 28 March 2018 after the resignation of HTIN KYAW;
• Assembly of the Union vote for president - WIN MYINT (NLD) 403, MYINT SWE (USDP) 211, HENRY VAN THIO (NLD) 18, 4 votes canceled (636 votes cast)

expected date of next election:

on 31 July 2025, the military government announced that it was preparing for elections to be held in December 2025

state counsellor:

State Counselor AUNG SAN SUU KYI (since 6 April 2016); note - under arrest since 1 February 2021

note 1: on 31 July 2025, the military ended the state of emergency that had been in place since taking over the government in February 2021, although martial law continues to exist in parts of the country; at the same time, the military dissolved the State Administrative Council (SAC), which had been the official name of the military government in Burma, and replaced it with the National Security and Peace Commission (NSPC), chaired by Sr. Gen. MIN AUNG HLAING, who also retains his position as chief of the armed forces

note 2: prior to the military takeover, the state counsellor served the equivalent term of the president and was similar to a prime minister

legislature name:

Assembly of the Union (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw)

legislative structure:

bicameral

most recent election date:

28 December 2025

expected date of next election:

on 31 July 2025, the military government announced that it was preparing for elections to be held in late December 2025

note: on 1 February 2021, the Burmese military claimed the results of the 2020 general election were illegitimate and launched a coup led by Sr. General MIN AUNG HLAING; the military subsequently dissolved the Assembly of the Union and replaced it with the military-led State Administration Council

• according to the military regime, more than 50 parties registered and were approved for the December 2025 election, but only 9 contested nationwide;
• the remainder ran in regional or state constituencies

the 9 parties included:

Democratic Party of National Politics (DNP); Myanmar Farmers Development Party (MFDP); National Democratic Force Party (NDF); National Unity Party (NUP); People’s Party; People’s Pioneer Party (PPP); Shan and Ethnic Democratic Party (SEDP); Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP); Women’s Party (Mon)

note : more than 90 political parties participated in the 2020 elections; political parties continued to function after the 2021 coup, although some political leaders have been arrested by the military regime;

in 2023, the regime announced a new law with several rules and restrictions on political parties and their ability to participate in elections; dozens of parties refused to comply with the new rules; the regime's election commission has subsequently banned more than 80 political parties, including the National League for Democracy

• 18-35 years of age (men) and 18-27 years of age (women) for voluntary and conscripted military service;
• 24-month service obligation;
• conscripted professional men (ages 18-45) and women (ages 18-35), including doctors, engineers, and mechanics, serve up to 36 months;
• service terms may be extended to 60 months in an officially declared emergency (2025)

note: in February 2024, the military government announced that the People’s Military Service Law requiring mandatory military service would go into effect;

the Service Law was first introduced in 2010 but had not previously been enforced; the military government also said that it intended to call up about 60,000 men and women annually for mandatory service; during the ongoing insurgency, the military has recruited men 18-60 to serve in local militias

since the country’s founding, the Tatmadaw has been deeply involved in domestic politics and the national economy; it ran the country for five decades following a military coup in 1962; prior to the most recent coup in 2021, the military already controlled three key security ministries (Defense, Border, and Home Affairs), one of two vice presidential appointments, 25% of the parliamentary seats, and had a proxy political party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP);

it owns and operates two business conglomerates that have over 100 subsidiaries; the business activities of these conglomerates include banking and insurance, hotels, tourism, jade and ruby mining, timber, construction, real estate, and the production of palm oil, sugar, soap, cement, beverages, drinking water, coal, and gas;

some of the companies supply goods and services to the military, such as food, clothing, insurance, and cellphone service; the military also manages a film industry, publishing houses, and television stations

the Tatmadaw's primary operational focus is internal security, and it is conducting counterinsurgency operations against anti-regime forces that launched an armed rebellion following the 2021 coup and an array of ethnic armed groups (EAGs); as of 2024, the Tatmadaw was reportedly engaged in combat operations in 10 of its 14 regional commands

EAGs have been fighting for self-rule against the Burmese Government since 1948; they range in strength from a few hundred fighters up to an estimated 30,000; some are organized along military lines with "brigades" and "divisions" and armed with heavy weaponry, including artillery;

they control large tracts of the country’s territory, primarily in the border regions; key groups include the United Wa State Army, Karen National Union, Kachin Independence Army, Arakan Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army, and the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army

the opposition National Unity Government claims its armed wing, the People's Defense Force (PDF), has more than 60,000 fighters loosely organized into battalions; in addition, several EAGs have cooperated with the NUG and supported local PDF groups (2024)