Burma (Myanmar)

• 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)

total:

33.23 cu km/yr (1%/1%/98%)

per capita:

658 cu m/yr (2000)

• destructive earthquakes and cyclones;
• flooding and landslides common during rainy season (June to September);
• periodic droughts

• deforestation;
• industrial pollution of air, soil, and water;
• inadequate sanitation and water treatment contribute to disease

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.77 male(s)/female

total population:

0.99 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

noun:

Burmese (singular and plural)

adjective:

Burmese

name:

Rangoon (Yangon)

geographic coordinates:

16 48 N, 96 09 E

time difference:

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

note: Nay Pyi Taw is administrative capital

• 3 January 1974;
• suspended since 18 September 1988;
• a constitution officially received 92.48% support in a flawed May 2008 referendum that most observers judged fell far short of international standards of free and fair elections;
• note - a new constitution is to take effect when a parliament is convened possibly in late January 2011

• All Mon Region Democracy Party or AMRDP;
• National Democratic Force or NDF [KHIN MAUNG SWE];
• National League for Democracy or NLD [AUNG SHWE, AUNG SAN SUU KYI];
• note - the party is defunct because it did not register for the 2010 election;
• National Unity Party or NUP [TUN YE];
• Rakhine Nationalities Development Party or RNDP;
• Shan Nationalities League for Democracy or SNLD [HKUN HTUN OO];
• Union Solidarity and Development Party or USDP [THEIN SEIN];
• numerous smaller parties

Thai border:

• Ethnic Nationalities Council or ENC;
• Federation of Trade Unions-Burma or FTUB (exile trade union and labor advocates);
• National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma or NCGUB (self-proclaimed government in exile) ["Prime Minister" Dr. SEIN WIN] consists of individuals, some legitimately elected to the People's Assembly in 1990 (the group fled to a border area and joined insurgents in December 1990 to form a parallel government in exile);
• National Council-Union of Burma or NCUB (exile coalition of opposition groups)

Inside Burma:

• Kachin Independence Organization or KIO;
• Karen National Union or KNU;
• Karenni National People's Party or KNPP;
• Union Solidarity and Development Association or USDA (pro-regime, a social and political mass-member organization) [HTAY OO, general secretary] became the Union Solidarity and Development Party in 2010;
• United Wa State Army or UWSA;
• 88 Generation Students (pro-democracy movement);
• several other Shan factions

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires HAN THU - note: Burma does not have an ambassador to the United States

chancery:

2300 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 332-3344

FAX:

[1] (202) 332-4351

consulate(s) general:

none; Burma has a Mission to the UN in New York

chief of mission:

Charge d'Affaires Larry M. DINGER - note:

The United States does not have an ambassador to Burma

embassy:

110 University Avenue, Kamayut Township, Rangoon

mailing address:

Box B, APO AP 96546

telephone:

[95] (1) 536-509, 535-756, 538-038

FAX:

[95] (1) 650-306

• design consists of three equal horizontal stripes of yellow (top), green, and red;
• centered on the green band is a large white five-pointed star that partially overlaps onto the adjacent colored stripes;
• the design revives the triband colors used by Burma from 1943-45, during the Japanese occupation

name:

"Kaba Ma Kyei" (Till the End of the World, Myanmar)

lyrics/music:

SAYA TIN

note: adopted 1948; Burma is among a handful of non-European nations that have anthems rooted in indigenous traditions; the beginning portion of the anthem is a traditional Burmese anthem before transitioning into a Western-style orchestrated work

agriculture:

70%

industry:

7%

services:

23% (2001 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.8%

highest 10%:

32.4% (1998)

• rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane;
• hardwood;
• fish and fish products

• agricultural processing;
• wood and wood products;
• copper, tin, tungsten, iron;
• cement, construction materials;
• pharmaceuticals;
• fertilizer;
• oil and natural gas;
• garments, jade and gems

• fabric, petroleum products, fertilizer, plastics, machinery, transport equipment;
• cement, construction materials, crude oil;
• food products, edible oil

general assessment:

meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service for business and government

domestic:

system barely capable of providing basic service; mobile-cellular phone system is grossly underdeveloped with a subscribership base of only 1 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 95;
• landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-3 optical telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe;
• satellite earth stations - 2, Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and ShinSat (2009)

• government controls all domestic broadcast media;
• 3 state-controlled television stations with 1 of the stations controlled by the armed forces;
• a fourth TV channel, a pay-TV station, is a joint state-private venture;
• access to satellite TV is limited with residents required to register and pay a fee for all satellite television receivers;
• 2 state-controlled domestic radio stations;
• transmissions of several international broadcasters are available in Burma;
• the opposition-backed station Democratic Voice of Burma broadcasts into Burma via shortwave (2009)

total:

3,955 km

country comparison to the world: 44

narrow gauge:

3,955 km 1.000-m gauge (2008)

total:

27,000 km

country comparison to the world: 101

paved:

3,200 km

unpaved:

23,800 km (2006)

total:

26

country comparison to the world: 90

by type:

bulk carrier 1, cargo 19, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 3, specialized tanker 1

foreign-owned:

3 (Cyprus 1, Germany 1, Japan 1)

registered in other countries:

3 (Panama 3) (2010)

• 18-35 years of age (men) and 18-27 years of age (women) for compulsory military service;
• service obligation 2 years;
• male (ages 18-45) and female (ages 18-35) professionals (including doctors, engineers, mechanics) serve up to 3 years;
• service terms may be streched to 5 years in an officially declared emergency;
• forced conscription of children, although officially prohibited, reportedly continues (2011)

males age 16-49:

14,558,921

females age 16-49:

14,539,703 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

10,281,131

females age 16-49:

10,988,695 (2010 est.)

male:

526,557

female:

510,538 (2010 est.)

• over half of Burma's population consists of diverse ethnic groups who have substantial numbers of kin in neighboring countries;
• Thailand must deal with Karen and other ethnic refugees, asylum seekers, and rebels, as well as illegal cross-border activities from Burma;
• Thailand is studying the feasibility of jointly constructing the Hatgyi Dam on the Salween River near the border with Burma;
• citing environmental, cultural, and social concerns, China is reconsidering construction of 13 dams on the Salween River but energy-starved Burma with backing from Thailand remains intent on building five hydro-electric dams downstream, despite identical regional and international protests;
• India seeks cooperation from Burma to keep Indian Nagaland separatists, such as the United Liberation Front of Assam, from hiding in remote Burmese Uplands;
• after 21 years, Bangladesh in January 2008 resumed talks with Burma on delimiting a maritime boundary

current situation:

• Burma is a source country for women, children, and men trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation;
• Burmese women and children are trafficked to East and Southeast Asia for commercial sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, and forced labor;
• Burmese children are subjected to conditions of forced labor in Thailand as hawkers and beggars;
• women are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation to Malaysia and China;
• some trafficking victims transit Burma from Bangladesh to Malaysia and from China to Thailand;
• Burma's internal trafficking remains the most serious concern occurring primarily from villages to urban centers and economic hubs for labor in industrial zones, agricultural estates, and commercial sexual exploitation;
• the Burmese military continues to engage in the unlawful conscription of child soldiers, and continues to be the main perpetrator of forced labor inside Burma;
• ethnic insurgent groups also used compulsory labor of adults and unlawful recruitment of children;
• the regime's widespread use of and lack of accountability in forced labor and recruitment of child soldiers is particularly worrying and represents the top causal factor for Burma's significant trafficking problem

tier rating:

• Tier 3 - serious problems remain in Burma, and in some areas, most notably in the area of forced labor, the Government of Burma is not making significant efforts to comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, warranting a ranking of Tier 3;
• in other areas, particularly with regard to international sex trafficking of women and girls, the Government of Burma is making significant efforts (2010)

• remains world's second largest producer of illicit opium with an estimated production in 2008 of 340 metric tons, an increase of 26%, and poppy cultivation in 2008 totaled 22,500 hectares, a 4% increase from 2007;
• production in the United Wa State Army's areas of greatest control remains low;
• Shan state is the source of 94% of Burma's poppy cultivation;
• lack of government will to take on major narcotrafficking groups and lack of serious commitment against money laundering continues to hinder the overall antidrug effort;
• major source of methamphetamine and heroin for regional consumption (2008)