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 (10%/1%/89%)

per capita:

728.6 cu m/yr (2005)

• 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

noun:

Burmese (singular and plural)

adjective:

Burmese

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.9 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.77 male(s)/female

total population:

0.99 male(s)/female (2013 est.)

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 the administrative capital

• previous 1947, 1974 (suspended until 2008);
• latest approved by referendum 29 May 2008;
• approved 15 May 2008;
• reformed 2011 (2011)

chief of state:

• President THEIN SEIN (since 4 February 2011);
• Vice President SAI MOUK KHAM (since 3 February 2011);
• Vice President NYAN HTUN (since 15 August 2012)

head of government:

President THEIN SEIN (since 4 February 2011)

cabinet:

cabinet is appointed by the president and confirmed by the parliament; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• THEIN SEIN elected president by the parliament from among three vice presidents;
• the upper house, the lower house, and military members of the parliament each nominate one vice president (president serves a five-year term)

highest court(s):

Supreme Court of the Union (consists of the chief justice and 7-11 judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• chief justice and judges nominated by the president, with approval of the Pythu Hlattaw, and appointed by the president;
• judges normally serve until mandatory retirement at age 70

subordinate courts:

• High Courts of the Region;
• High Courts of the State;
• Court of the Self-Administered Division;
• Court of the Self-Administered Zone;
• district and township courts;
• special courts (for juvenile, municipal, and traffic offenses);
• courts martial

chief of mission:

Ambassador KYAW MYO HTUT (since 3 December 2013)

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:

Ambassador Derek J. MITCHELL (since 11 July 2012)

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) 511-069

• 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

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

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

agriculture:

70%

industry:

7%

services:

23% (2001 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.8%

highest 10%:

32.4% (1998)

• 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

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 (2011)

• government controls all domestic broadcast media;
• 2 state-controlled TV stations with 1 of the stations controlled by the armed forces;
• 2 pay-TV stations are joint state-private ventures;
• access to satellite TV is limited;
• 1 state-controlled domestic radio station and 9 FM stations that are joint state-private ventures;
• transmissions of several international broadcasters are available in parts of Burma;
• the Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia (RFA), BBC Burmese service, the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), and Radio Australia use shortwave to broadcast in Burma;
• VOA, RFA, and DVB produce daily TV news programs that are transmitted by satellite to audiences in Burma

total:

5,031 km

country comparison to the world: 36

narrow gauge:

5,031 km 1.000-m gauge (2008)

total:

29

country comparison to the world: 86

by type:

cargo 22, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 3, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 1

foreign-owned:

2 (Germany 1, Japan 1)

registered in other countries:

3 (Panama 3) (2010)

major seaport(s):

Moulmein, Sittwe

river port(s):

Rangoon (Rangoon River)

• 18-35 years of age (men) and 18-27 years of age (women) for voluntary military service;
• no conscription (a 2010 law reintroducing conscription has not yet entered into force);
• 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 stretched to 5 years in an officially declared emergency;
• Burma signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on 15 August 1991;
• on 27 June 2012, the regime signed a Joint Action Plan on prevention of child recruitment;
• in February 2013, the military formed a new task force to address forced child conscription, which reportedly continues (2013)

males age 16-49:

14,747,845

females age 16-49:

14,710,871 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

10,451,515

females age 16-49:

11,181,537 (2010 est.)

male:

522,478

female:

506,388 (2010 est.)

• over half of Burma's population consists of diverse ethnic groups who have substantial numbers of kin in neighboring countries;
• the Naf River on the border with Bangladesh serves as a smuggling and illegal transit route;
• Bangladesh struggles to accommodate 29,000 Rohingya, Burmese Muslim minority from Arakan State, living as refugees in Cox's Bazar;
• Burmese border authorities are constructing a 200 km (124 mi) wire fence designed to deter illegal cross-border transit and tensions from the military build-up along border with Bangladesh in 2010;
• Bangladesh referred its maritime boundary claims with Burma and India to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea;
• Burmese forces attempting to dig in to the largely autonomous Shan State to rout local militias tied to the drug trade, prompts local residents to periodically flee into neighboring Yunnan Province in China;
• fencing along the India-Burma international border at Manipur's Moreh town is in progress to check illegal drug trafficking and movement of militants;
• 140,000 mostly Karen refugees fleeing civil strife, political upheaval and economic stagnation in Burma live in remote camps in Thailand near the border

IDPs:

649,000 (government offensives against armed ethnic minority groups near its borders with China and Thailand) (2013)

stateless persons:

• 808,075 (2012);
• note - Burma's main group of stateless people is the Rohingya, Muslims living in northern Rakhine State;
• the Burmese Government does not recognize the Rohingya as a "national race" and stripped them of their citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship law, categorizing them as "non-national" or "foreign residents";
• native-born but non-indigenous people, such as Indians, and children born in Thailand to Burmese parents are also stateless;
• the Burmese Government does not grant citizenship to children born outside of the country to Burmese parents who left the country illegally or fled persecution

current situation:

• Burma is a source country for women, children, and men trafficked for the purpose of forced labor, and for women and children subjected to sex trafficking in other countries;
• poor economic conditions have led to increased legal and illegal migration of Burmese adults and children throughout East Asia and parts of the Middle East, where they are subject to forced labor and sex trafficking;
• men are forced to work in the fishing and construction industries, while women and girls are forced into prostitution or domestic servitude;
• some Burmese economic migrants seeking work in Thailand are subsequently subjected to forced labor or sexual exploitation;
• military personnel and insurgent militias unlawfully conscript child soldiers and continue to be the leading perpetrators of forced labor inside the country;
• Burmese children are also forced to work in tea shops, home industries, on plantations, and as beggars

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Burma does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but it is making significant efforts to do so;
• anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts focus on the recruitment and transport of Burmese women and girls across international boundaries for forced marriages and sex trafficking;
• efforts to combat trafficking within Burma remain weak;
• forced labor of civilians and the recruitment of child soldiers by both military and private entities remain serious problems;
• the government continues modest efforts to provide temporary shelter and facilitate safe passage to Burmese victims repatriated from abroad, but its overall victim protection efforts are inadequate;
• in 2012, the government signed a UN-backed action plan for the identification, release, and rehabilitation of children in the Burmese military;
• as a result, some child soldiers have been released, but the government has not taken steps to prevent recruitment (2013)

• world's third largest producer of illicit opium with an estimated production in 2012 of 690 metric tons, an increase of 13% over 2011, and poppy cultivation in 2012 totaled 51,000 hectares, a 17% increase over 2011;
• production in the United Wa State Army's areas of greatest control remains low;
• Shan state is the source of 94.5% 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 (2013)