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(formerly known as Burma)
INTRODUCTION
Background: Despite multiparty elections
in 1990 that resulted in the main opposition party winning a decisive
victory, the military junta ruling the country refused to hand over
power. Key opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient AUNG
San Suu Kyi, under house arrest from 1989 to 1995, was again placed
under house detention in September 2000; her supporters are routinely
harassed or jailed.
GEOGRAPHY
Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the
Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand.
Geographic coordinates: 22 00 N, 98 00 E
Area: total: 678,500 sq km
land: 657,740 sq km
water: 20,760 sq km
Land boundaries: total: 5,876 km
border countries: Bangladesh 193 km, China 2,185 km, India 1,463
km, Laos 235km, Thailand 1,800 km
Climate: 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).
Natural resources: petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper,
tungsten, lead, coal, some marble, limestone, precious stones, natural
gas, hydropower.
Geography - note: strategic location near
major Indian Ocean shipping lanes.
PEOPLE
Population: 41,994,678
note: estimates for this country explicitly
take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this
can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and
death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the
distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be
expected (July 2001 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 29.14% (male 6,245,798;
female 5,992,074)
15-64 years: 66.08% (male 13,779,571; female 13,970,707)
65 years and over: 4.78% (male 895,554; female 1,110,974) (2001
est.)
Population growth rate: 0.6% (2001 est.)
Birth rate: 20.13 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate: 12.3 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 55.16 years
male: 53.73 years
female: 56.68 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.3 children born/woman (2001 est.)
Ethnic groups: Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese
3%, Mon 2%, Indian 2%, other 5%.
Religions: Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic
1%), Muslim 4%, animist 1%, other 2%
Languages: Burmese, minority ethnic groups have their own languages
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83.1%
male: 88.7%
female: 77.7% (1995 est.)
note: these are official statistics; estimates
of functional literacy are likely closer to 30% (1999
est.)
GOVERNMENT
Government type: military regime
Capital: Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon)
Administrative divisions: 7 divisions* (yin-mya, singular - yin)
and 7 states (pyine-mya, singular - pyine); Chin State, Ayeyarwady*,
Bago*, Kachin State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Magway*, Mandalay*,
Mon State, Rakhine State, Sagaing*, Shan State, Tanintharyi*, Yangon*
Independence: 4 January 1948 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 January (1948)
Legal system: has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Executive branch:
chief of state: Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Peace and
Development Council Sr. Gen. THAN SHWE (since 23 April 1992); note
- the prime minister is both the chief of state and head of government.
head of government: Prime Minister and Chairman
of the State Peace and Development Council Sr. Gen. THAN SHWE (since
23 April 1992); note - the prime minister is both the chief of state
and head of government.
cabinet: State Peace and Development Council (SPDC);
military junta, so named 15 November 1997, which initially assumed
power 18 September 1988 under the name State Law and Order Restoration
Council; the SPDC oversees the cabinet.
Elections: none; the prime minister assumed
power upon resignation of the former prime minister.
ECONOMY
Economy - overview: Myanmar has a mixed economy
with private activity dominant in agriculture, light industry, transport,
and with substantial state-controlled activity, mainly in energy,
heavy industry and the rice trade. Government policy in the 1990s
has aimed at revitalizing the economy after three decades of tight
central planning. Private activity markedly increased in the early
to mid-1990s, but began to decline in the past several years due
to frustrations with the unfriendly business environment and political
pressure from western nations. Published estimates of Myanmar's
foreign trade are greatly understated because of the volume of black-market,
illicit, and border trade. A major ongoing problem is the failure
to achieve monetary and fiscal stability. Burma remains a poor Asian
country and living standards for the majority have not improved
over the past decade. Short-term growth will continue to be restrained
because of poor government planning and minimal foreign investment.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $63.7 billion (2000
est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4.9% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 42%
industry: 17%
services: 41% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: 23% (1997
est.)
Household income or consumption
by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 32.4% (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 18% (1999)
Labor force: 19.7 million (FY98/99 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 65%, industry 10%, services
25% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate: 7.1% (official FY97/98 est.)
Budget: revenues: $7.9 billion
expenditures: $12.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.7
billion (FY96/97)
Industries: agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood
and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials;
pharmaceuticals; fertilizer
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Agriculture - products : paddy rice, corn,
oilseed, sugarcane, pulses; hardwood
Exports: $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1999)
Exports - commodities: apparel 36%, foodstuffs 22%, wood products
21%, precious stones 5% (1999)
Exports - partners: India 13%, Singapore 11%, China 11%, US 8% (1999
est.)
note: official trade statistics do not include
trade in illicit goods - such as narcotics, teak, and gems - or
the largely unrecorded border trade with China and Thailand
Imports: $2.5 billion (f.o.b.,
1999)
Imports - commodities: machinery, transport equipment, construction
materials, food products
Imports - partners: Singapore 28%, Thailand 12%, China 10%, Japan
10%, South Korea 9% (1999 est.)
Debt - external: $6 billion (FY99/00 est.)
Currency: kyat (MMK)
Currency code: MMK
Exchange rates: kyats per US dollar - official rate - 6.5972 (January
2001), 6.5167 (2000), 6.2858 (1999), 6.3432 (1998), 6.2418 (1997),
5.9176 (1996); kyats per US dollar - black market exchangerate
- 435 (yearend 2000)
Fiscal year: 1 April
- 31 March.
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