Burma

Brief  Facts About Burma

Burma is the largest country on the Southeast Asia mainland. Renamed Myanmar by the military junta in 1989, it is bounded by India and Bangladesh to the west; China to the north; Thailand, and Laos to the east; and the Indian Ocean (the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal) to the south. Burma was colonized by the British in 1886 and regained independence in 1948. After a short-lived democratic period, the military took power in 1962 and has ruled the country ever since. While students and monks were successful in helping to end British rule, popular protests led by students in 1988 and by Buddhist monks in 2007 have not dislodged the military that effectively "occupies" the country. Shortly after losing free elections in 1990, the junta imprisoned many of the elected officials including members of the National League for Democracy headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest. The military regime in Burma is widely condemned for its comprehensive abuse of personal and civil freedoms through intimidation, torture, forced labor and relocation, rape, and murder. In its annual assessment of global political rights, Freedom House gave Burma its worst rating for freedom along with only 7 other countries in the world.

As the last credible, national census was conducted during colonial rule in the 1930s, no one knows exactly how many people live inside Burma. The diverse population likely totals less than 50 million due to high infant mortality and low life expectancy resulting from unchecked epidemic diseases such as malaria and HIV-AIDS. The majority of civilians are ethnic Burman, many of whom live in the valley of the Irrawaddy River that flows south to the former capital of Rangoon (the military recently built a new administrative capital city called Nyawpidaw or "home of kings"). The mountainous borderlands surrounding the valley lowlands of Burma are home to numerous ethnicities. The eight largest groups are the Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni (Kayah), Mon, Shan, Rakhine (Arakan), and Burmese. The people of Burma can boast a vivid history of art, culture, religion, architecture, comedy, and law. Buddhism is the primary religion of Burma and has shaped many social and cultural traditions but Christianity, Islam, Animism, Nat (spirit) worship are also practiced throughout the country.

Despite Burma's beauty, diversity, and rich natural resources, most Burmese live in poverty because of the military's mismanagement of the economy. Burma used to be the largest exporter of rice in the region but now the regime strictly controls what farmers can plant and sell. There are very few public services. Once, Burma was envied by neighbors for its top education system. Today, barely half of Burma's children finish primary school and most universities have been disbanded by the military in an effort to quell dissent. The UNDP 2007 Human Development Report indicates that the junta spends less of the country's GPD on health services than almost any other country in the world.

On May 2, 2008, Cyclone Nargis struck Burma's Irrawaddy Delta, plunging the country into a humanitarian disaster that the junta could not completely ignore. Amidst the crisis, on May 10th, the military junta held a referendum on a draft constitution (written by handpicked representatives) which sought to justify its rule to the international community. Opponents of the constitution were prohibited, by law, from campaigning against it. According to an independent assessment by ANFREL (the Asian Network for Free Elections) the military's claim of a 99% voter turnout "contrasts with the relatively low number of people seen at polling stations and cynicism amongst voters about the potential for the constitution to bring change." The junta further claims that the 92.4% of citizens outside of the Delta region and 92.5% of people living in the cyclone-affected region voted in favor of the military-sponsored constitution. Despite the junta's violence, including its brutal crackdown on peace demonstrations in 2007 and its negligence towards cyclone victims, many Burmese remain committed to ideals of democracy and freedom. Emboldened by the monks' protests, a new generation of activists is joining in the fight for freedom.