Overview

Burma, known as Myanmar since 1989, is approximately 261,220 square miles. It is bordered on the north by China, on the west by the Bay of Bengal, India and Bangladesh, on the east by Thailand and China, and on the south by the Indian Ocean and Thailand. A tropical climate, it experiences monsoon rains for six months of the year (from May to October), a cool season (from October through February), and a hot season (from February through May). The name of its capital, Rangoon, is an English corruption of the Burmese name, Yangon, meaning "End of Dangers," given by King Alaungpaya in 1755. Myanmar's population is divided primarily into seven separate administrative states, in addition to the Burmans: the Chins, the Kachins, the Karens, the Kayahs, the Mons, the Arakenese and the Shans. There are more than 125 separate ethnic groups represented by the Burmese. An accurate count...