cia factbook burma

8/2/2019 CIA Factbook Burma

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Introduction Burma

Background: Britain conquered Burma over a period of 62 years (1824-1886) andincorporated it into its Indian Empire. Burma was administered as aprovince of India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-

governing colony; independence from the Commonwealth wasattained in 1948. Gen. NE WIN dominated the government from1962 to 1988, first as military ruler, then as self-appointed president,and later as political kingpin. Despite multiparty legislative electionsin 1990 that resulted in the main opposition party - the NationalLeague for Democracy (NLD) - winning a landslide victory, theruling junta refused to hand over power. NLD leader and NobelPeace Prize recipient AUNG SAN SUU KYI, who was under housearrest from 1989 to 1995 and 2000 to 2002, was imprisoned in May2003 and is currently under house arrest. In December 2004, thejunta announced it was extending her detention for at least an

additional year. Her supporters, as well as all those who promotedemocracy and improved human rights, are routinely harassed orjailed.

Geography Burma

Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay ofBengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand

Geographiccoordinates:

22 00 N, 98 00 E

Mapreferences:

Southeast Asia

Area: total: 678,500 sq kmland: 657,740 sq kmwater: 20,760 sq km

Area -comparative:

slightly smaller than Texas

Landboundaries:

total: 5,876 kmborder countries: Bangladesh 193 km, China 2,185 km, India 1,463km, Laos 235 km, Thailand 1,800 km

Coastline: 1,930 km

Maritimeclaims:

territorial sea: 12 nmcontiguous zone: 24 nmexclusive economic zone: 200 nmcontinental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin


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Climate: tropical monsoon; cloudy, rainy, hot, humid summers (southwestmonsoon, June to September); less cloudy, scant rainfall, mildtemperatures, lower humidity during winter (northeast monsoon,December to April)

Terrain: central lowlands ringed by steep, rugged highlandsElevationextremes:

lowest point: Andaman Sea 0 mhighest point: Hkakabo Razi 5,881 m

Naturalresources:

petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal,some marble, limestone, precious stones, natural gas, hydropower

Land use: arable land: 15.19%permanent crops: 0.97%other: 83.84% (2001)

Irrigated land: 15,920 sq km (1998 est.)

Naturalhazards:

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

Environment -current issues:

deforestation; industrial pollution of air, soil, and water; inadequatesanitation and water treatment contribute to disease

Environment -internationalagreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-KyotoProtocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea,Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,Tropical Timber 94signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography -note:

strategic location near major Indian Ocean shipping lanes

People Burma

Population: 42,909,464note: estimates for this country take into account the effects of excessmortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy,higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population growthrates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex

than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.)Age structure: 0-14 years: 27.2% (male 5,967,487/female 5,717,795)

15-64 years: 67.8% (male 14,448,887/female 14,641,419)65 years and over: 5% (male 939,092/female 1,194,784) (2005 est.)

Median age: total: 26.14 yearsmale: 25.57 yearsfemale: 26.72 years (2005 est.)


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Populationgrowth rate:

0.42% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 18.11 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 12.15 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migrationrate:

-1.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/femaleunder 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/femaletotal population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortalityrate:

total: 67.24 deaths/1,000 live birthsmale: 73.11 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 61.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Lifeexpectancy at

birth:

total population: 60.7 yearsmale: 57.8 yearsfemale: 63.78 years (2005 est.)

Total fertilityrate:

2.01 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS -adult

prevalence rate:

1.2% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS -people living

withHIV/AIDS:

330,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS -deaths:

20,000 (2003 est.)

Majorinfectiousdiseases:

degree of risk: very highfood or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea,hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria are high risks insome locations (2004)

Nationality: noun: Burmese (singular and plural)adjective: Burmese

Ethnic groups: Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Indian2%, Mon 2%, other 5%


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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: 85.3%male: 89.2%female: 81.4% (2002)

Government Burma

Country name: conventional long form: Union of Burmaconventional short form: Burmalocal long form: Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw (translated bythe US Government as Union of Myanma and by the Burmese asUnion of Myanmar)

local short form: Myanma Naingngandawformer: Socialist Republic of the Union of Burmanote: since 1989 the military authorities in Burma have promoted thename Myanmar as a conventional name for their state; this decisionwas not approved by any sitting legislature in Burma, and the USGovernment did not adopt the name, which is a derivative of theBurmese short-form name Myanma Naingngandaw

Governmenttype:

military junta

Capital: Rangoon (government refers to the capital as Yangon)

Administrativedivisions:

7 divisions (taing-myar, singular - taing) and 7 states (pyi ne-myar,singular - pyi ne): divisions: Ayeyarwady, Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing,Tanintharyi, Yangon: states: Chin State, Kachin State, Kayin State, Kayah State, MonState, Rakhine State, Shan State

Independence: 4 January 1948 (from UK)

Nationalholiday:

Independence Day, 4 January (1948); Union Day, 12 February(1947)

Constitution: 3 January 1974; suspended since 18 September 1988; nationalconvention convened in 1993 to draft a new constitution butcollapsed in 1996; reconvened in 2004 but does not includeparticipation of democratic opposition

Legal system: has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction


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Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executivebranch:

chief of state: Chairman of the State Peace and Development CouncilSr. Gen. THAN SHWE (since 23 April 1992)head of government: Prime Minister, Gen SOE WIN (since 19

October 2004)cabinet: State Peace and Development Council (SPDC); militaryjunta, so named 15 November 1997, which initially assumed power18 September 1988 under the name State Law and Order RestorationCouncil (SLORC); the SPDC oversees the cabinetelections: none

Legislativebranch:

unicameral People's Assembly or Pyithu Hluttaw (485 seats;members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)elections: last held 27 May 1990, but Assembly never allowed byjunta to conveneelection results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party -

NLD 392 (opposition), SNLD 23 (opposition), NUP 10 (pro-government), other 60

Judicial branch: remnants of the British-era legal system are in place, but there is noguarantee of a fair public trial; the judiciary is not independent of theexecutive

Political partiesand leaders:

National League for Democracy or NLD [AUNG SHWE, chairman,AUNG SAN SUU KYI, general secretary]; National Unity Party orNUP (pro-government) [THA KYAW]; Shan Nationalities Leaguefor Democracy or SNLD [KHUN HTUN OO]; and other smallerparties

Politicalpressure groups

and leaders:

National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma or NCGUB(self-proclaimed government in exile) ["Prime Minister" Dr. SEINWIN] consists of individuals, some legitimately elected to thePeople's Assembly in 1990 (the group fled to a border area andjoined insurgents in December 1990 to form parallel government inexile); Kachin Independence Army or KIA; Karen National Union orKNU; several Shan factions; United Wa State Army or UWSA;Union Solidarity and Development Association or USDA (pro-government, a social and political organization) [THAN AUNG,general secretary]

Internationalorganization

participation:

APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol,IOC, ITU, NAM, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomaticrepresentation

chief of mission: vacantchancery: 2300 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008


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in the US: telephone: [1] (202) 332-9044FAX: [1] (202) 332-9046consulate(s) general: New York

Diplomatic

representationfrom the US:

chief of mission: Charge d'Affaires Carmen M. MARTINEZ

embassy: 581 Merchant Street, Rangoon (GPO 521)mailing address: Box B, APO AP 96546telephone: [95] (1) 379 880, 379 881FAX: [95] (1) 256 018

Flagdescription:

red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing, 14white five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a stalk ofrice; the 14 stars represent the 7 administrative divisions and 7 states

Economy Burma

Economy -

overview:

Burma is a resource-rich country that suffers from government

controls, inefficient economic policies, and abject rural poverty. Thejunta took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy afterdecades of failure under the "Burmese Way to Socialism", but thoseefforts have since stalled and some of the liberalization measureshave been rescinded. Burma has been unable to achieve monetary orfiscal stability, resulting in an economy that suffers from seriousmacroeconomic imbalances - including inflation and multiple officialexchange rates that overvalue the Burmese kyat. In addition, mostoverseas development assistance ceased after the junta began tosuppress the democracy movement in 1988 and subsequently ignoredthe results of the 1990 legislative elections. Economic sanctions

against Burma by the United States - including a ban on imports ofBurmese products and a ban on provision of financial services by USpersons in response to the government of Burma's attack in May2003 on AUNG SAN SUU KYI and her convoy - further slowed theinflow of foreign exchange. Official statistics are inaccurate.Published statistics on foreign trade are greatly understated becauseof the size of the black market and unofficial border trade - oftenestimated to be one to two times the size of the official economy.Though the Burmese government has good economic relations withits neighbors, a better investment climate and an improved politicalsituation are needed to promote foreign investment, exports, and

tourism. In February 2003, a major banking crisis hit the country's 20private banks, shutting them down and disrupting the economy. Asof January 2004, the largest private banks remained moribund,leaving the private sector with little formal access to credit.

GDP(purchasing

power parity):

$74.3 billion (2004 est.)


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GDP - realgrowth rate:

-1.3% (2004 est.)

GDP - percapita:

purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2004 est.)

GDP -composition by

sector:

agriculture: 56.6%industry: 8.8%services: 34.5% (2004 est.)

Labor force: 27.01 million (2004 est.)

Labor force -by occupation:

agriculture 70%, industry 7%, services 23% (2001 est.)

Unemploymentrate:

5.2% (2004 est.)

Populationbelow poverty

line:

25% (2000 est.)

Householdincome or

consumptionby percentage

share:

lowest 10%: 2.8%highest 10%: 32.4% (1998)

Inflation rate(consumer

prices):

17.2% (2004 est.)

Investment(gross fixed):

10.2% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget: revenues: $474.9 millionexpenditures: $955.5 million, including capital expenditures of $5.7billion (2004 est.)

Agriculture -products:

rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane; hardwood; fishand fish products

Industries: agricultural processing; knit and woven apparel; wood and woodproducts; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials;pharmaceuticals; fertilizer; cement

Industrialproduction

growth rate:

NA

Electricity - 5.068 billion kWh (2003)


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production:

Electricity -production by

source:

fossil fuel: 44.5%hydro: 43.4%nuclear: 0%

other: 12.1% (2002)Electricity -

consumption:3.484 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity -exports:

0 kWh (2002)

Electricity -imports:

0 kWh (2004)

Oil -production:

17,550 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil -consumption:

60,950 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports: 3,356 bbl/day (2003)

Oil - imports: 49,230 bbl/day (2003)

Oil - provedreserves:

3.2 billion bbl (2003)

Natural gas -production:

9.98 billion cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas -consumption:


Natural gas -exports:


Natural gas -imports:

0 cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas -proved

reserves:

2.46 trillion cu m (2003)

Currentaccountbalance:

$-185 million (2004 est.)

Exports: $2.137 billion f.o.b.note: official export figures are grossly underestimated due to the


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value of timber, gems, narcotics, rice, and other products smuggledto Thailand, China, and Bangladesh (2004 est.)

Exports -commodities:

clothing, gas, wood products, pulses, beans, fish, rice

Exports -partners:

Thailand 37.8%, India 11.7%, China 6%, Japan 5.3% (2004)

Imports: $1.754 billion f.o.b.note: import figures are grossly underestimated due to the value ofconsumer goods, diesel fuel, and other products smuggled in fromThailand, China, Malaysia, and India (2004 est.)

Imports -commodities:

fabric, petroleum products, plastics, machinery, transport equipment,construction materials, crude oil; food products

Imports -

partners:

China 29.8%, Singapore 20.8%, Thailand 19.3%, South Korea 5.2%,

Malaysia 4.8% (2004)

Reserves offoreign

exchange andgold:

$590 million (2004 est.)

Debt - external: $6.752 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid -recipient:

$127 million (2001 est.)

Currency(code): kyat (MMK)

Currency code: MMK

Exchange rates: kyats per US dollar - 5.7459 (2004), 6.0764 (2003), 6.5734 (2002),6.6841 (2001), 6.4257 (2000)note: these are official exchange rates; unofficial exchange ratesranged in 2004 from 815 kyat/US dollar to nearly 970 kyat/US dollar

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Communications Burma

Telephones -main lines in

use:

357,300 (2003)

Telephones -mobile cellular:

66,500 (2003)


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Telephonesystem:

general assessment: barely meets minimum requirements for localand intercity service for business and government; internationalservice is fairdomestic: NAinternational: country code - 95; satellite earth station - 2, Intelsat

(Indian Ocean), and ShinSat

Radiobroadcaststations:

AM 1, FM 1 (2004)

Radios: 4.2 million (1997)

Televisionbroadcaststations:

2 (2004)

Televisions: 320,000 (2000)

Internetcountry code:

.mm

Internet hosts: 3 (2003)

Internet ServiceProviders

(ISPs):

1note: as of September 2000, Internet connections were legal only forthe government, tourist offices, and a few large businesses (2000)

Internet users: 28,000 (2003)

Transportation Burma

Railways: total: 3,955 kmnarrow gauge: 3,955 km 1.000-m gauge (2004)

Highways: total: 28,200 kmpaved: 3,440 kmunpaved: 24,760 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: 12,800 km (2004)

Pipelines: gas 2,056 km; oil 558 km (2004)

Ports andharbors:

Moulmein, Rangoon, Sittwe

Merchantmarine:

total: 37 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 429,144 GRT/659,622 DWTby type: bulk carrier 8, cargo 19, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 3, rollon'roll off 3, specialized tanker 1foreign-owned: 10 (Germany 4, Japan 5, United Kingdom 1) (2005)


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Airports: 78 (2004 est.)

Airports - withpaved runways:

total: 9over 3,047 m: 22,438 to 3,047 m: 5

1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2004 est.)Airports - with

unpavedrunways:

total: 69over 3,047 m: 21,524 to 2,437 m: 16914 to 1,523 m: 20under 914 m: 31 (2004 est.)

Heliports: 1 (2004 est.)

Military Burma

Militarybranches:

Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw): Army, Navy, Air Force (2005)

Military serviceage and

obligation:

18 years of age for voluntary military service for both sexes (May2002)

Manpoweravailable for

militaryservice:

males age 18-49: 11,254,374females age 18-49: 11,303,100 (2005 est.)

Manpower fitfor militaryservice:

males age 18-49: 6,512,923females age 18-49: 6,789,720 (2005 est.)

Manpowerreaching

military serviceage annually:

males: 440,914females: 427,382 (2005 est.)

Militaryexpenditures -dollar figure:

$39 million (FY97)

Militaryexpenditures -

percent ofGDP:

2.1% (FY97)

TransnationalIssues

Burma


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Disputes -international:

over half of Burma's population consists of diverse ethnic groupswith substantial numbers of kin beyond its borders; despitecontinuing border committee talks, significant differences remainwith Thailand over boundary alignment and the handling of ethnicrebels, refugees, and illegal cross-border activities; ethnic Karens

flee into Thailand to escape fighting between Karen rebels andBurmese troops, in 2004 Thailand sheltered about 118,000 Burmeserefugees; Karens also protest Thai support for a Burmesehydroelectric dam on the Salween River near the border;environmentalists in Burma and Thailand continue to voice concernover China's construction of hydroelectric dams upstream on theNujiang/Salween River in Yunnan Province; India seeks cooperationfrom Burma to keep Indian Nagaland separatists from hiding inremote Burmese uplands

Refugees and

internallydisplacedpersons:

IDPs: 600,000 - 1,000,000 (government offensives against ethnic

insurgent groups near borders; most IDPs are ethnic Karen, Karenni,Shan, and Mon) (2004)

Illicit drugs: remains world's second largest producer of illicit opium (estimatedproduction in 2004 - 292 metric tons, down 40% from 2003 due toeradication efforts and drought; cultivation in 2004 - 30,900 hectares,a 34% decline from 2003); lack of government will and ability totake on major narcotrafficking groups and lack of seriouscommitment against money laundering continues to hinder theoverall antidrug effort; major source of methamphetamine and heroinfor regional consumption; currently under Financial Action Task

Force countermeasures due to continued failure to address itsinadequate money-laundering controls (2005)

This page was last updated on 1 November, 2005

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