Region: South-east Asia

Capital: Yangon (Rangoon)

Population: 42 720 196 (July 2004 est.)

Surface area: 676 578 square km

Currency: kyat (MMK)

GDP per capita: $1,800 (2003 est.)

Background:
Britain conquered Burma/ Myanmar over a period of 62 years (1824-1886). It was administered as a province of India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony. Independence from the Commonwealth was attained in 1948.

Gen. NE WIN dominated the government from 1962 to 1988, first as military ruler, then as self-appointed president, and later as political kingpin. In 1990 the National League for Democracy (NLD) won elections, but the ruling junta has refused to hand over power. NLD leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient AUNG SAN SUU KYI has mainly been in house arrest ever since. Her supporters, as well as all those who promote democracy and improved human rights, are routinely harassed or jailed.

Economy – overview:
Burma is a resource-rich country that suffers from government controls and abject rural poverty. The military regime took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy after decades of failure under the "Burmese Way to Socialism", but those efforts have since stalled.

Most overseas development assistance ceased after the junta suppressed the democracy movement and ignored the results of the 1990 election. In February 2003, a major banking crisis hit the country's 20 private banks.

Published estimates of foreign trade are greatly understated because of the size of the black market and border trade - often estimated to be one to two times the official economy.

United Nations Membership date: 19 April 1948

New York Mission:
Permanent Mission of the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations,
10 East 77th Street, New York, N.Y. 10021
Telephone: 212-535-1310 / 1311 / 0467
Fax: 212-737-2421