An Introduction to Mayanmar

An Introduction to MayanmarMyanmar is located in southeastward Asia, bordered by Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, chinaware on the northeast, Laos and Thailand on the east, the Andaman Sea on the south, and the Bay of Bengal on the southwest. It has a land part of 678, 500 squ be kilometers and, as much(prenominal), is the largest mainland southeastern United States Asian verdant and the siemens largest in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) afterward Ind wholenesssia.There are two ecological niches in the country (1) the lowland central plains, which brood amidst the Irrawaddy and Salween Rivers in the center of the country and are occupied by the dominant Burmans and (2) the highlands surrounding the plains, which are primarily inhabited by minority groups such as the Shans, Kachin, Karen, and Chin. The lowland plains are dominated by a monsoon climate of rain from June to October, a cool interlude for a calendar month or two, and then a hot , dry period lasting until the rains return. The unsmooth regions experience the same general seasonal fluctuations with slightly cooler temperatures. Temperature could get ahead 38C between May and October and fall to 20C between December and February.History and Key EventsThe Mon and Pyu peoples are reported to be the first inhabitants in the area. The arrival of the Mon people, who mig enjoind to Southeast Asia from the north is said to commence occurred in the ninth speed of light B.C.E. The first Pyu city-state, Beikthano, was established during the first century C.E. but in 832 C.E. the final Pyu city-state, Sri Ksetra, falls to the Nanzhao farming of China. In 1044, the Burman kingdom of Pagan was founded but experienced invasions by the Mongols in 1287 B.C.E. Pagan declined and innovative centers of power were located at Pinya, Sagaing, and Ava. With the arrival of the British colonizers, a serial publication of war followed. The first Anglo-Burmese struggle occurred between 1824-1826. The second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852 resulted to the expansion of the British territory. As a consequence of the third Anglo-Burmese War in 1883, Burman territories along with that of the neighboring minority groups became part of British India.Burmese nationalism emerged with the establishment of the Young Mens Buddhist association in 1906. They overt a number of schools dedicated to raising the cultural and educational levels of Burmans, so they can compete with Indians for jobs in the colonial government. Strikes against British colonial formula followed. Burma was separated fromfrnhtfcnfnhgbvf India in 1937 but it was soon followed the lacquerese occupation. In 1948, Burma gained independence. A war machine coup in 1962 placed Ne Win in power. Since then, the country had intermittently been under military rule. The government ignored the preference victory by the opposition party, the National League for Democracy and its leader, daw Aung San Suu Kyi was i mprisoned.On July 23, 1997, Myanmar joined ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Adminstrative changes were made in attest 2006. Nay Pyi Daw became the new administrative capital. However, in 2007, the country remained broken and huge fuel price increases sparked protests, later dubbed the saffron revolution after the robes of monks who withal joined in.On November 7, 2010, Myanmar held its elections in accordance with the new fundamental law that was approved in the referendum in 2008. As part of Myanmars Roadmap to Democracy, Suu Kyis was released from house discover and detention after 14 years on November 2010.Culture and night clubThe Pyu and Mon were the earliest inhabitants of the area. Under the 1974 Constitution, the governmental map demarcated heathen minority states Chin, Karen (Kayin), Kayah, Mon, Rakhine and Shan and seven divisions where Burmans are in the majority. Myanmar has around 135 linguistic sub-groups from 13 ethnic families. Total populat ion as of July 2010 is estimated at 53, 414, 374. In terms of suppurate structure, 25.3 pct are below 14 years old 69.3 percent are between 15-64 years old and 5.4 percent are 65 years and preceding(prenominal). The median age is 26 years old and conduct expectancy is 64.23 years. The population is expected to grow at a rate of 1.096 percent. In terms of literarcy, 89.9 percent of the population age 15 and above are capable of reading and writing.Burmese is the official oral communication. It belongs to the Sino-Tibetan group of languages and is verbalise by the majority of the population. Likewise, around 15 percent of the population babble Shan and Karen. English is spoken mainly in large cities and among educated sociable groups. Majority of the population, 89 percent, are Buddhists. 4 percent are Christians, 4 percent are Muslims, 1 percent are animist and the rest 2 percent belongs to other local religious groups. Some of the innate people in the hill areas, who followe d various types of shamanistic rituals in the precolonial era, were reborn to Christianity in the nineteenth and twentieth century.Pagan, which is said to be the birthplace of Burmese culture, is the place where the first Burmese empire was founded. This is where the newcomers from the Indo-Chinese plateau first wrote their language and where the Burmese first received the teachings of Buddha. Furthermore, the Ananda temple serves as a commemoration to the great civilization of Pagan. This cave-type temple was built by King Kyanzittha in 1090. Tourist would come for the Ananda temple festival which falls on the fully moon of Pyatho as up to a thousand monks chant twenty-four hours and night during the three days of the festival.GovernmentThe Republic of the Union of Myanmar was antecedently known as the Union of Myanmar or the Union of Burma. Myanmar had been under military rule since 1962. The administrative capital was moved on November 6, 2005 from Yangon, the countrys econom ic hub. after more than two decades, election were held on November 7, 2010. The parliament was convened in February 2011 and agent Prime Minister Thein Sein was sworn into office as president on March 30, 2011. The event marked the end of the junta that ru conduct the country for decades. Tin Myint Oo and Sai Muak Kham will serve as vice presidents. 30 ministers and 39 deputy ministers were also appointed by the president to his government. The legislature is bicameral, which act the House of Nationalities (Amyotha Hluttaw) and the House of Representatives (Pythu Hluttaw). Military forces was estimated at 375,500 in 2006, making it one of largest military in Asia after China and India. The military, that uses Chinese technology, is given a huge portion of the national budget.compriseEconomyMyanmars miserliness is heavily centered on agricultural processing. Major agricultural products are rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, and sugarcane. new(prenominal) industries includ e timberland products copper, tin, tungsten, iron cement, construction materials pharmaceuticals fertilizer oil and inhering gas garments, jade and gems. Total exports (which primarily include natural gas, wood products, pulses, beans, fish, rice, clothing, jade and gems) were $6.862 billion in 2009. Major export partners were Thailand (46 percent), India (19 percent), China (9 percent), and Japan (6 percent). On the other hand, total exports (which primarily include fabric, petroleum products, fertilizer, plastics, machinery, rape equipment cement, construction materials, crude oil food products, edible oil) were $4.02 billion in 2009. Major export partners were China (33 percent), Thailand (26 percent), and Singapore (15 percent). Myanmar is also heavily symbiotic on official development assistance (ODAs) in keeping its economy afloat.Foreign RelationsCURRENT ISSUESThailandKaren and other ethnic refugees, asylum seekers, and rebels, as well as illegal cross-border activities f rom Burma the feasibility of jointly constructing the Hatgyi Dam on the Salween River near the border with Burma citing environmental, cultural, and social concerns,Chinareconsidering construction of 13 dams on the Salween River but energy-starved Burma with backing from Thailand remains intent on building 5 hydro-electric dams downstream, despite identical regional and international protestsIndiaseeks cooperation from Burma to keep Indian Nagaland separatists, such as the get together Liberation Front of Assam, from hiding in international Burmese UplandsBangladeshafter 21 years, in January 2008, it resumed talks with Burma on delimiting a maritime boundaryAUSTRALIACurrent Australian policy toward Burma is tightly targeted with admire to both humanitarian aid and financial sanctions imposed on named individuals who form, or are connected to, its ruling military regimen.Australia is well placed to savant a number of diplomatic actions on Burma, including booking a United Natio ns Security Council-imposed arms embargo.SanctionsThe Australian governments current policy toward the Burmese regime is best described as targeted, incorporating a combination of sanctions applied to specifically named individuals and activities, and expenditures allocated to specific purposes and projects while eschewing broad-based restrictions on trade and investment.Diplomatic InitiativesAustralia co-sponsored a village on human rights in Burma at the March 2009 session of the UN kind-hearted Rights Council in Geneva. In November 2008, Australia co-sponsored a resolution on human rights in Burma in the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.Humanitarian AssistanceThe Australian government provides humanitarian assistance to the Burmese people, with a focus on women and children, ethnic minorities, and displaced persons and refugees on the Thailand-Burma and Bangladesh-Burma borders.CHINAIn 1949, Myanmar became the first noncommunist country to officially recognize the ne wly established Peoples Republic of China.China has become an beta partner for Myanmar in trade, economic assistance, and investment. In 2008, bilateral trade reached US$2.63 billion, increasing 26.4% compared to the year before. In fiscal year 2008-2009, Chinas investment in Myanmar was US$856 million, which ranked first among the investors in Myanmar that year.According to a youthful report prepared by the International Crisis Group, China may be able to extract minor concessions, but these bind never led to fundamental changes in Myanmar. China could not stop the conflict between the Myanmar army and the Kokang cease-fire group. That conflict forced an estimated 30,000 Kokang and Chinese to flee from Myanmar into Chinas Yunnan Province, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry noted that the conflict harmed the rights and interests of Chinese citizens living in Yunnan. The report also said that Chinas influence is limited by the Tatmadaw governments profound distrust of China and its anxiety about domination by China (which will not occur).Bilateral relations between China and Myanmar are nevertheless on a stable base, and dialogue between the two countries is frequent.On folk 28, 2009, for example, General Tin Aung Myint Oo, first secretary of the Myanmar government, attended a reply in honor of the sixtieth anniversary of the Peoples Republic of China in Rangoon along with Lieutenant General Myint Swe, the chief of the Bureau of Special Operations-5, which oversees the Rangoon regional Military Command, and other senior officials.JAPANThe chief aim of the Nipponese governments policy toward Myanmar is to encourage the government and the people of Myanmar to move in the watchfulness of political democratization and economic development.Japan assists Myanmar in economic development, recognizing the fatality and urgency of enhancing the welfare of the people as well as the geo-economic magnificence of the country as a link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.In the context of economic cooperation, Japan has provided grant and technical assistance, although yen-denominated loans have been suspended since 1988. The purpose of this assistance has been mainly to improve humanitarian conditions through medical and health care, school construction, and education. The allocation of financial resources has been decided on a case-by-case basis, taking into account improvements in the human rights pip and the progress of political democratization.PHILIPPINESAreas in which specific Philippine policies could be sayProviding assistance in education modernization programs, including provisions for liberal arts and humanities.Working within ASEAN to provide the basis for political reform in Burma/Myanmar by making use of provisions in the ASEAN Charter that hike up respect for democracy and human rights and in the ASEAN Political and Security biotic community that urge the sharing of values and norms in the region.Initiating exchange visits by new people on a bilateral basis between Burma/Myanmar and the Philippines, including clump exchanges through nurture programs for young bureaucrats (e.g., the Foreign Service Officer cadet program in the Philippines).Initiating cultural exchanges between the two countries.ASEANASEAN functions according to consensus decisions, it is unbelievable to serve as anything more than a structure for managing economic relations, and it cannot subdue the reluctance of India and China to do anything that would adversely affect their economic interests in Burma/Myanmar.ASEANs Stand on MyanmarDefended the membership of Myanmar in ASEANOpposed any dissimilitude directed at Myanmar in ASEANs external relations and cooperation with any dialogue partner or other external partyContinued to oppose Myanmars quest to join Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation as soon as the moratorium on organization membership is liftedSupported Myanmars joining the annual ASEAN-Europe meet starting from the fi fth meeting in Hanoi in October 2004 boost and supported dialogue and cooperation among all parties concerned with achieving peaceful resolution to the political problems and national reconciliation in MyanmarSupported the prompt implementation of Myanmars seven-step roadmap to democracy, as expressed, in particular, at the 2003 ASEAN Summit in BaliEncouraged Myanmar to keep chum ASEAN member states fully informed of progress as well as setbacks in implementing various measures in the roadmapSupported the ASEAN chair when interacting with MyanmarSupported the erect offices of the UN secretary-general and his special envoy to MyanmarSupport capacity building for the Myanmar government, including attachment to and training at the ASEAN Secretariat, as well as recruitment of Myanmar nationals to work in the ASEAN Secretariat.Take an active leadership role in mobilizing ASEAN and international support for the operations to provide humanitarian assistance to survivors of Cyclone Nargis , under the Tripartite snapper Group of ASEAN, the United Nations, and Myanmar