Myanmar, officially, Union of Myanmar, republic in Southeast Asia, bounded on the west by Bangladesh; on the northwest by India's Assam State; on the northeast by China�s Yunnan Province; on the east by Laos and Thailand; and on the southwest by the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The longest land border is shared with China. Myanmar (pronounced myahn-mahr) was known as Burma until 1989; the English version of the country�s name was changed by the military government that took over in 1988. Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon) is the commercial capital and largest city. The administrative capital is Pyinmana.

The total area of Myanmar is 676,552 sq km (261,218 sq mi). From north to south, Myanmar stretches about 2,085 km (about 1,295 mi); from east to west, the distance is about 930 km (about 575 mi). The coastal region is known as Lower Myanmar, while the interior region is known as Upper Myanmar. A horseshoe-shaped mountain complex and the valley of the Irrawaddy River system are the country�s dominant topographical features. The mountains of the northern margin rise to 5,881 m (19,295 ft) atop Hkakabo Razi, the highest peak in Southeast Asia. The two other mountain systems have northern to southern axes. The Arakan Yoma range, with peaks mostly between 915 m (3,000 ft) and 1,525 m (5,000 ft), forms a barrier between Myanmar and the subcontinent of India. The Bilauktaung Range, the southern extension of the Shan Plateau, lies along the boundary between southwestern Thailand and southeastern Lower Myanmar. The Shan Plateau, originating in China, has an average elevation of about 1,215 m (about 3,986 ft).

Generally narrow and elongated in the interior, the central lowlands attain a width of about 320 km (about 200 mi) across the Irrawaddy-Sittang delta. The deltaic plains, extremely fertile and economically the most important section of the country, cover an area of about 47,000 sq km (about 18,000 sq mi). Both the Arakan (in the northwest) and the Tenasserim (in the southwest) coasts of Myanmar are rocky and fringed with islands. The country has a number of excellent natural harbors.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been under military rule since a coup in 1962. The main opposition in the last decade has been the National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. John Pilger and David Munro go undercover in one of the world's most isolated, and extraordinary countries, Burma, which Amnesty International calls 'a prison without bars'. They discover slave labour preparing for tourism and foreign investment. International Actual Award for Risk Journalism, Barcelona, Spain, 1996; Bronze Plaque in the category of ‘Social Issues - International Relations', The Chris Awards, Ohio, 1996; Gold Special Jury Award, 'Film & Video Production division', WorldFest-Charlest on, 1996; Award for Best Factual Programme, RTS Midland Centre Awards, Birmingham, 1996; Gold Apple in the category 'Politics: Social organisations in other lands', National Educational Media Network Film & Video Competition at The 1997 NEMN Apple Awards, Oakland, California, 1997; the updated version won a Gold Special Jury Award in the 'Film & Video Production division', WorldFest-Houston, 1999. Inside Burma: Land of Fear' was first broadcast in May 1996. It was written and presented by John Pilger and produced and directed by David Munro. The film detailed the many injustices and human rights abuses that have so badly marked the country's past and present. Amnesty International has described Burma as a 'prison without bars' of a country which has a beauty and resources probably unequalled in Asia. Yet it is also a secret country. Isolated for the past 34 years since a brutal military dictatorship seized power in Rangoon, this rich country has been relegated to one of the world's poorest with the suffering of its people mostly unseen. The generals who crushed democracy in Burma have ruled with a regime so harsh, bloody and uncompromising that the parallels with Cambodia under Pol Pot and East Timor under Suharto are striking. According to the United Nations, untold thousands have been forced from their homes, massacred, tortured and subjected to a modern form of slavery. How was this country allowed to descend in such dramatic fashion and, after the pro-democracy uprisings of 1988, are its people any closer to being granted their rights to a vote and an economic system which will reward their labour?

Burma has been home to many different ethnic groups for over four thousand years. It is only in the last millennium that the Burmans have emerged as the pre-eminent population group. They unified the country on three occasions: under the Pagan dynasty, from the 11th to the 13th century; the Toungoo dynasty in the 16th; and the Konbaung dynasty, founded at the end the 18th century. There were many wars and political power changed hands frequently. Nonetheless, there was considerable inter-cultural exchange and a high degree of inter-ethnic tolerance. The Konbaung dynasty founded Mandalay, the last capital of the Burmese kings, and extended Burmese control as far as Assam in the west and north into Thailand. But this was the age of European colonisation and they soon became embroiled in conflict with British colonial forces in India. Some ethnic groups had no state; other states were poorly demarcated. In a well-crafted deal, it was agreed that the Karen and the Shan states were permitted to secede from the Union after 10 years. In July 1947, Aung San and six leading members of the AFPFL pre-independence cabinet, veterans of the independence struggle to a man, were gunned down at a cabinet meeting. The loss of these experienced politicians on the eve of independence was a great tragedy for Burma. Indeed, the consequences of that fatal day still reverberate about the country. The first war with the British, in 1824, concluded with the surrender of the provinces on the Indian frontier; after a second war in 1852, the whole of Lower Burma was lost. Mandalay fell in 1885. After this third defeat, the Burmese King Thibaw was carried off to captivity in India.

Following the fall of Mandalay, it was inevitable that Burma would soon be under British rule. In 1886 the country began to be administered as a province of British India. Throughout their Empire the British used a policy called 'divide and rule' where they played upon ethnic differences to establish their authority. This policy was applied rigorously in Burma. More than a million Indian and Chinese migrants were brought in to run the country's affairs and thousands of Indian troops were used to crush Burmese resistance. In addition, hill tribes which had no strong Burmese affiliation, such as the Karen in the south-east, were recruited into ethnic regiments of the colonial army. A two-tier administration was established. Ministerial Burman was the central area dominated by the Burman majority. The Frontier Areas was where the ethnic minorities lived. Economic development, largely in rice and timber production, was concentrated in the Ministerial area. The Frontier Areas were left largely undisturbed under their traditional rulers, but suffered economic neglect. The British 'divide and rule' policy left a legacy of problems for Burma when it regained independence.

Birma government

Myanmar, officially, Union of Myanmar, republic in Southeast Asia, bounded on the west by Bangladesh; on the northwest by India's Assam State; on the northeast by China�s Yunnan Province; on the east by Laos and Thailand; and on the southwest by the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The longest land border is shared with China. Myanmar (pronounced myahn-mahr) was known as Burma until 1989; the English version of the country�s name was changed by the military government that took over in 1988. Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon) is the commercial capital and largest city. The administrative capital is Pyinmana.

The total area of Myanmar is 676,552 sq km (261,218 sq mi). From north to south, Myanmar stretches about 2,085 km (about 1,295 mi); from east to west, the distance is about 930 km (about 575 mi). The coastal region is known as Lower Myanmar, while the interior region is known as Upper Myanmar. A horseshoe-shaped mountain complex and the valley of the Irrawaddy River system are the country�s dominant topographical features. The mountains of the northern margin rise to 5,881 m (19,295 ft) atop Hkakabo Razi, the highest peak in Southeast Asia. The two other mountain systems have northern to southern axes. The Arakan Yoma range, with peaks mostly between 915 m (3,000 ft) and 1,525 m (5,000 ft), forms a barrier between Myanmar and the subcontinent of India. The Bilauktaung Range, the southern extension of the Shan Plateau, lies along the boundary between southwestern Thailand and southeastern Lower Myanmar. The Shan Plateau, originating in China, has an average elevation of about 1,215 m (about 3,986 ft).

Generally narrow and elongated in the interior, the central lowlands attain a width of about 320 km (about 200 mi) across the Irrawaddy-Sittang delta. The deltaic plains, extremely fertile and economically the most important section of the country, cover an area of about 47,000 sq km (about 18,000 sq mi). Both the Arakan (in the northwest) and the Tenasserim (in the southwest) coasts of Myanmar are rocky and fringed with islands. The country has a number of excellent natural harbors.