Simple directory > Regional > Myanmar

Country : Myanmar Official name: Myanmar Naingngandaw (The Union of Myanmar) Head of State: Chairman of the SPDC Senior General Than Shwe Head of government: Prime Minister Lt General Soe Win.(appointed 19 Oct 2004) Ruling party: State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) (19-member military junta since Nov 1997) Area: 676,552 square km Population: 52.81 million (2004) Capital: Yangon Official language: Myanmar Currency: Kyat (Kt) = 100 pyas Exchange rate: Kt6.42 per US$ (Nov 2004) GDP per capita: US$132 (2003) GDP real growth: 5.10% (2003) Labour force: 23.70 million (2003) Unemployment: 5.10% (2003) Inflation: 40.00% (2003) Balance of trade: US$700.00 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$6.10 billion (2003) Annual FDI: US$95.30 million (2003)

Historical profile

Burma (Myanmar) was annexed to British India in the nineteenth century.

1937 Burma became a separate British dependency, with limited self government.

1942 Japan invaded and occupied the country.

1945 Burmese nationalists helped Allied forces to re-occupy the country.

1948 The Union of Burma became independent outside the Commonwealth, with U Nu as the first prime minister.

1962 U Nu was overthrown in a coup led by Ne Win. The Revolutionary Council suspended the constitution and instituted authoritarian control through the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP).

1964 Political parties were outlawed.

1973 A new constitution was approved. BSPP became the only authorised political party and the country's name was changed to the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma.

1974 The revolutionary council was dissolved and Ne Win was elected president by the state council.

1978 An election gave Ne Win the mandate for four more years in power.

1988 A military government, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), took power in September, ending months of unrest. It took over the function of the former ruling party, the BSPP, and the parliament, or Pyithu Hluttaw.

1989 The change of name from Burma to Myanmar was claimed to be for the benefit of the minority, non-Burmese sections of the population.

1990 The government fulfilled its promise to hold multi-party elections, but said a new constitution must be brought into effect before power could be transferred to the victorious National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung Sang Suu Kyi.

1996 The law and order situation deteriorated and open conflict erupted. SLORC closed the universities and detained protesters.

1997 Bomb attacks were aimed at leading SLORC figures. Several thousand Karen National Union (KNU) ethnic minority refugees were forced across the Thai border leading to international protests when refugees were killed by SLORC forces.

The US imposed economic sanctions, banning investments by US companies. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) admitted Myanmar as a full member of the Association. A governing military junta, formed by the top four SLORC leaders, was named the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

1998 The SPDC detained some 110 leading members of the NLD.

1999 Madame Aung Sang Suu Kyi was physically isolated from her supporters by the authorities, who, early in the year, refused her dying husband a visa to come and visit her for the last time. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) banned Myanmar from its activities until it ceases using forced labour.

2001 The military junta approached Aung San Suu Kyi to arrange talks – the first contact in five years. President Jiang Zemin of China visited Myanmar – the first Chinese head of state to visit the country since the military junta seized power in 1988.

2002 Aung San Suu Kyi (NLD) was released from house arrest.

2003 In April, the military junta introduced a new rice trading policy, totally removing the government's control of rice, which it had held for the previous 40 years. In June, Japan suspended aid to Myanmar in protest at the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was re-arrested in May. On 25 August, General Khin Nyunt was appointed prime minister.

2004 In January, the government and the Karen National Union, the most significant ethnic group fighting the government, agreed to end hostilities. In May, the constitutional convention began, despite a boycott by the NLD, whose leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains under house arrest. On 19 October, General Khin Nyunt was replaced as prime minister by Lt General Soe Win. The area worst affected by the 26 December tsunami was the Irrawaddy Delta.

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