NAVIGATION
|
HOME
• FLAG FINDER
• MAP FINDER
• SOURCES
• ADD YOURSELF TO THE ATLAS! COUNTRIES A-D • COUNTRIES E-K • COUNTRIES L-R • COUNTRIES S-Z |
NAVIGATION
Union of Burma
Union of Myanma
Myanma Naingngandaw
former: Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
GOVERNMENT
|
Country name:
|
conventional long form: Union of Burma
conventional short form: Burma local short form: Myanma Naingngandaw local long form: Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw (translated by the US Government as Union of Myanma and by the Burmese as Union of Myanmar) former: Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma note: since 1989 the military authorities in Burma have promoted the name Myanmar as a conventional name for their state; this decision was not approved by any sitting legislature in Burma, and the US Government did not adopt the name, which is a derivative of the Burmese short-form name Myanma Naingngandaw |
|
Government type:
|
military regime |
|
Capital:
|
Rangoon (regime refers to the capital as Yangon) |
|
Administrative divisions:
|
7 divisions* (yin-mya, singular - yin) and 7 states (pyine-mya, singular - pyine); Chin State, Ayeyarwady*, Bago*, Kachin State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Magway*, Mandalay*, Mon State, Rakhine State, Sagaing*, Shan State, Tanintharyi*, Yangon* |
|
Independence:
|
4 January 1948 (from UK) |
|
National holiday:
|
Independence Day, 4 January (1948) |
|
Constitution:
|
3 January 1974 (suspended since 18 September 1988); national convention started on 9 January 1993 to draft a new constitution; progress has since been stalled |
|
Legal system:
|
has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
|
Suffrage:
|
18 years of age; universal |
|
Executive branch:
|
chief of state: Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Sr. Gen. THAN SHWE (since 23 April 1992); note - the prime minister is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Sr. Gen. THAN SHWE (since 23 April 1992); note - the prime minister is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: State Peace and Development Council (SPDC); military junta, so named 15 November 1997, which initially assumed power 18 September 1988 under the name State Law and Order Restoration Council; the SPDC oversees the cabinet elections: none; the prime minister assumed power upon resignation of the former prime minister |
|
Legislative branch:
|
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 convened election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NLD 392, SNLD 23, NUP 10, other 60 |
|
Judicial branch:
|
remnants of the British-era legal system are in place, but there is no guarantee of a fair public trial; the judiciary is not independent of the executive |
|
Political parties and leaders:
|
National League for Democracy or NLD [AUNG SHWE, chairman, AUNG SAN SUU KYI, general secretary]; National Unity Party or NUP (proregime) [THA KYAW]; Shan Nationalities League for Democracy or SNLD [U KHUN TUN OO]; Union Solidarity and Development Association or USDA (proregime, a social and political organization) [THAN AUNG, general secretary]; and other smaller parties |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders:
|
All Burma Student Democratic Front or ABSDF; Kachin Independence Army or KIA; Karen National Union or KNU; National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma or NCGUB [Dr. SEIN WIN] consists of individuals legitimately elected to the People's Assembly but not recognized by the military regime (the group fled to a border area and joined with insurgents in December 1990 to form a parallel government); several Shan factions; United Wa State Army or UWSA |
|
International organization participation:
|
ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US:
|
chief of mission: Ambassador TIN WINN
consulate(s) general: New York FAX: [1] (202) 332-9046 telephone: [1] (202) 332-9044 chancery: 2300 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US:
|
chief of mission: Permanent Charge d'Affaires Carmen M. MARTINEZ
embassy: 581 Merchant Street, Rangoon (GPO 521) mailing address: Box B, APO AP 96546 telephone: [95] (1) 256-019, 256-016 FAX: [95] (1) 256-018 |
|
Flag description:
|
red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing, all in white, 14 five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a stalk of rice; the 14 stars represent the 14 administrative divisions |
ECONOMY
|
Economy - overview:
|
Burma is a resource-rich country that suffers from 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. Burma has been unable to achieve monetary or fiscal stability, resulting in an economy that suffers from serious macroeconomic imbalances - including an official exchange rate that overvalues the Burmese kyat by more than 100 times the market rate. In addition, most overseas development assistance ceased after the junta suppressed the democracy movement in 1988 and subsequently ignored the results of the 1990 election. Burma is data poor, and official statistics are often dated and inaccurate. Published estimates of Burma's 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. |
|
GDP:
|
purchasing power parity - $63 billion (2001 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate:
|
2.3% (2001 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita:
|
purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2001 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector:
|
agriculture: 42%
industry: 17% services: 41% (2000 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line:
|
25% (2000 est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
|
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 32% (1998) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|
20% (2001 est.) |
|
Labor force:
|
23.7 million (1999 est.) |
|
Labor force - by occupation:
|
agriculture 65%, industry 10%, services 25% (1999 est.) |
|
Unemployment rate:
|
5.1% (2001 est.) |
|
Budget:
|
revenues: $7.9 billion
expenditures: $12.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.7 billion (FY96/97) |
|
Industries:
|
agricultural processing; knit and woven apparel; wood and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer |
|
Industrial production growth rate:
|
NA% |
|
Electricity - production:
|
4.766 billion kWh (2000) |
|
Electricity - production by source:
|
fossil fuel: 83%
hydro: 17% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0% |
|
Electricity - consumption:
|
4.432 billion kWh (2000) |
|
Electricity - exports:
|
0 kWh (2000) |
|
Electricity - imports:
|
0 kWh (2000) |
|
Agriculture - products:
|
rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane; hardwood; fish and fish products |
|
Exports:
|
$1.8 billion f.o.b. (2001) |
|
Exports - commodities:
|
apparel 55%, foodstuffs 18%, wood products 13%, precious stones 2% (2000) |
|
Exports - partners:
|
US 27%, India 16%, China 7%, Japan 6%, Singapore 6% (2000 est.)
note: official trade statistics do not include trade in illicit goods - such as narcotics, teak, and gems - or the largely unrecorded border trade with China and Thailand |
|
Imports:
|
$2.2 billion f.o.b. (2001) |
|
Imports - commodities:
|
machinery, transport equipment, construction materials, food products, textile fabrics, petroleum products |
|
Imports - partners:
|
China 26%, Singapore 23%, South Korea 15%, Japan 10%, Taiwan 10% (2000 est.) |
|
Debt - external:
|
$6 billion |
|
Economic aid - recipient:
|
$99 million (FY98/99) |
|
Currency:
|
kyat (MMK) |
|
Currency code:
|
MMK |
|
Exchange rates:
|
kyats per US dollar - official rate - 6.8581 (January 2002), 6.7489 (2001), 6.5167 (2000), 6.2858 (1999), 6.3432 (1998), 6.2418 (1997); kyats per US dollar - black market exchange rate - 435 (yearend 2000) |
|
Fiscal year:
|
1 April - 31 March |