BURMA                                                                           
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 678,500 km2; land area: 657,740 km2                                 
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Texas                                   
                                                                                
Land boundaries: 5,876 km total; Bangladesh 193 km, China 2,185 km,             
India 1,463 km, Laos 235 km, Thailand 1,800 km                                  
                                                                                
Coastline: 1,930 km                                                             
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;                                                         
                                                                                
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;                        
                                                                                
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;                                                
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 12 nm                                                          
                                                                                
Climate: tropical monsoon; cloudy, rainy, hot, humid summers                    
(southwest monsoon, June to September); less cloudy, scant rainfall, mild       
temperatures, lower humidity during winter (northeast monsoon, December         
to April)                                                                       
                                                                                
Terrain: central lowlands ringed by steep, rugged highlands                     
                                                                                
Natural resources: crude oil, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper,              
tungsten, lead, coal, some marble, limestone, precious stones, natural          
gas                                                                             
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 15%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures             
1%; forest and woodland 49%; other 34%; includes irrigated 2%                   
                                                                                
Environment: subject to destructive earthquakes and cyclones;                   
flooding and landslides common during rainy season (June to September);         
deforestation                                                                   
                                                                                
Note: strategic location near major Indian Ocean shipping lanes                 
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 42,112,082 (July 1991), growth rate 2.0% (1991)                     
                                                                                
Birth rate: 32 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 13 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 95 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                       
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 53 years male, 56 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 4.1 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Burmese; adjective--Burmese                                  
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%,                    
Chinese 3%, Mon 2%, Indian 2%, other 5%                                         
                                                                                
Religion: Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic                
1%), Muslim 4%, animist beliefs 1%, other 2%                                    
                                                                                
Language: Burmese; minority ethnic groups have their own languages              
                                                                                
Literacy: 81% (male 89%, female 72%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1990 est.)                                                      
                                                                                
Labor force: 16,036,000; agriculture 65.2%, industry 14.3%, trade               
10.1%, government 6.3%, other 4.1% (FY89 est.)                                  
                                                                                
Organized labor: Workers' Asiayone (association), 1,800,000                     
members; Peasants' Asiayone, 7,600,000 members                                  
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Union of Burma; note--the local official name is                
Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw which has been translated by the US              
Government as Union of Myanma and by the Burmese as Union of Myanmar            
                                                                                
Type: military regime                                                           
                                                                                
Capital: Rangoon (sometimes translated as Yangon)                               
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: 7 divisions* (yin-mya, singular--yin) and             
7 states (pyine-mya, singular--pyine); Chin State, Irrawaddy*, Kachin           
State, Karan State, Kayah State, Magwe*, Mandalay*, Mon State, Pegu*,           
Rakhine State, Rangoon*, Sagaing*, Shan State, Tenasserim*                      
                                                                                
Independence: 4 January 1948 (from UK)                                          
                                                                                
Constitution: 3 January 1974 (suspended since 18 September 1988)                
                                                                                
Legal system: martial law in effect throughout most of the                      
country; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction                           
                                                                                
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 January (1948)                            
                                                                                
Executive branch: chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration               
Council, State Law and Order Restoration Council                                
                                                                                
Legislative branch: unicameral People's Assembly (Pyithu Hluttaw)               
was dissolved after the coup of 18 September 1988                               
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Council of People's Justices was abolished after               
the coup of 18 September 1988                                                   
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State and Head of Government--Chairman of the State Law                
and Order Restoration Council Gen. SAW MAUNG (since 18 September 1988)          
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders:                                                  
National Unity Party (NUP; proregime), THA KYAW;                                
National League for Democracy (NLD), U TIN OO and AUNG SAN SUU KYI;             
League for Democracy and Peace, U NU                                            
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal at age 18                                                   
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
People's Assembly--last held 27 May 1990, but Assembly never                    
convened;                                                                       
results--NLD 80%;                                                               
seats--(485 total) NLD 396, the regime-favored NUP 10, other 79                 
                                                                                
Communists: several hundred (est.) in Burma Communist Party (BCP)               
                                                                                
Other political or pressure groups: Kachin Independence Army (KIA),             
United Wa State Army (UWSA), Karen National Union (KNU), several Shan           
factions, including the Shan United Army (SUA) (all ethnically-based            
insurgent groups)                                                               
                                                                                
Member of: AsDB, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA,             
IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, UN, UNCTAD,                
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO                                                    
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador U MYO AUNG; Chancery at                   
2300 S Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 332-9044 through         
9046; there is a Burmese Consulate General in New York;                         
                                                                                
US--Ambassador (vacant); Deputy Chief of Mission Franklin P.                    
HUDDLE, Jr.; Embassy at 581 Merchant Street, Rangoon (mailing address           
is G. P. O. Box 521, Rangoon or Box B, APO San Francisco 96346);                
telephone 82055 or 82181                                                        
                                                                                
Flag: 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                                                                         
Overview: Burma is a poor Asian country, with a per capita GDP                  
of about $400. The nation has been unable to achieve any substantial            
improvement in export earnings because of falling prices for many               
of its major commodity exports. For rice, traditionally the most                
important export, the drop in world prices has been accompanied by              
shrinking markets and a smaller volume of sales. In 1985 teak replaced          
rice as the largest export and continues to hold this position. The             
economy is heavily dependent on the agricultural sector, which generates        
about half of GDP and provides employment for 66% of the work force.            
                                                                                
GDP: $16.8 billion, per capita $408; real growth rate NEGL%                     
(FY90 est.)                                                                     
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 22.6% (FY89 est.)                             
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: 9.6% in urban areas (FY89 est.)                              
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $4.9 billion; expenditures $5.0 billion,                       
including capital expenditures of $0.7 billion (FY89 est.)                      
                                                                                
Exports: $228 million (f.o.b., FY89)                                            
                                                                                
commodities--teak, rice, oilseed, metals, rubber, gems;                         
                                                                                
partners--Southeast Asia, India, China, EC, Africa                              
                                                                                
Imports: $540 million (c.i.f., FY89)                                            
                                                                                
commodities--machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, food                    
products;                                                                       
                                                                                
partners--Japan, EC, China, Southeast Asia                                      
                                                                                
External debt: $5.5 billion (December 1990 est.)                                
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate 2.6% (FY90 est.); accounts                   
for 10% of GDP                                                                  
                                                                                
Electricity: 950,000 kW capacity; 2,900 million kWh produced,                   
70 kWh per capita (1990)                                                        
                                                                                
Industries: agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood                
and wood products; petroleum refining; mining of copper, tin, tungsten,         
iron; construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer                       
                                                                                
Agriculture: accounts for 51% of GDP (including fish and                        
forestry); self-sufficient in food; principal crops--paddy rice, corn,          
oilseed, sugarcane, pulses; world's largest stand of hardwood trees;            
rice and teak account for 55% of export revenues; fish catch of                 
732,000 metric tons (FY90)                                                      
                                                                                
Illicit drugs: world's largest illicit producer of opium poppy                  
and minor producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; opium          
production is on the increase as growers respond to the collapse                
of Rangoon's antinarcotic programs                                              
                                                                                
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $158                   
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments          
(1970-88), $3.9 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $424 million            
                                                                                
Currency: kyat (plural--kyats); 1 kyat (K) = 100 pyas                           
                                                                                
Exchange rates: kyats (K) per US$1--6.0476 (January 1991), 6.3386               
(1990), 6.7049 (1989), 6.3945 (1988), 6.6535 (1987), 7.3304 (1986),             
8.4749 (1985)                                                                   
                                                                                
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March                                                   
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 3,991 km total, all government owned; 3,878 km                       
1.000-meter gauge, 113 km narrow-gauge industrial lines; 362 km double          
track                                                                           
                                                                                
Highways: 27,000 km total; 3,200 km bituminous, 17,700 km improved              
earth or gravel, 6,100 km unimproved earth                                      
                                                                                
Inland waterways: 12,800 km; 3,200 km navigable by large commercial             
vessels                                                                         
Pipelines: crude, 1,343 km; natural gas, 330 km                                 
                                                                                
Ports: Rangoon, Moulmein, Bassein                                               
                                                                                
Merchant marine: 60 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 968,226                  
GRT/1,433,584 DWT; includes 3 passenger-cargo, 19 cargo, 2 refrigerated         
cargo, 3 vehicle carrier, 2 container, 3 petroleum, oils, and                   
lubricants (POL) tanker, 2 chemical, 1 combination ore/oil, 24 bulk,            
1 combination bulk                                                              
                                                                                
Civil air: 17 major transport aircraft (including 3 helicopters)                
                                                                                
Airports: 86 total, 79 usable; 29 with permanent-surface runways;               
none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 37                
with runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                      
                                                                                
Telecommunications: meets minimum requirements for local and                    
intercity service; international service is good; radiobroadcast coverage       
is limited to the most populous areas; 53,000 telephones (1986);                
stations--2 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV (1985); 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station        
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force                                                 
                                                                                
Manpower availability: eligible 15-49, 20,766,975; of the                       
10,378,743 males 15-49, 5,566,247 are fit for military service; of the          
10,388,232 females 15-49, 5,558,007 are fit for military service; 442,200       
males and 431,407 females reach military age (18) annually; both sexes          
are liable for military service                                                 
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $315.0 million, 3% of GDP (FY88)                          
                                                                                
