“Country Profile”

(Map)

Location: Southeast Asia

Neighboring: China, India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Laos

Population: 55 million (2024) (Ref: https://www.unfpa.org/data/world-population/MM)

Area (Total): 261,000 Sq. Mi

Land: 252,000 Sq. Mi

Water: 8,900 Sq. Mi

“Brief History”

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, gained independence from British colonial rule on 4 January 1948. From 1948 to 1962, the country was relatively peaceful and prosperous. It was then called the "rice bowl of Asia" and world's largest rice exporter from 1961 to 1963.

Though the people enjoyed freedom and democracy under a parliamentary government led by the Prime Minister U Nu, it was also plagued with ethnic tensions and communist rebellion.

In 1962, the military Chief-of-Staff General Ne Win staged a coup d’état and consequently established a military rule. The Ne Win government implemented the "Burmese Way to Socialism", a policy that nationalized industries and isolated the economy, leading to economic decline and widespread poverty and eventually declared by the United Nations as one of the "Least Developed Countries (LDC)" in 1987.

Ne Win's so-called socialist government harshly suppressed the dissents amid continued ethnic rebellions. By the 1980s, economic mismanagement caused growing public discontent.

On September 5, 1987, Ne Win's government abruptly demonetized three high-denomination kyat notes: 25, 35, and 75 kyats. The total value of the demonetized notes was substantial, wiping out personal savings for much of the population. The action ignited a nationwide uprising against the single party authoritarian rule and protesters led by the students demanded multi-party democracy and an end to military rule.

The nationwide protests, known as the 8888 Uprising (8 August 1988), were brutally suppressed, resulting in thousands of deaths. The military again took power, for the second time, from its own patriarch and formed the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), led by then Chief-of-Staff General Saw Maung.

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People gather at the western gate of Shwedagon Pagoda on Aug. 26, 1988, to listen to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’ speech. / Htein Win

The country was formerly known as Burma and the military renamed the country as Myanmar in 1989 without people's consent.

In 1990, the National League for Democracy, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landslide victory in multi-party general elections. However, the military refused to cede power, placing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest, arrested, tortured, and imprisoned thousands of democracy activists. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the only daughter of late General Aung San, the national leader who led the independence struggle against British colonial rule. General Aung San was assassinated by his political rival, Galon U Saw, on July 19, 1947. While she was under house arrest, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent struggle for democracy and human rights in Myanmar, highlighting her courage and commitment to peaceful political reform under a repressive military regime.

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Photo Copyright to AsianVibes

International sanctions were imposed due to human rights abuses and the suppression of democracy. Ethnic conflicts persisted, particularly in Shan, Kachin, and Karen regions.

In 2007, there was a significant uprising, labeled as "The Saffron Revolution", led by Buddhist monks and supported by the general public, protesting against the military junta’s authoritarian rule and economic mismanagement. It is named after the saffron-colored robes worn by Buddhist monks, who were at the forefront of the movement.

In 2008 May 2, an extremely powerful Nargis cyclone hit the country. It caused a catastrophic destruction and more than 130,000 fatalities, most of them unaccounted for. The military regime initially resisted large-scale international aid amid international outcry to provide help for the victims.

Only 8 days after the worst natural disaster in the country's history, the military regime called itself as State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) led by then Senior General Than Shwe, held the constitutional referendum. Even though the SPDC announced 93.82% of the eligible voters voted for the constitution, it faced widespread criticism of the process as the country was still struggling to recover from the Nargis. There also were questions about whether the overall referendum process was free and fair.

In 2010, a multi-party general election was held and the NLD party boycotted the elections as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was still under house arrest. The military backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won by landslide as there was no other strong contender such as NLD party, and a military-turned-civilian government was formed with a former General Thein Sein as the President.

This period saw the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, increased political freedoms, and elections.

(2012 Bi-election )

In 2015, the NLD, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, won a sweeping victory in national elections, marking a shift toward a semi-democratic government. However, the military retained significant control through a constitution that reserved 25% of parliamentary seats and key ministries for the military.

During the tenure of semi-democratic government, Myanmar faced international condemnation over the military’s persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority in the western Rakhine State. According to the United Nations, over 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh due to a brutal military crackdown described internationally as ethnic cleansing.

On February 1, 2021, the military, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, seized power again, for the third time in the country's post-independence era, arresting Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD and government leaders after disputing the results of the 2020 election, which the NLD had won overwhelmingly.

This coup led to widespread protests, the formation of the National Unity Government (NUG), and a return to military violent repression. Since the coup, Myanmar has been plunged into civil conflict, with armed resistance from ethnic revolutionary organizations (EROs) and newly emerged armed forces such as People’s Defence Force (PDF) fighting against the coup initiated military and with the aim to establish a new federal democratic state.