Country Profile
People of Burma:
Nationality: Burmese (singular and plural)
Ethnic groups: Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, other 5%
Religions: Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%, animist 1%, other 2%
Languages: Burmese, minority ethnic groups have their own languages
Literacy: Statistic: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 89.9%
male: 93.9%
female: 86.4% (2000 est.)
Population: 47,758,181
Includes excess mortality rates because of AIDS. This leads to lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and imbalance in population of age and sex/gender.(July 2008 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 25.7% (male 6,236,484/female 6,038,576)
15-64 years: 68.9% (male 16,300,380/female 16,627,045)
65 years and over: 5.4% (male 1,098,344/female 1,457,352)
(2008 est.)
Median age: Total: 27.8 years
male: 27.2 years
female: 28.4 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.8% (2008 est.)
Birth rate: 17.23 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate: 9.23 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
NA (2008 est.)
Sex ratio: At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
Total: 49.12 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 55.53 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 42.33 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
Total population: 62.94 years
male: 60.73 years
female: 65.28 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.92 children born/woman (2008 est.)
Diseases:
HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate:
1.2% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS- 330,000 people living with HIV/AIDS (2003.est.)
HIV/AIDS Deaths :
20,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: Chance of getting infected: very high
food/waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever/
vector borne diseases: dengue fever and malaria
water contact disease: leptospirosis
animal contact disease: rabies (2008.)
Government:
Country name: conventional long form: Union of Burma
conventional short form: Burma
local long form: Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw (translated by the US Government and Burmese as Union of Myanmar/Myanma
local short form: Myanma Naingngandaw
former: Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
Government type:
Military Jnta
Capital: Rangoon (Yangon)
geographic coordinates: 16 48 N, 96 09 E
time difference: UTC+6.5 (11.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
New administrative capital- Nay Pyi Taw
Administrative divisions:
7 divisions and 7 states divisions: Ayeyarwady, Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing, Tanintharyi, Yangon
States: Chin, Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Mon, Rakhine, Shan
Independence: 4th January 1948 (from Great Britain)
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 January (1948); Union Day, 12 February (1947)
Constitution: Suspended since 18 September 1988. National Convention to draft a new constitution, concluded in 2007. It left out, major democratic and ethnic majority representatives. NC(National Convention)appointed by the Military Junta, they began meeting in December 2007
Executive branch:
Chief of State: Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Sr. Gen. Than Shwe (since 23 April 1992)
Head of government: Prime Minister, Lt. Gen Thein Sein (since 24 October 2007)
Cabinet: Overseen by SPDC; military junta assumed power ,18th September 1988, under name State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
elections: none
Legislative branch:
unicameral People’s Assembly or Pyithu Hluttaw (485 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
election results: percent of vote by party – NA; seats by party – NLD 392 (opposition), SNLD 23 (opposition), NUP 10 (pro-government), other 60
Judicial branch: Still follows the British-era legal system, there is no fair public trial 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, Aung San San Suu Kyi}. National Unity Party or NUP (pro-regime); Shan Nationalities League for Democracy or SNLD [Hkun Kun Htun Oo] other smaller parties.
Political pressure groups and leaders: Ethnic Nationalities Council or ENC (based in Thailand); Federation of Trade Unions-Burma or FTUB (exile trade union and labor advocates); National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma or NCGUB (self-proclaimed government in exile) ["Prime Minister" Dr. Sein Win] consists of individuals, some legitimately elected to the People’s Assembly in 1990 (the group fled to a border area and joined insurgents in December 1990 to form parallel government in exile); Kachin Independence Organization or KIO; Karen National Union or KNU; Karenni National People’s Party or KNPP; National Council-Union of Burma or NCUB (exile coalition of opposition groups); several Shan factions; United Wa State Army or UWSA; Union Solidarity and Development Association or USDA (pro-regime, a social and political mass-member organization) [Hytay Oo, general secretary]; 88 Generation Students (pro-democracy movement) [Min in Konaing]
International organization participation:
ADB, APT, ARF, ASEAN, BIMSTEC, CP, EAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
Chief of Mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d’Affaires Myint Lwin
Diplomatic representation from the US:
Chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d’Affaires Shari Villarose.
Flag description:
Red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 14, white, five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a stalk of rice; the 14 stars represent the seven administrative divisions and seven states
Economy:
GDP (purchasing power parity):$91.13 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $13.7 billion (2007 est.)
GDP – real growth rate: 5.5% (2007 est.)
GDP – per capita (PPP):$1,900 (2007 est.)
GDP – composition by sector: Agriculture: 53.9% , industry: 10.6% , services: 35.5% (2007 est.)
Labor force: 29.26 million (2007 est.)
Labor force – by occupation: agriculture: 70% industry, 7% services, 23% (2001)
Unemployment rate: 5.2% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line: 32.7% (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):39.5% (2007 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 12.2% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:
Revenues: NA
expenditures: NA (2006 est.)
Agriculture – products: rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane; hardwood; fish and fish products
Industries: agricultural processing; wood and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; cement, construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer; natural gas; garments, jade and gems
Industrial production growth rate: 3.9% (2007 est.)
Current account balance: $1.676 billion (2007 est.)
Exports: $6.6 billion f.o.b.
note: official export figures are grossly underestimated due to the value of timber, gems, narcotics, rice, and other products smuggled to Thailand, China, and Bangladesh (2007 est.)
Exports – commodities: gas, wood products, pulses, beans, fish, rice, clothing, jade and gems
Exports – partners: Thailand 48.8%, India 12.7%, China 5.2%, Japan 5.2% (2006)
Imports:$2.642 billion f.o.b.
note: import figures are grossly underestimated due to the value of consumer goods, diesel fuel, and other products smuggled in from Thailand, China, Malaysia, and India (2007 est.)
Imports – commodities: fabric, petroleum products, fertilizer, plastics, machinery, transport equipment; cement, construction materials, crude oil; food products, edible oil
Imports – partners: China 35.1%, Thailand 22.1%, Singapore 16.4%, Malaysia 4.8% (2006)
Economic aid – recipient: $144.7 million (2005 est.)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.762 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt – external: $6.914 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares: $NA
Currency (code): kyat (MMK)
Bibliography:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bm.html
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