Geography

Mountainous on its land borders, with a long Indian Ocean coastline and the fertile Irrawaddy basin at its center, Burma lives in splendid isolation from neighboring Bangladesh, India, China and Thailand.

The climate is mostly tropical monsoon, and ideal for growing rice.  Burma's long north-to-south position harbors a great diversity of ecosystems, from Southeast Asia's highest mountains to some of its most pristine coral reefs.  Preserving the prodigiously endowed environment is unfortunately not a priority.

History

From the 11th century AD, Burma’s many ethnic groups came under the rule of successive Tibeto-Burman dynasties.  Their most important capitols were at Bagan and Mandalay.  After several ill-fated wars with the British, the country became a province of British India in 1886.

The UK agreed to independence in 1947, at which time six ethnic minority groups demanded their own states within a Burmese federation.  This was denied, and civil war ensued.  A military coup in 1962 ushered in a period of Socialist isolation and heightened prosecution of the civil war.  Burma willingly became an international pariah, cozy only with China.

The regime permitted elections, then ignored the results when opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi won.  She was imprisoned, and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  The regime did not back down, and its isolation deepened.  The generals in charge renamed the country 'Union of Myanmar', as if that would help.

Now under house arrest, Suu Kyi remains the focal point for opposition to the generals.  Although torture and killings remain the regime’s modus operandi, they dare not make a martyr of someone with her domestic following and international stature.  The political and economic stalemate continues.

People 

Burma has a population of 44 million, 68% of whom are ethnic Burman.  The people are overwhelmingly Buddhist (89%) and rural (73%).  Their life expectancy is short (60 years).

Ethnic tension is still a problem in Burma.  The guerillas are fewer in number than in years past, but still tenacious.  The brutality of government forces has only made the divide more intractable.

Military thugs aside, the Burmese are notable for their devotion to matters spiritual.  Most men spend a couple of weeks every year in monastic seclusion, and many women do likewise.  

The UN ranks Burma in the 37th percentile in terms of quality of life, based on life expectancy, education and income; this is below most Asian countries. 

Economy

Burma is a low-income country, with a GNP per capita of less than $760 (even the World Bank can’t get exact figures!).  Agriculture accounts for 53% of GDP, and the country is very rich in natural resources:  soil, fisheries, timber, gems, and offshore oil and gas.

In terms of who benefits from this endowment, only the military and their supporters live well; dissidents and hill-tribes are the poorest.

Tourism is light because of the regime’s unsavory reputation.  Some say tourists shouldn’t go, because it supports the government; others say it’s fine to go, provided tourist money goes directly to the Burmese people who so desperately need it.  The government’s 'Visit Burma Year 1996' was a bust.

Sources:  World Bank (1998 data), Dorling Kindersley World Reference Atlas, UNDP Human Development Report, Lonely Planet