Portal:Myanmar

Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has a population of about 55 million. It is bordered by India and Bangladesh to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city is Yangon (formerly Rangoon).

Myanmar is a member of the East Asia Summit, Non-Aligned Movement, ASEAN, and BIMSTEC, but it is not a member of the Commonwealth of Nations despite once being part of the British Empire. Myanmar is a Dialogue Partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The country is very rich in natural resources, such as jade, gems, oil, natural gas, teak and other minerals, as well as endowed with renewable energy, having the highest solar power potential compared to other countries of the Great Mekong Subregion. However, Myanmar has long suffered from instability, factional violence, corruption, poor infrastructure, as well as a long history of colonial exploitation with little regard to human development. In 2013, its GDP (nominal) stood at US$56.7 billion and its GDP (PPP) at US$221.5 billion. The income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by cronies of the military junta. Myanmar is one of the least developed countries. Since 2021, more than 600,000 people have been displaced across Myanmar due to the civil war post-coup, with more than three million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are over 1.3 million people counted as refugees and asylum seekers, and 3.5 million people displaced internally as of December 2024. (Full article...)

Image 1

Sites of battles (1277–1287)
Pagan might have also seen a battle in 1287

The first Mongol invasions of Burma (Burmese: မွန်ဂို–မြန်မာ စစ် (၁၂၇၇–၁၂၈၇); Chinese: 元緬戰爭) were a series of military conflicts between Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty, a division of the Mongol Empire, and the Pagan Empire that took place between 1277 and 1287. The invasions toppled the 250-year-old Pagan Empire, and the Mongol army seized Pagan territories in present-day Dehong, Yunnan and northern Burma to Tagaung. The invasions ushered in 250 years of political fragmentation in Burma and the rise of ethnic Tai-Shan states throughout mainland Southeast Asia.

The Mongols first demanded tribute from Pagan in 1271–1272, as part of their drive to encircle the Song dynasty of China. When King Narathihapate refused, Emperor Kublai Khan himself sent another mission in 1273, again demanding tribute. It too was rejected. In 1275, the emperor ordered the Yunnan government to secure the borderlands in order to block an escape path for the Song, and permitted a limited border war if Pagan contested. Pagan did contest but its army was driven back at the frontier by the Mongol army in 1277–1278. After a brief lull, Kublai Khan in 1281 again turned his attention to Southeast Asia, demanding tribute from Pagan, the Khmer Empire, Đại Việt and Champa. When the Burmese king again refused, the emperor ordered an invasion of northern Burma. Two dry season campaigns (1283–1285) later, the Mongols had occupied down to Tagaung and Hanlin, forcing the Burmese king to flee to Lower Burma. The Mongols organized northern Burma as the province of Zhengmian. (Full article...)
Image 2

Map of the 1548–1549 campaign

The Burmese–Siamese War (1547–1549) (Burmese: ယိုးဒယား-မြန်မာစစ် (၁၅၄၇–၄၉); Thai: สงครามพม่า-สยาม พ.ศ. 2090–2092), also known as the Shwehti war (Thai: สงครามพระเจ้าตะเบ็งชเวตี้) was the first war fought between the Toungoo dynasty of Burma and the Ayutthaya Kingdom of Siam, and the first of the Burmese–Siamese wars that would continue until the middle of the 19th century. The war is notable for the introduction of early modern warfare to the region. It is also notable in Thai history for the death in battle of Siamese Queen Suriyothai on her war elephant; the conflict is often referred to in Thailand as the War that Led to the Loss of Queen Suriyothai (สงครามคราวเสียสมเด็จพระสุริโยไท).

The casus belli have been stated as a Burmese attempt to expand their territory eastwards after a political crisis in Ayutthaya as well as an attempt to stop Siamese incursions into the upper Tenasserim coast. The war, according to the Burmese, began in January 1547 when Siamese forces conquered the frontier town of Tavoy (Dawei). Later in the year, the Burmese forces led by Gen. Saw Lagun Ein retook the Upper Tenasserim coast down to Tavoy. Next year, in October 1548, three Burmese armies led by King Tabinshwehti and his deputy Bayinnaung invaded Siam through the Three Pagodas Pass. The Burmese forces penetrated up to the capital city of Ayutthaya but could not take the heavily fortified city. One month into the siege, Siamese counterattacks broke the siege, and drove back the invasion force. A truce was agreed in February 1549. The Burmese negotiated a safe retreat in exchange for the return of two important Siamese nobles (the heir apparent Prince Ramesuan, and Thammaracha of Phitsanulok) whom they had captured. (Full article...)
Image 3

Brown European male

The Burmese cat (Burmese: ဗမာကြောင်, Băma kyaung, Thai: ทองแดง or ศุภลักษณ์, RTGS: Thongdaeng or Supphalak, meaning copper colour) is a breed of domestic cat, originating in Burma, believed to have its roots near the Thai–Burma border and developed in the United States and Britain.

Most modern Burmese are descendants of one female cat called Wong Mau, which was brought from Burma to the United States in 1930 and bred with American Siamese. From there, American and British breeders developed distinctly different Burmese breed standards, which is unusual among pedigreed domestic cats. Most modern cat registries do not formally recognise the two as separate breeds, but those that do refer to the British type as the European Burmese. (Full article...)
Image 4

Mahamuni Buddha Temple

Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553.

Mandalay was founded in 1857 by King Mindon, replacing Amarapura as the new royal capital of the Konbaung dynasty. It was Burma's final royal capital before the kingdom's annexation by the British Empire in 1885. Under British rule, Mandalay remained commercially and culturally important despite the rise of Yangon, the new capital of British Burma. The city suffered extensive destruction during the Japanese conquest of Burma in the Second World War. In 1948, Mandalay became part of the newly independent Union of Burma. (Full article...)
Image 5

Shan State (Shan: မိူင်းတႆး, Möng Tai; Burmese: ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, pronounced [ʃáɰ̃ pjìnɛ̀]) is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos (Louang Namtha and Bokeo Provinces) to the east, and Thailand (Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son Provinces) to the south, and five administrative divisions of Myanmar in the west (Kachin State, Mandalay Region, Kayin State, Kayah State, and Sagaing Region). The largest of the 14 administrative divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800 km², almost a quarter of the total area of Myanmar. The state gets its name from the Burmese name for the Tai peoples: "Shan people". The Tai (Shan) constitute the majority among several ethnic groups that inhabit the area. Shan State is largely rural, with only three cities of significant size: Lashio, Kengtung, and the capital, Taunggyi. Taunggyi is 150.7 kilometres (93.6 mi) northeast of the nation's capital Naypyitaw.

The Shan state, with many ethnic groups, is home to several armed ethnic groups. While the military government has signed ceasefire agreements with most groups, vast areas of the state, especially those east of the Salween River, remain outside the central government's control, and in recent years have come under heavy ethnic-Han Chinese economic and political influence. Other areas are under the control of military groups such as the Shan State Army. (Full article...)
Image 6
Atula Thiri Maha Yaza Dewi (Burmese: အတုလသီရိ မဟာရာဇ ဒေဝီ [ʔətṵla̰ θìɹḭ məhà jàza̰ dèwì]; Pali: Atulasīrimahārājadevī; c. 1518–1568) was the chief queen consort of King Bayinnaung of Burma (Myanmar) from 1550 to 1568. The queen was of Toungoo royalty, daughter of King Mingyi Nyo and younger half-sister of King Tabinshwehti. She was the mother of King Nanda. Her 1534 marriage to Bayinnaung, a commoner, solidified an unfailing alliance between Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung who together would go on to found the Toungoo Empire (or the Second Burmese Empire). (Full article...)
Image 7
Hkakaborazi National Park is a national park in northern Myanmar with an area of 1,472 sq mi (3,810 km²). It was established in 1998.
It surrounds Hkakabo Razi, the highest mountain in the country.

It ranges in elevation from 2,950 to 18,730 ft (900 to 5,710 m) comprising evergreen forest and mixed deciduous forests in Nogmung Township, Kachin State. It is managed by the Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division.
It is contiguous with Bumhpa Bum Wildlife Sanctuary and Hukaung Valley Wildlife Sanctuary. These protected areas together with Hponkanrazi Wildlife Sanctuary comprise the largest continuous expanse of natural forest called the Northern Forest Complex stretching over an area of 11,624 sq mi (30,110 km²). Its objective is to conserve the biodiversity of the Ayeyarwady and Chindwin river basins. (Full article...)
Image 8
Severe flooding in Myanmar began in July 2015 and continued into September, affecting 12 of the country's 14 states, resulting in about 103 deaths and affecting up to 1,000,000 people. Most of the casualties were reported from the Irrawaddy Delta. Torrential rains that began on 16 July destroyed farmland, roads, rail tracks, bridges and houses, leading the government to declare a state of emergency on 30 July in the four worst-hit regions in the west—Magway Division, Sagaing Division, Chin State and Rakhine State.

Myanmar's Ministry of Agriculture reported that more than 1.29 million acres of farm land have been inundated and 687,200 acres damaged. Moreover, 15,239 houses were destroyed, according to OCHA figures. (Full article...)
Image 9

The welcome board in Yenangyaung

Yenangyaung (Burmese: ရေနံချောင်း; literally "stream of oil") is a city in the Magway Region of central Myanmar, located on the Irrawaddy River and 363 miles from Yangon. Until 1974, it remained the capital city of both Minbu Division (now Magway Division) and Yenangyaung District. The population of Yenanchaung was 45,120 according to the 2014 census, but it reached 49,938 in September 2020. This makes it the fourth-largest city in the Magway Region, after Pakokku, Magway and Aunglan. General Aung San received his secondary education in this city. (Full article...)
Image 10
Deforestation in Myanmar (otherwise known as Burma) led to a reduction in forest cover from 70% of the country in 1948 to 48% by 2014. Myanmar possesses the largest expanse of tropical forest in mainland Southeast Asia, which contains high biodiversity. As of 2010, Myanmar's living forest biomass held 1,654 million metric tons of carbon and over 80 endemic species.

Under British rule, Myanmar's forests were logged for timber on an industrial scale for the first time. After independence, commercial logging greatly expanded under the military government of Ne Win. According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization, Myanmar lost 19%, or 7,445,000 hectares (28,750 sq mi), of its forest between 1990 and 2010. In the 21st century, contributing factors to deforestation in Myanmar include continued timber extraction, illegal logging, agricultural expansion, land disputes and civil conflict. Deforestation has increased amidst the escalation of civil war following the 2021 coup d'état. (Full article...)

... that Myinsaing withstood a ten-week siege by the Mongols because its three brother leaders bribed the invaders to withdraw?
... that Thinzar Shunlei Yi hid in the Burmese jungle for a month and joined a rebel militia following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état?
... that the Myanmar Photo Archive (example photograph shown) revealed "a side of modern Myanmar that, until very recently, remained hidden in dusty attics"?
... that Rolling Stone named Mission of Burma's "Academy Fight Song" as one of the 100 greatest debut singles of all time?
... that Maung O, Prince of Salin, and his sister Nanmadaw Me Nu became de facto rulers of Burma when King Bagyidaw was suffering from depression?
... that one academic described the introduction of femboys to Myanmar as a tactic to achieve an "ideological revolution"?
... that former Burmese actress Honey Nway Oo turned rebel and took up arms against the military junta following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état?
... that while defending Zaw Myint Maung following his arrest by the Myanmar junta, lawyer Ywet Nu Aung was herself arrested and charged?

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The following are images from various Myanmar-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The restored Taungoo or Nyaungyan dynasty, c. 1650 CE (from History of Myanmar)
Image 2Pagan Kingdom during Narapatisithu's reign. Burmese chronicles also claim Kengtung and Chiang Mai. Core areas shown in darker yellow. Peripheral areas in light yellow. Pagan incorporated key ports of Lower Burma into its core administration by the 13th century. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 3Grandfather Island, Dawei (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 4British soldiers on patrol in the ruins of the Burmese town of Bahe during the advance on Mandalay, January 1945 (from History of Myanmar)
Image 5Myinhkin thabin - equestrian sport (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 6Protesters in Yangon with a banner that reads "non-violence: national movement" in Burmese. In the background is Shwedagon Pagoda. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 7Salween river at Mae Sam Laep on the Thai-Myanmar border (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 8A wedding procession, with the groom and bride dressed in traditional Burmese wedding clothes, reminiscent of royal attire (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 9British soldiers remove their shoes at the entrance of Shwedagon Pagoda. To the left, a sign reads "Foot wearing is strictly prohibited" in Burmese, English, Tamil, and Urdu. (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 10Myanmar (Burma) map of Köppen climate classification (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 11Mountains near Pindaya on the Shan Plateau (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 12Former US President Barack Obama poses barefoot on the grounds of Shwedagon Pagoda, one of Myanmar's major Buddhist pilgrimage sites. (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 13Boxing match, 19th-century watercolour (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 14Hlei pyaingbwè - a Burmese regatta (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 1519th-century funeral cart and spire, which would form part of the procession from the home to the place of cremation (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 16The paddle steamer Ramapoora (right) of the British India Steam Navigation Company on the Rangoon river having just arrived from Moulmein. 1895. Photographers: Watts and Skeen. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 17Political map of Burma (Myanmar) c. 1450 CE. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 18A bull fight, 19th-century watercolour (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 19Recorder's Court on Sule Pagoda Road, with the Sule Pagoda at the far end, Rangoon, 1868. Photographer: J. Jackson. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 20Sculpture of Thagyamin nat (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 21Two female musicians play the saung at a performance in Mandalay. (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 22A large fracture on the Mingun Pahtodawgyi caused by the 1839 Ava earthquake. (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 23Vegetable stall on the roadside at the Madras Lancer Lines, Mandalay, January 1886. Photographer: Hooper, Willoughby Wallace (1837–1912). (from History of Myanmar)
Image 24Aerial view of a burned Rohingya village in Rakhine state, September 2017 (from History of Myanmar)
Image 25The shores of Irrawaddy River at Nyaung-U, Bagan (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 26An ear-piercing ceremony at Mahamuni Buddha in Mandalay (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 27View of Hpa-An from Mount Zwegabin in Southeastern Hills (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 28Saint Mary's Cathedral in Downtown Yangon is the largest Roman Catholic cathedral in Burma. (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 29British soldiers dismantling cannons belonging to King Thibaw's forces, Third Anglo-Burmese War, Ava, 27 November 1885. Photographer: Hooper, Willoughby Wallace (1837–1912). (from History of Myanmar)
Image 30Jade Mine in Hpakant (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 31Temples at Mrauk U, the capital of the Mrauk U Kingdom, which ruled over what is now Rakhine State (from History of Myanmar)
Image 32Portuguese ruler and soldiers mounting an elephant. Jan Caspar Philips (draughtsman and engraver). (from History of Myanmar)
Image 33Deforestation in Myanmar during the British colonial era. (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 34Aung San Suu Kyi addresses crowds at the NLD headquarters shortly after her release. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 35Sculpture of Myanmar mythical lion (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 36Military situation in Myanmar as of 2024. Areas controlled by the Tatmadaw are highlighted in red. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 37A wide range of Burmese lacquerware from Bagan (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 38British invasion of Burma in 1824 (from History of Myanmar)
Image 39Mount Popa, a dormant volcano in the Central Lowlands (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 40A group of Buddhist worshipers at Shwedagon Pagoda, an important religious site for Burmese Buddhists (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 41A theatrical performance of the Mon dance (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 42Protesters in Yangon carrying signs reading "Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi" on 8 February 2021 (from History of Myanmar)

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