Myanmar -  Burma

Myanmar (Burma) is one of the poorest but at the same time one of the most fascinating countries of Southeast Asia and these two seemingly opposed attributes are more over connected. The country is poor because for decades its government fiercely protected it from almost each foreign influence, which is also the reason for its fascinating character. Traveling to Myanmar is not only a voyage into a different geographic region, but also a voyage into another time.

How far back into the past one travels depends of course on the destinations one chooses inside Myanmar. If you compare the Burmese capital Yangon (Rangoon) to the Thai capital Bangkok, the voyage may take you 30 to 40 years back into the past. On the other hand, a visit to backwash hill tribes can equal a voyage into the middle ages!

In the native tongue Burma's name has always been Myanmar. In 1989 the Burmese military government issued a decree that the country be known by the name of Myanmar among the international community. Since then in official publications and in diplomatic exchanges only Myanmar is mentioned referring to the country, which so far most people had been accustomed to calling Burma. But unofficially the name Burma is still very much in use.

People - Myanmar's population is of  45.5 Millions. This makes Myanmar the fifth most populated country in Southeast Asia. In terms of population it is surpassed by Indonesia with 191.1 Millions, Vietnam with 73 Millions, the Philippines with 65.6 Millions and Thailand with 59.5 Millions.

Myanmar is among the ethnically most mixed countries of Southeast Asia. Officially the Burmese government distinguishes 135 different nationalities far too many for all to be mentioned here

Religion - Buddhism is the national religion of Myanmar and consequently about 85 % of the population is Buddhists. But like Thai Buddhism Myanmar Buddhism is strongly intertwined with spirits.  Myanmar was the first country in Southeast Asia where the words of the Buddha were spread. Indian merchants, who entered the Ayeyarwaddy delta for trade purposes, have taught Buddhism since the first millennium of Christian reckoning.

But Buddhism became the dominant religion of Myanmar only after King Anawratha ascended the throne of the Burmese Kingdom in Bagan in 1044. A Mon missionary converted King Anawratha to Buddhism by the name of Shin Arahan.

As in Thailand, which was considerably later converted to Buddhism by Mon missionaries, in Myanmar a Buddhist temple is always the center of the village community. Like in Thailand, Myanmar Buddhist temples are the traditional places for education; and again like in Thailand, every male Burmese is expected to temporarily don the monk's robes at least once in his lifetime usually as adolescent.

Geography - Covering an area of 676,552 square kilometers Myanmar is almost twice the size of Germany. In the West and Northwest it borders on Bangladesh and India. In the North and Northeast are China and Laos and in the East Thailand, all direct neighbors of the country.

The most important watercourse of Myanmar is the Ayeyarwaddy, which originates in the Eastern part of Tibet. It flows for more than 2,000 kilometers from North to South and thus divides the country into a Western and an Eastern half. The Ayeyarwaddy is passable for ships for a length of about 1,450 kilometers. The valley and the delta of the Ayeyarwaddy compose one of the most fertile, agricultural regions of the world.

Myanmar's political isolation over the course of the past decades is mirrored by its topography because on three sides, the Northwest, Northeast and Southeast, the country is flanked by high and almost impassable mountain ranges. In the Southeast the Andaman Sea forms its natural border.

But not only are the mountain ranges screening Myanmar from its neighboring countries difficult to travel. The same can be said for the many more mountain ranges inside the country itself.