Burma( myanmar)

Sa Bee, Ka Ti Zar, Kaw Khu

Burma( Myanmar)

Education

Adult Literacy: 89.9%

Mean Years of Schooling: 3.9

Education, compulsory for children between ages five and nine, is officially free. For centuries, Myanmar studied in monastic schools at early ages, learning reading and writing, basic mathematics, history, and the teachings of Buddhism. The government has outlawed teaching in ethnic minority languages, to the disadvantage of many children who do not speak Burmese as a first language. There are more than 150 universities and colleges across the country, but the majority lack facilities and instructors, especially in rural regions.

• Land/Climate

Area (sq. mi.): 261,228

Area (sq. km.): 676,578

Myanmar (also known as Burma), located in Southeast Asia, is roughly the size of Afghanistan or the U.S. state of Texas. Myanmar's tropical monsoon climate has three seasons: cool (mid-October to mid-February), hot (mid-February to May), and wet (mid-May to mid-October).

Transportation and communication

Internet Users (per 100 people): 1

Cellular Phone Subscriptions (per 100 people): 3

Paved Roads: NA

In urban areas, people travel by car, bus, taxi, and pedicab. Rural Myanmar use motorcycles, bicycles, and horse or buffalo carts.The telephone system is underdeveloped.

Economy

GDP (PPP) in billions: $89.23

GDP (PPP) per capita: $1,400

Myanmar's economy relies heavily on agriculture, which employs more than 70 percent of the workforce. Major crops include rice, wheat, maize, millet, beans, pulses, oilseeds, cotton, jute, rubber, sugar cane, tobacco, and spices. Industries include gems, oil and gas, copper and other minerals, timber, and fish. The country is rich in natural resources, but it lacks the infrastructure for sustainable extraction and the transparency for equitable distribution of its profits.

History

The basin of the Ayeyarwady River has been populated since ancient times.Burma became a separate British colony in 1937.

In the 19th century, Great Britain defeated local resistance in three wars (1824, 1852, and 1885) and incorporated the region into India, which at the time was a British colony.

Lifestyle

Myanmar, especially those in rural areas, tend to live in extended family arrangements. Rural parents may have as many as seven or eight children, while urban couples, who generally live in apartments, tend to have only one or two Myanmar parents have five duties to their children: prohibiting children from doing bad, telling children to do good, providing children with education, providing children with capital, and organizing a marriage. Most rural families live in traditional wood or bamboo houses, usually built on stilts to keep them above monsoon floods. Official holidays, most set according to the Western calendar, include Independence Day (4 Jan.), Union Day (12 Feb.), Peasants' Day (2 Mar.), Revolution or Armed Forces Day (27 Mar.), Myanmar New Year's Day (17 Apr.), Workers' or May Day (1 May),

Government

Head of State: Pres. Thein Sein

Head of Government: Pres. Thein Sein

Capital: Naypyidaw

Myanmar's president serves as head of state and head of government. The two houses of parliament and the military each nominate a candidate for the presidency. The military is in firm control of most aspects of Myanmar's government, and its presence is strongly felt by the country's citizensMany political parties are active in Myanmar and have representation in parliament.

People

Population: 55,167,330

Population Growth Rate: 1.05%

Urban Population: 33%

An estimated 68 percent of Myanmar's people belong to the Burmese ethnic group (also called Burman or Bamar).

Although more than one hundred local languages and dialects are spoken throughout the country, Burmese—the nation's official language—is used in schools and government offices.An estimated 89 percent of the population is Theravada Buddhist

Customs

Although some non-Buddhists and urban residents shake hands, the traditional Myanmar greeting is to bow slightly while holding one's hands overlapping in front of the stomach. Breakfast is usually eaten around 7 a.m. In the countryside, it consists of boiled vegetables with rice left over from the previous evening. Common Burmese-language greetings include Min-gala-ba (a formal “Hello”) and the informal Ne-kaun-yeh-la? (Are you well?), to which the response is generally Ne-kaun-ba-deh (I'm well). Other greetings include Sa-pi-bi-la? (Have you eaten?), Beh-thwa-ma-lo-leh? (Where are you going?), and Wa-lo hla-lo (You are looking more plump and more beautiful).