Myanmar

Myanmar, also called Burma, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand surround it on land, and its coastline runs for 1,930 km (1,200 mi).

Naypyidaw is the capital and Yangon, once Rangoon, the largest city. Burmese, the mother tongue of the Bamar, is the official language. Pyu city-states in the central dry zone and Mon kingdoms on the southern coast came first. The Bamar settled at Bagan in the 9th century, and in the 1050s Anawrahta united the Irrawaddy valley as the Pagan Kingdom, whose rulers built over 10,000 Buddhist temples around their capital. Theravada Buddhism and the Burmese language spread from there.

The Taungoo dynasty reunited the land in the 16th century, and under King Bayinnaung it briefly ruled much of mainland Southeast Asia. Alaungpaya founded the Konbaung dynasty and had reunited the country by 1759. Britain took it in three wars and annexed the last part on 1 January 1886, and from 1937 Burma was governed as a separate colony. It became an independent republic on 4 January 1948. Under its 2008 constitution Myanmar is a unitary republic divided into seven states and seven regions. It covers 678,500 km2 (262,000 sq mi), and Hkakabo Razi in Kachin State is its highest peak.

Rice covers most of the farmland, and forests in the south yield teak. The ground holds jade, oil and natural gas, and the Mogok valley north of Mandalay produces rubies and blue sapphires. The Irrawaddy, its longest river, flows through the valley where most people live and reaches the Gulf of Martaban. Mohinga is the national dish, while chinlone and the boxing style lethwei are traditional sports. Inle Lake, Yangon and Mandalay are main destinations, and Naypyidaw, Yangon and Mandalay hosted the Southeast Asian Games in 2013.