mber to April)
Terrain:
central lowlands ringed by steep, rugged highlands
Natural resources:
crude oil, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal, some
marble, limestone, precious stones, natural gas
Land use:
arable land 15%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 1%; forest and
woodland 49%; other 34%; includes irrigated 2%
Environment:
subject to destructive earthquakes and cyclones; flooding and landslides
common during rainy season (June to September); deforestation
Note:
strategic location near major Indian Ocean shipping lanes

:Burma People

Population:
42,642,418 (July 1992), growth rate 1.9% (1992)
Birth rate:
29 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
10 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
68 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
57 years male, 61 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
3.8 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Burmese (singular and plural); adjective - Burmese
Ethnic divisions:
Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Mon 2%, Indian 2%,
other 5%
Religions:
Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%,
animist beliefs 1%, other 2%
Languages:
Burmese; minority ethnic groups have their own languages
Literacy:
81% (male 89%, female 72%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
16,036,000; agriculture 65.2%, industry 14.3%, trade 10.1%, government 6.3%,
other 4.1% (FY89 est.)
Organized labor:
Workers' Asiayone (association), 1,800,000 members; Peasants' Asiayone,
7,600,000 members

:Burma Government

Long-form name:
Union of Burma; note - the local official name is Pyidaungzu Myanma
Naingngandaw, which has been translated by the US Government as Union of
Myanma and by the Burmese as Union of Myanmar
Type:
military regime
Capital:
Rangoon (sometimes translated as Yangon)
Administrative divisions:
7 divisions* (yin-mya, singular - yin) and 7 states (pyine-mya, singular -
pyine); Chin State, Irrawaddy*, Kachin State, Karan State, Kayah State,
Magwe*, Mandalay*, Mon State, Pegu*, Rakhine State, Rangoon*, Sagaing*, Shan
State, Tenasserim*
Independence:
4 January 1948 (from UK)
Constitution:
3 January 1974 (suspended since 18 September 1988)
Leg