Rangoon (regime refers to the capital as Yangon)

Administrative divisions: 7 divisions* (yin-mya, singular - yin)
and 7 states (pyine-mya, singular - pyine); Chin State, Ayeyarwady*,
Bago*, Kachin State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Magway*, Mandalay*,
Mon State, Rakhine State, Sagaing*, Shan State, Tanintharyi*, Yangon*

Independence: 4 January 1948 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 4 January (1948)

Constitution: 3 January 1974 (suspended since 18 September 1988);
national convention started on 9 January 1993 to draft a new
constitution; chapter headings and three of 15 sections have been
approved

Legal system: does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state and head of government: Prime Minister and Chairman
of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Gen. THAN SHWE (since
23 April 1992)
State Law and Order Restoration Council: military junta which
assumed power 18 September 1988

Legislative branch:
People's Assembly (Pyithu Hluttaw): election last held 27 May 1990,
but Assembly never convened; results - NLD 80%; seats - (485 total)
NLD 396, NUP 10, other 79

Judicial branch: limited; remnants of the British-era legal system
in place, but there is no guarantee of a fair public trial; the
judiciary is not independent of the executive

Political parties and leaders: Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA; pro-regime), THAN AUNG, secretary; National Unity
Party (NUP), pro-regime, THA KYAW; National League for Democracy
(NLD), AUNG SAN SUU KYI, general secretary; and eight minor legal
parties

Other political or pressure groups: National Coalition Government
of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), headed by the elected prime minister
SEIN WIN - consists of individuals legitimately elected to the
People's Assembly but not recognized by the military regime; the
group fled to a border area and joined with insurgents in December
1990 to form a parallel government; Kachin Independence Army (KIA);
United Wa State Army (UWSA); Karen National Union (KNU); several
Shan factions, including the Mong Tai Army (MTA); All Burma Student
Democratic Front (ABSDF)

International organization participation: AsDB, CCC, CP, ESCAP,
FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF,
IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, Mekong Group,
NAM, UN, UN