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Myanmar, officially theRepublic of the Union of Myanmar and also referred to asBurma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwestSoutheast Asia. It is the largest country by area inMainland Southeast Asia and has a population of about 55 million. It is bordered byIndia andBangladesh to the northwest,China to the northeast,Laos andThailand to the east and southeast, and theAndaman Sea and theBay of Bengal to the south and southwest. The country's capital city isNaypyidaw, while itslargest city isYangon (formerly Rangoon).
Myanmar is a member of theEast Asia Summit,Non-Aligned Movement,ASEAN, andBIMSTEC, but it is not a member of theCommonwealth of Nations despite once being part of theBritish Empire. Myanmar is a Dialogue Partner of theShanghai Cooperation Organization. The country is very rich innatural resources, such asjade,gems,oil,natural gas,teak and otherminerals, as well as endowed withrenewable energy, having the highestsolar power potential compared to other countries of the GreatMekong Subregion. However, Myanmar has long suffered frominstability, factional violence,corruption, poor infrastructure, as well as a long history ofcolonial exploitation with little regard tohuman development. In 2013, its GDP (nominal) stood at US$56.7 billion and its GDP (PPP) at US$221.5 billion. Theincome gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of theeconomy is controlled bycronies of themilitary junta. Myanmar is one of theleast developed countries. Since 2021, more than 600,000 people have been displaced across Myanmar due to thecivil war post-coup, with more than three million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance. According to theUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are over 1.3 million people counted as refugees and asylum seekers, and 3.5 million people displaced internally as of December 2024. (Full article...)



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