About Myanmar | Myanmar Permanent Mission to the United Nations

MYANMAR

BASIC FACTS ABOUT MYANMAR

Myanmar is a country in Southeast Asia, bordering Bangladesh and India to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to its south and southwest. Myanmar is the largest country in Mainland Southeast Asia and the 10th largest in Asia by area, covering a land area of 261,228 sq mi. (676,578 sq. km.). The capital is Nay Pyi Taw and the largest city is Yangon. Time Zone is GMT/UTC + 6:30 hours.

POPULATION

LANGUAGES

CLIMATE

UNIT OF MEASURE

ELECTRICITY

CURRENCY

CLOTHING

There are a total of 51.4 million people, as of the latest nationwide census results released in August 2014. According to these provisional results, the nationwide population density was 76 per square kilometre (200/sq mi). Yangon Region was the most densely populated Region, (723 per square kilometre (1,870/sq mi)), followed by Mandalay (206 per square kilometre (530/sq mi)). The least densely populated States were Kachin State (19 per square kilometre (49/sq mi)) and Chin State (13 per square kilometre (34/sq mi)).

Burmese is the official language of Myanmar and it also a mother tongue. Burmese language is related to Tibetan and Chinese. It is written with a script consisting of circular and semi-circular altered from the Mon script, is invented by the South Indian script in the 5th century. The earliest known inscriptions in the Burmese alphabet date back to the 11th century. Moreover, it is used to write Pali, the sacred language of Theravada Buddhism, as well as several ethnic minority languages, including Shan, several Karen dialects, and Kayah (Karenni), with the addition of specialised characters and diacritics for each language.

A good time to visit the Myanmar is during the cool season (November to February), which is also the least humid time of year and has the clearest air. In the interim March to May is extremely hot and dry in the utmost parts of the country, and are categorized as summer months. The rainy season is between June to October. In Nay Pyi Taw, the temperature typically varies from 16 °C to 40 °C and is rarely below 14 °C or above 42 °C over the course of the year. The average annual temperature in Yangon is 26.8 °C | 80.2 °F. The temperatures can vary significantly since Myanmar is a large country. Generally, the temperatures and humidity become lower at higher altitudes; in Chin State in the west and parts of Shan State in the east, the temperatures can get close to freezing, and in the Himalayan far north they may drop below zero.

In October 2013, the Ministry of Commerce announced that Myanmar was preparing to adopt the International System of Units (SI) as the country's official system of measurement.

The power plugs and sockets are of type C, D, F and G. The standard voltage is 230 V and the standard frequency is 50 Hz.

The currency of Myanmar is the “kyat” (code MMK). Depending on the author's preference, it is abbreviated as "K" (singular or plural) before or after a numeric value, or "Ks" (plural).

GENERAL INFORMATION

Lightweight cotton and linen clothing is generally recommended for year-round temperatures due to high temperatures in popular places across the country. You may need warm clothes for the evening. Sometimes it can be cool. It may rain occasionally outside of the rainy season. Therefore, it is recommended to keep the light raincoat easy. If you travel to higher altitudes and travel north, you should buy warmer clothing, especially when the temperature drops significantly, especially in the cold season.

RELIGIONS

The majority of the population is Buddhist. Estimates range from 80% to 89%. According to the 2014 census, 87.9% of the population is Buddhist, 6.2% of the population is Christian and 4.3% of Muslims, 0.8%, which are followers of ethnic groups. There are 500,000 million Buddhist monks and 75,000 nuns in this country. Hinduism 0.5%; 0.2% is followers of other religions. 0.1% does not follow religion.