in Myanmar

Myanmar

Myanmar (also known as Burma) is a country in Southeast Asia. It lies on the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea coast with Bangladesh and India to the west, China to the north, and Laos and Thailand to the east.

Cities
Naypyidaw (formerly Pyinmana) - newly designated (Nov.2005) administrative capital, in Mandalay Division
Yangon (formerly Rangoon) - the commercial capital, known for its pagodas and colonial architecture
Bago (formerly Pegu)
Mandalay - former capital of the Konbaung Dynasty built around the Mandalay Royal Palace
Mawlamyine (Moulmein)

Other destinations
Bagan - an archaeological zone with thousands of pagodas near the banks of the Ayeyarwady River
Inle Lake - a large shallow lake good for beautiful boat trips, visiting floating villages inhabited by the Intha people, hiking, and also a source of excellent silk
Kengtung - a town between Mong La (on the border with China) and Tachileik (on the border with Thailand) in the Golden Triangle, known for its tribes, Ann (black teeth people), Akha, trekking, etc
Kyaiktiyo - a gold-gilded rock sitting atop a cliff and a major pilgrimage site
Mount Popa - an extinct volcano regarded as the Mount Olympus of Myanmar, a green oasis high above the hot plains and an easy day trip from Bagan
Mrauk U - former capital of the Rakhine kingdom
Ngapali - beach resort in western Rakhine State, spilling into the Bay of Bengal
Pyay - a town on the Ayeyarwady River midway between Yangon and Bagan, known for its archological site "Sri Kittara", the ancient Pyu capital from 2 to 9 AD

History
Like most of Southeast Asia's countries, Myanmar's people and history is a glorious mishmash of settlers and invaders from all fronts. The Mon and the Pyu are thought to have come from India, while the now dominant Bamar (Burmese) migrated through Tibet and, by 849, had founded a powerful kingdom centered on Pagan. For the next millennium, the Burmese empire grew through conquests of Thailand (Ayutthaya) and India (Manipur), and shrank under attacks from China and internal rebellions.

Eventually, Britain conquered Burma over a period of 62 years (1824-1886) and incorporated it into its Indian Empire. It was administered as a province of India until 1937 when it became a separate self-governing colony. During the Second World War, Burma was a major battleground as the Allies fought the Japanese for dominance over Asia. The Burma Road was built to get supplies to China. Large parts of Western Burma, particularly the hilly areas bordering India and the city of Mandalay were severely damaged during the war. Independence from the Commonwealth under the name Union of Burma was attained in 1948.

General Ne Win dominated the government from 1962 to 1988, first as military ruler, then as self-appointed president, and later as political kingpin. Pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 were violently crushed, with general Saw Maung taking over in a coup and installing the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) to rule the country, now renamed Myanmar.

Multiparty legislative elections were held in 1990, with the main opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) - winning a landslide victory (392 of 489 seats). But SLORC refused to hand over power, instead placing NLD leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest, where she remains to this day.

Today Myanmar, a resource-rich country, suffers from pervasive government controls, inefficient economic policies, and rural poverty. The junta took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy after decades of failure under the "Burmese Way to Socialism," but those efforts stalled, and some of the liberalization measures were rescinded. Most overseas development assistance ceased after the junta began to suppress the democracy movement in 1988 and subsequently refused to honor the results of the 1990 legislative elections. In response to the government's attack in May 2003 on Aung San Suu Kyi and her convoy, the US imposed new economic sanctions against Myanmar - including bans on imports of products from Myanmar and on provision of financial services by US persons.

The summer of 2007 was marked by demonstrations against the military government which were again brutally suppressed. The demonstrations started in August, apparently in an uncoordinated manner, as a protest against a stiff hike in the price of gasoline, but morphed into a more serious challenge to the government after three monks were beaten at a protest march in the town of Pakokku. The monks demanded an apology but none was forthcoming and soon processions of monks with begging bowls held upside down filled many cities (including Sittwe, Mandalay, and Yangon). Yangon, particularly the area around Sule Pagoda in the downtown area, became the center of these protests. While the monks marched, and many ordinary citizens came out in support of the monks, the world watched as pictures, videos, and blogs flooded the Internet. However, the government soon suppressed the protests by firing on crowds, arresting monks, closing monasteries, and shutting down all Internet communications with the rest of the world.

Because of the brutal suppression of these protests, many countries, lead by the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom have imposed new sanctions on the Myanmar government, some targeting the families and finances of the military leaders. The UN is working on the government to open talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a first round of talks has already taken place.