History and profile of Burma
Burma is a country of South East Asia. Its border is linked to Bangladesh, Thailand, China, India and Laos. It is the 40th largest country in the world and second largest in South East Asia. With 58.5 million people, it is the 24th populous country with an area of 676,578 km2 . It has plenty of wonders for eyes with ancient Buddhist temples, lush mountain forests, beautiful rivers, great people and many more spectacular sights.
Burma is the home of ancient civilization of Southeast Asia. In 9th century Barman’s entered the valley and established the Pagan Kingdom and their culture and language dominated in the country. During this era Buddhism became the dominant religion of country. Kingdom of Pagan fell in 1287and several stated emerged. In 16th country was reunified and became a great empire of Southeast Asia. In 19th crucial time of this state started following three wars the country was colonized by Britain. Several economic, administrative, social and cultural changes took place during British rule and the society transformed to a feudal state after all country got independence in 1948. But at that time country was suffering civil wars between myriad ethnic groups. Country was under military rule since 1962 to 2011 and no development took place during this period. General election held in 2010 and military rule dissolved in 2011 and civilian government established.
During military rule there was a least development in economy but it a country full of resources. Economic growth rate was also slower during this period and annual GDP rate was 2.9%. Due to poor Health care system world health organization ranked it at 190th country with worst health system. Several organizations and United States report human rights violation consistently in the country which includes child labor, women rights violation, lack of speech freedom and human trafficking.
This country consists of 67 districts, 14 states, 330 towns and 68290 villages. The country lies between Equator and Tropic of Cancer, it is the monsoon region of area and coastal areas receives 5,000mm annual rainfall. Northern regions are cool where as weather remains pleasant in delta and coastal regions. Although country is full of natural resources, there is less focus on preservation of ecosystem and environment. Forest area is 49% with dense tropical growth including bamboo, acacia and iron wood and many other species. In the highlands pine, Oak covers much of the area. Heavy logging greatly reduced forest area and also destroyed wild life habitat. Various varieties of tropical fruits are found in the coastal area and around the country, it is also a large area of mangroves.
Elections were held in 2010 and after a long time these were peaceful elections in county and new Government focused on various reforms which include economy, democracy, commission for human rights established, new labor laws were passed, freedom of speech was allowed and press was free of any political pressure. These reforms were surprise for people who suffered for a long time in Military rule. Future will show whether these reforms are established or not. Burma is full of natural resources and a nation of hardworking people. There is a need civililian government should be continued and laws should be passed to hinder the path of military rule in future and civilian government should focus towards welfare of people who suffered for a long time.