Portal:Myanmar

ကြိုဆိုပါတယ်။ / Welcome to the Myanmar Portal

Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has a population of about 55 million. It is bordered by India and Bangladesh to the northwest, China to the northeast, Laos and Thailand to the east and southeast, and the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal to the south and southwest. The country's capital city is Naypyidaw, while its largest city is Yangon (formerly Rangoon).

Following the 2020 Myanmar general election, in which Aung San Suu Kyi's party won a clear majority in both houses, the Tatmadaw again seized power in a 2021 coup d'état, which led to the rule of the National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) and its new military junta, the State Administration Council (SAC). The coup, which was widely condemned by the international community, led to continuous ongoing widespread protests in Myanmar and has been marked by violent political repression by the military, as well as the outbreak of a civil war. The military again arrested Aung San Suu Kyi in order to remove her from public life, and charged her with crimes ranging from corruption to violation of COVID-19 protocols; all of the charges against her are "politically motivated" according to independent observers. The SAC imposed a state of emergency from 2021 to 2025, after which it transferred power back to the NDSC. The country transitioned to a nominally civilian government in 2026.

Myanmar is a member of the East Asia Summit, Non-Aligned Movement, ASEAN, and BIMSTEC, but it is not a member of the Commonwealth of Nations despite once being part of the British Empire. Myanmar is a Dialogue Partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The country is very rich in natural resources, such as jade, gems, oil, natural gas, teak and other minerals, as well as endowed with renewable energy, having the highest solar power potential compared to other countries of the Great Mekong Subregion. However, Myanmar has long suffered from instability, factional violence, corruption, poor infrastructure, as well as a long history of colonial exploitation with little regard to human development. In 2013, its GDP (nominal) stood at US$56.7 billion and its GDP (PPP) at US$221.5 billion. The income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by cronies of the military junta. Myanmar is one of the least developed countries in the world.

The country remains riven by ethnic strife among its myriad ethnic groups and has one of the world's longest-running ongoing civil wars. The United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systemic human rights violations in the country. Since 2021, more than 600,000 people have been displaced across Myanmar due to the civil war post-coup, with more than three million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance. According to the United 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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Image 1

Mahamuni Buddha at the temple

The Mahamuni Buddha Temple (Burmese: မဟာမုနိရှင်တော်မြတ်ကြီး, Burmese pronunciation: [məhà mṵnḭ pʰəjádʑí]) is a Buddhist temple and major pilgrimage site, located southwest of Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma). The Mahamuni Image (lit. 'The Great Sage') is enshrined in this temple, and originally came from Arakan. It is highly venerated in Burma and central to many people's lives, as it is seen as a representation of the Buddha's own life essence.

Ancient tradition refers to only five likenesses of the Buddha made during his lifetime; two were in India, two in paradise, and the fifth is the Mahamuni Image in Myanmar. Legend holds that the Buddha himself visited the Dhanyawadi city of Arakan in 554 BC. King Sanda Thuriya requested that an image be cast of him. Once complete, the Buddha breathed upon it, and thereafter the image took on his exact likeness. (Full article...)
Image 2

Sites of battles (1277–1287)
Pagan might have also seen a battle in 1287

The first Mongol invasion of Burma (Burmese: မွန်ဂို–မြန်မာ စစ် (၁၂၇၇–၁၂၈၇); Chinese: 元緬戰爭) were a series of military conflicts between Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty, a division of the Mongol Empire, and the Pagan Empire that took place between 1277 and 1287. The invasions toppled the 250-year-old Pagan Empire, and the Mongol army seized Pagan territories in present-day Dehong, Yunnan and northern Burma to Tagaung. The invasions ushered in 250 years of political fragmentation in Burma and the rise of ethnic Tai-Shan states throughout mainland Southeast Asia.

The Mongols first demanded tribute from Pagan in 1271–1272, as part of their drive to encircle the Song dynasty of China. When King Narathihapate refused, Emperor Kublai Khan himself sent another mission in 1273, again demanding tribute. It too was rejected. In 1275, the emperor ordered the Yunnan government to secure the borderlands in order to block an escape path for the Song, and permitted a limited border war if Pagan contested. Pagan did contest but its army was driven back at the frontier by the Mongol army in 1277–1278. After a brief lull, Kublai Khan in 1281 again turned his attention to Southeast Asia, demanding tribute from Pagan, the Khmer Empire, Đại Việt and Champa. When the Burmese king again refused, the emperor ordered an invasion of northern Burma. Two dry season campaigns (1283–1285) later, the Mongols had occupied down to Tagaung and Hanlin, forcing the Burmese king to flee to Lower Burma. The Mongols organized northern Burma as the province of Zhengmian. (Full article...)
Image 3

Aung San, c. 1940s

Aung San (Burmese: အောင်ဆန်း, MLCTS: aung hcan:, pronounced [àʊɰ̃ sʰáɰ̃]; 13 February 1915 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese politician, independence activist and revolutionary. He was instrumental in Myanmar's struggle for independence from British rule, but he was assassinated just six months before his goal was realized. Aung San is considered to be the founder of modern-day Myanmar and the Tatmadaw (the country's armed forces), and is commonly referred to by the titles "Father of the Nation", "Father of Independence", and "Father of the Tatmadaw".

Devoted to ending British Colonial rule in Burma, Aung San founded or was closely associated with many Burmese political groups and movements and explored various schools of political thought throughout his life. He was a life-long anti-imperialist and studied socialism as a student. In his first year of university he was elected to the executive committee of the Rangoon University Students' Union and served as the editor of its newspaper. He joined the Thakin Society in 1938 and served as its general secretary. He also helped establish the Communist Party of Burma in 1939 but quit shortly afterwards due to vehement disagreements with the rest of the party leadership. He subsequently co-founded the People's Revolutionary Party (later the Burma Socialist Party) with the primary goal of Burmese independence from the British. (Full article...)
Image 4
Atula Thiri Maha Yaza Dewi (Burmese: အတုလသီရိ မဟာရာဇ ဒေဝီ [ʔətṵla̰ θìɹḭ məhà jàza̰ dèwì]; Pali: Atulasīrimahārājadevī; c. 1518–1568), more commonly known as Khin Khin Jee (ခင်ခင်ကြီး), was the chief queen consort of King Bayinnaung of Burma (Myanmar) from 1550 to 1568. The queen was of Toungoo royalty, daughter of King Mingyi Nyo and younger half-sister of King Tabinshwehti. She was the mother of King Nanda. Her 1534 marriage to Bayinnaung, a commoner, solidified an unfailing alliance between Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung who together would go on to found the Toungoo Empire (or the Second Burmese Empire). (Full article...)
Image 5
The print, broadcast and online mass media in Myanmar (also known as Burma) has undergone strict censorship and regulation since the 1962 Burmese coup d'état. The constitution provides for freedom of speech and the press; however, the government prohibits the exercise of these rights in practice. Reporters Without Borders ranked Myanmar 174th out of 178 in its 2010 Press Freedom Index, ahead of just Iran, Turkmenistan, North Korea, and Eritrea. In 2015, Myanmar moved up to 144th place, ahead of many of its ASEAN neighbours such as Singapore, as a result of political changes in the country.

There have been moves to lift censorship in the country. Tint Swe, head of the country's censorship body, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRB), told Radio Free Asia that censorship "should be abolished in the near future" as it is "non-existent in most other countries" and "not in harmony with democratic practices." Myanmar announced on 20 August 2012 that it would stop censoring media before publication. Newspapers and other outlets would no longer have to be approved by state censors, but journalists in the country could still face consequences for what they wrote and said. (Full article...)
Image 6

Ava c. 1450

The Ava Kingdom (Burmese: အင်းဝပြည်, pronounced [ʔɪ́ɰ̃wa̰ kʰɪʔ]; INN-wa pyi) also known as Inwa Kingdom or Kingdom of Ava was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma (Myanmar) from 1365 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagaing that had ruled central Burma since the collapse of the Pagan Kingdom in the late 13th century.

Like the small kingdoms that preceded it, Ava may have been led by Bamarised Shan kings who claimed descent from the kings of Pagan. Scholars debate that the Shan ethnicity of Avan kings comes from mistranslation, particularly from a record of the Avan kings' ancestors ruling a Shan village in central Burma prior to their rise or prominence. (Full article...)
Image 7

The Provisional Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burmese: ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် အိမ်စောင့်အစိုးရ), was a provisional government for Myanmar appointed by the State Administration Council. On 1 August 2021, it replaced the Management Committee of the State Administration Council, which had been in place since 19 February 2021, following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état. Some ministers were appointed by Min Aung Hlaing immediately following the coup on 1 February, in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services exercising emergency powers.

Due to the state of emergency, the cabinet was led by Prime Minister Min Aung Hlaing rather than Acting President Myint Swe, despite the president being the constitutional head of government. (Full article...)
Image 8

Zigrasimecia hoelldobleri worker

Zigrasimecia, also known as iron-maiden ants, is an extinct genus of ants which existed in the Cretaceous period approximately 98 million years ago. The first specimens were collected from Burmese amber in Kachin State, 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Myitkyina town in Myanmar. In 2013, palaeoentomologists Phillip Barden and David Grimaldi published a paper describing and naming Zigrasimecia tonsora. They described a dealate female with unusual features, notably the highly specialized mandibles. Other features include large ocelli, short scapes, 12 antennomeres, small eyes, and a clypeal margin that has a row of peg-like denticles. The genus Zigrasimecia was originally incertae sedis (uncertain placement) within Formicidae until a second species, Zigrasimecia ferox, was described in 2014, leading to its placement in the subfamily Sphecomyrminae. Later, it was considered to belong to the distinct subfamily Zigrasimeciinae. Zigrasimecia has 12 described species.

Due to the highly specialized mandibles, scientists believe that the ants exhibited habits no longer seen in extant ants. The highly movable head suggests that mobility was an important factor for them (probably for feeding behavior), and the rugose projections may have played a major role in nest excavation because the mandibles would have prevented such activity. Zigrasimecia most likely interacted with the extinct ant genus Gerontoformica through conflict and probably shared some of their ecological niches. The mandibles of these ants were probably used for mechanical interactions with food, and they may also have served as traps for potential arthropod prey such as mites and small flies. Zigrasimecia was possibly a generalist predator. (Full article...)
Image 9
The University of Yangon (also known as Yangon University; Burmese: ရန်ကုန်တက္ကသိုလ်, pronounced [jàɰ̃ɡòʊɰ̃ tɛʔkəθò]; formerly the University of Rangoon and Rangoon Arts and Sciences University) is a public university in Yangon, Myanmar. Located in Kamayut Township on the southwestern bank of Inya Lake, it is the country's oldest university and celebrated its centenary in 2020.

The university originated in Rangoon College and Judson College and was established under the University of Rangoon Act 1920. Modelled in part on British universities, it became closely associated with Burmese nationalism, and student strikes at the university in 1920, 1936, and 1938 were significant events in the country's anti-colonial movement. In the 1950s, the University of Rangoon was regarded as one of the leading universities in Asia. (Full article...)
Image 10

Black European male

The Burmese cat (Burmese: ဗမာကြောင်, Băma kyaung, Thai: แมวพม่า or Suphalak, RTGS: Thongdaeng or Supphalak, meaning copper colour) is a pedigreed breed of domestic cat, originating in Burma, believed to have its roots near the Thai–Burma border, and developed by selective breeding in the United States and Britain.

Most modern Burmese are descendants of one female cat called Wong Mau, which was brought from Burma to the United States in 1930 and bred with American Siamese. From there, American and British breeders developed distinctly different Burmese breed standards, which is unusual among pedigreed domestic cats. Most modern cat registries do not formally recognise the two as separate breeds, but those that do refer to the British type as the European Burmese. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... that the DI MA-1 Mk. III rifle was made in Myanmar as a reverse-engineered copy of the Chinese QBZ-97?
... that Setkya Dewi, chief queen of Burma, studied Western astronomy and English and was once gifted a telescope by a British envoy because of her interest in science?
... that Myinsaing withstood a ten-week siege by the Mongols because its three brother leaders bribed the invaders to withdraw?
... that plans for Myanmar's space programme began under an elected civilian government in 2017, but the Myanmar Space Agency was ultimately formed in 2025 under military rule?
... that Molly Burman resumed releasing music three years later after finding that "Happy Things" had accrued a million streams on Spotify?
... that one academic described the introduction of femboys to Myanmar as a tactic to achieve an "ideological revolution"?
... that the Myanmar Photo Archive (example photograph shown) revealed "a side of modern Myanmar that, until very recently, remained hidden in dusty attics"?
... that the Burmese Buddhist monk Sagyo Thu-Myat successfully lobbied for the recalibration of the Burmese calendar?

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The following are images from various Myanmar-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Mountains near Pindaya on the Shan Plateau (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 2Sculpture of Myanmar mythical lion (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 3A bull fight, 19th-century watercolour (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 4Pagan Kingdom during Narapatisithu's reign. Burmese chronicles also claim Kengtung and Chiang Mai. Core areas shown in darker yellow. Peripheral areas in light yellow. Pagan incorporated key ports of Lower Burma into its core administration by the 13th century. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 5The paddle steamer Ramapoora (right) of the British India Steam Navigation Company on the Rangoon river, having just arrived from Moulmein. 1895. Photographers: Watts and Skeen. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 6Aerial view of a burned Rohingya village in Rakhine state, September 2017 (from History of Myanmar)
Image 7Saint Mary's Cathedral in Downtown Yangon is the largest Roman Catholic cathedral in Burma. (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 8Deforestation in Myanmar during the British colonial era. (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 9Protesters in Yangon carrying signs reading "Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi" on 8 February 2021 (from History of Myanmar)
Image 10Political map of Burma (Myanmar) c. 1450 CE. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 11Temples at Mrauk U, the capital of the Mrauk U Kingdom, which ruled over what is now Rakhine State (from History of Myanmar)
Image 12Former US President Barack Obama poses barefoot on the grounds of Shwedagon Pagoda, one of Myanmar's major Buddhist pilgrimage sites. (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 13Sculpture of Thagyamin nat (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 14An ear-piercing ceremony at Mahamuni Buddha in Mandalay (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 15Myinhkin thabin - equestrian sport (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 16Military situation in Myanmar as of 2024^[update]. Areas controlled by the Tatmadaw are highlighted in red. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 17A wide range of Burmese lacquerware from Bagan (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 18Two female musicians play the saung at a performance in Mandalay. (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 19Salween river at Mae Sam Laep on the Thai-Myanmar border (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 20British soldiers remove their shoes at the entrance of Shwedagon Pagoda. To the left, a sign reads "Foot wearing is strictly prohibited" in Burmese, English, Tamil, and Urdu. (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 21British soldiers on patrol in the ruins of the Burmese town of Bahe during the advance on Mandalay, January 1945 (from History of Myanmar)
Image 22View of Hpa-An from Mount Zwegabin in Southeastern Hills (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 23A theatrical performance of the Mon dance (from Culture of Myanmar)
$Image 24A large fracture on the Mingun Pahtodawgyi caused by the 1839 Ava earthquake. (from Geography of Myanmar)$
Image 24A large fracture on the Mingun Pahtodawgyi caused by the 1839 Ava earthquake. (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 25Jade Mine in Hpakant (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 26The restored Taungoo or Nyaungyan dynasty, c. 1650 CE (from History of Myanmar)
Image 27A wedding procession, with the groom and bride dressed in traditional Burmese wedding clothes, reminiscent of royal attire (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 28Portuguese ruler and soldiers mounting an elephant. Jan Caspar Philips (draughtsman and engraver). (from History of Myanmar)
Image 29Myanmar (Burma) map of Köppen climate classification (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 30The shores of Irrawaddy River at Nyaung-U, Bagan (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 31Vegetable stall on the roadside at the Madras Lancer Lines, Mandalay, January 1886. Photographer: Hooper, Willoughby Wallace (1837–1912). (from History of Myanmar)
Image 32Protesters in Yangon with a banner that reads "non-violence: national movement" in Burmese. In the background is Shwedagon Pagoda. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 33Boxing match, 19th-century watercolour (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 34Mount Popa, a dormant volcano in the Central Lowlands (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 3519th-century funeral cart and spire, which would form part of the procession from the home to the place of cremation (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 36Recorder's Court on Sule Pagoda Road, with the Sule Pagoda at the far end, Rangoon, 1868. Photographer: J. Jackson. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 37First Anglo-Burmese War in 1824 (from History of Myanmar)
Image 38Grandfather Island, Dawei (from Geography of Myanmar)
Image 39British soldiers dismantling cannons belonging to King Thibaw's forces, Third Anglo-Burmese War, Ava, 27 November 1885. Photographer: Hooper, Willoughby Wallace (1837–1912). (from History of Myanmar)
Image 40Aung San Suu Kyi addresses crowds at the NLD headquarters shortly after her release. (from History of Myanmar)
Image 41A group of Buddhist worshipers at Shwedagon Pagoda, an important religious site for Burmese Buddhists (from Culture of Myanmar)
Image 42Hlei pyaingbwè - a Burmese regatta (from Culture of Myanmar)