Access to THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1994 provided courtesy of
the libraries of the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
======================================================
National Trade Data Bank
ITEM ID     : CI WOFACT WO0041
DATE        : Oct 28, 1994
 
AGENCY      : CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
PROGRAM     : WORLD FACTBOOK
TITLE       : World Factbook: Burma
 
Source key      : CI 
Program key     : CI WOFACT 
Update sched.   : Annually         
Data type       : TEXT 
End year        : 1994
Date of record  : 19941020
Keywords 3      :  
Keywords 3      : | Burma 
 
 
                                   Burma
 
 
                                 Geography
 
Location:
     Southeastern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and
     Thailand
Map references:
     Asia, Southeast Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
     678,500 sq km
land area:
     657,740 sq km
comparative area:
     slightly smaller than Texas
Land boundaries:
     total 5,876 km, Bangladesh 193 km, China 2,185 km, India 1,463 km,
     Laos 235 km, Thailand 1,800 km
Coastline:
     1,930 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
     24 nm
continental shelf:
     200 nm or to the edge of continental margin
exclusive economic zone:
     200 nm
territorial sea:
     12 nm
International disputes:
     none
Climate:
     tropical monsoon; cloudy, rainy, hot, humid summers (southwest
     monsoon, June to September); less cloudy, scant rainfall, mild
     temperatures, lower humidity during winter (northeast monsoon,
     December to April)
Terrain:
     central lowlands ringed by steep, rugged highlands
Natural resources:
     petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal,
     some marble, limestone, precious stones, natural gas
Land use:
arable land:
     15%
permanent crops:
     1%
meadows and pastures:
     1%
forest and woodland:
     49%
other:
     34%
Irrigated land:
     10,180 sq km (1989)
 
 
Environment:
current issues:
     deforestation
natural hazards:
     subject to destructive earthquakes and cyclones; flooding and
     landslides common during rainy season (June to September)
international agreements:
     party to - Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
     Tropical Timber; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate
     Change, Law of the Sea
Note:
     strategic location near major Indian Ocean shipping lanes
 
                                  People
 
Population:
     44,277,014 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
     1.86% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
     28.45 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
     9.84 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
     0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
     63.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
     59.98 years
male:
     57.94 years
female:
     62.15 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
     3.64 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
     Burmese (singular and plural)
adjective:
     Burmese
Ethnic divisions:
     Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Mon 2%, Indian
     2%, other 5%
Religions:
     Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%,
     animist beliefs 1%, other 2%
Languages:
     Burmese; minority ethnic groups have their own languages
Literacy:
     age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population:
     81%
male:
     89%
 
 
female:
     72%
Labor force:
     16.007 million (1992)
by occupation:
     agriculture 65.2%, industry 14.3%, trade 10.1%, government 6.3%, other
     4.1% (FY89 est.)
 
                                Government
 
Names:
conventional long form:
     Union of Burma
conventional short form:
local long form:
     Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw (translated by the US Government as
     Union of Myanma and by the Burmese as Union of Myanmar)
local short form:
     Myanma Naingngandaw
former:
     Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
Digraph:
     BM
Type:
     military regime
Capital:
     Rangoon (sometimes translated as Yangon)
Administrative divisions:
     7 divisions* (yin-mya, singular - yin) and 7 states (pyine-mya,
     singular - pyine); Chin State, Irrawaddy*, Kachin State, Karan State,
     Kayah State, Magwe*, Mandalay*, Mon State, Pegu*, Rakhine State,
     Rangoon*, Sagaing*, Shan State, Tenasserim*
Independence:
     4 January 1948 (from UK)
National holiday:
     Independence Day, 4 January (1948)
Constitution:
     3 January 1974 (suspended since 18 September 1988); National
     Convention started on 9 January 1993 to draft chapter headings for a
     new constitution
Legal system:
     has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
     18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state and head of government:
     Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Gen. THAN SHWE
     (since 23 April 1992)
State Law and Order Restoration Council:
     military junta which assumed power 18 September 1988
 
 
Legislative branch:
People's Assembly (Pyithu Hluttaw):
     last held 27 May 1990, but Assembly never convened; results - NLD 80%;
     seats - (485 total) NLD 396, the regime-favored NUP 10, other 79; was
     dissolved after the coup of 18 September 1988
Judicial branch:
     none; Council of People's Justices was abolished after the coup of 18
     September 1988
Political parties and leaders:
     Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), leader NA;
     National Unity Party (NUP; proregime), THA KYAW; National League for
     Democracy (NLD), U AUNG SHWE
Other political or pressure groups:
     National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), headed by
     the elected prime minister SEIN WIN (consists of individuals
     legitimately elected to Parliament but not recognized by the military
     regime; the group fled to a border area and joined with insurgents in
     December 1990 to form a parallel government; Kachin Independence Army
     (KIA); United Wa State Army (UWSA); Karen National Union (KNU);
     several Shan factions, including the Mong Tai Army (MTA); All Burma
     Student Democratic Front (ABSDF)
Member of:
     AsDB, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD,
     IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, ITU,
     LORCS, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador U THAUNG
chancery:
     2300 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
     (202) 332-9044 or 9045
consulate(s) general:
     New York
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
     (vacant); Deputy Chief of Mission, Charge d'Affaires Franklin P.
     HUDDLE, Jr.
embassy:
     581 Merchant Street, Rangoon
mailing address:
     American Embassy, Box B, APO AP 96546
telephone:
     [95] (1) 82055, 82181
FAX:
     [95] (1) 80409
Flag:
     red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing, all
     in white, 14 five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a
     stalk of rice; the 14 stars represent the 14 administrative divisions
 
                                  Economy
 
 
Overview:
     Burma has a mixed economy with about 70% private activity, mainly in
     agriculture, light industry, and transport, and with about 30%
     state-controlled activity, mainly in energy, heavy industry, and
     foreign trade. Government policy in the last five years, 1989-93, has
     aimed at revitalizing the economy after four decades of tight central
     planning. Thus, private activity has markedly increased; foreign
     investment has been encouraged, so far with moderate success; and
     efforts continue to increase the efficiency of state enterprises.
     Published estimates of Burma's foreign trade are greatly understated
     because of the volume of black market trade. A major ongoing problem
     is the failure to achieve monetary and fiscal stability. Inflation has
     been running at 25% to 30% annually. Good weather helped boost GDP by
     perhaps 5% in 1993. Although Burma remains a poor Asian country, its
     rich resources furnish the potential for substantial long-term
     increases in income, exports, and living standards.
National product:
     GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $41 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
     5% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
     $950 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
     30% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate:
     NA%
Budget:
revenues:
     $8.1 billion
expenditures:
     $11.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992)
Exports:
     $613.4 million (FY93)
commodities:
     pulses and beans, teak, rice, hardwood
partners:
     Singapore, China, Thailand, India, Hong Kong
Imports:
     $1.02 billion (FY93)
commodities:
     machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, food products
partners:
     Japan, China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia
External debt:
     $4 billion (1992)
Industrial production:
     growth rate 4.9% (FY93 est.); accounts for 10% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity:
     1,100,000 kW
production:
     2.8 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
     65 kWh (1992)
 
 
Industries:
     agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood and wood
     products; petroleum refining; mining of copper, tin, tungsten, iron;
     construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer
Agriculture:
     accounts for 40% of GDP and 66% of employment (including fish and
     forestry); self-sufficient in food; principal crops - paddy rice,
     corn, oilseed, sugarcane, pulses; world's largest stand of hardwood
     trees; rice and timber account for 55% of export revenues
Illicit drugs:
     world's largest illicit producer of opium (2,575 metric tons in 1993)
     and minor producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; opium
     production has doubled since the collapse of Rangoon's antinarcotic
     programs
Economic aid:
recipient:
     US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $158 million; Western
     (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $3.9
     billion; Communist countries (1970-89),  $424 million
Currency:
     1 kyat (K) = 100 pyas
Exchange rates:
     kyats (K) per US$1 - 6.2301 (December 1993), 6.1570 (1993), 6.1045
     (1992), 6.2837 (1991), 6.3386 (1990), 6.7049 (1989); unofficial - 105
Fiscal year:
     1 April - 31 March
 
                              Communications
 
Railroads:
     3,991 km total, all government owned; 3,878 km 1.000-meter gauge, 113
     km narrow-gauge industrial lines; 362 km double track
Highways:
total:
     27,000 km
paved:
     bituminous 3,200 km
unpaved:
     gravel, improved earth 17,700 km; unimproved earth 6,100 km
Inland waterways:
     12,800 km; 3,200 km navigable by large commercial vessels
Pipelines:
     crude oil 1,343 km; natural gas 330 km
Ports:
     Rangoon, Moulmein, Bassein
Merchant marine:
     47 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 665,628 GRT/941,512 DWT, bulk
     15, cargo 15, chemical 1, combination bulk 1, combination ore/oil 1,
     container 2, oil tanker 2, passenger-cargo 3, refrigerated cargo 5,
     vehicle carrier 2
Airports:
total:
     83
usable:
     78
 
 
with permanent-surface runways:
     24
with runways over 3,659 m:
     0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
     3
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
     38
Telecommunications:
     meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service for
     business and government; international service is good; 53,000
     telephones (1986); radiobroadcast coverage is limited to the most
     populous areas; broadcast stations - 2 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV (1985); 1 Indian
     Ocean INTELSAT earth station
 
                              Defense Forces
 
Branches:
     Army, Navy, Air Force
Manpower availability:
     males age 15-49 11,199,531; females age 15-49 11,273,643; males fit
     for military service 5,979,710; females fit for military service
     6,034,810; males reach military age (18) annually 445,933 (1994 est.);
     females reach military age (18) annually 430,738 (1994 est.); both
     sexes liable for military service
Defense expenditures:
     $NA, NA% of GDP
 
 
 
===========================================================================
This section of THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1994 produced by the United States
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was derived from the US Dept. of Commerce
Economics and Statistics Division's NATIONAL TRADE DATA BANK (NTDB) CD-ROM,
November, 1994, SuDoc No. C 1.88:994/11/v.1-2 / Presented by Raleigh Muns,
(srcmuns@umslvma.umsl.edu) University of Missouri-St. Louis Libraries.