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government type:
military junta capital: rangoon (government refers to capital as yangon) note: junta began shifting seat of government to pyinmana area of central burma in november 2005 administrative divisions: 7 divisions (taing-myar. singular - taing) and 7 states (pyi ne-myar. singular - pyi ne) : divisions: ayeyarwady. bago. magway. mandalay. sagaing. tanintharyi. yangon : states: chin state. kachin state. kayin state. kayah state. mon state. rakhine state. shan state independence: 4 january 1948 (from uk) national holiday: independence day. 4 january (1948); union day. 12 february (1947) constitution: 3 january 1974; suspended since 18 september 1988; national convention convened in 1993 to draft a new constitution but collapsed in 1996; reconvened in 2004 but does not include participation of democratic opposition legal system: has not accepted compulsory icj jurisdiction suffrage: 18 years of age; universal executive branch: chief of state: chairman of the state peace and development council sr. gen. than shwe (since 23 april 1992) head of government: prime minister. gen soe win (since 19 october 2004) cabinet: state peace and development council (spdc); military junta. so named 15 november 1997. which initially assumed power 18 september 1988 under the name state law and order restoration council (slorc); the spdc oversees the cabinet elections: none legislative branch: unicameral people's assembly or pyithu hluttaw (485 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 27 may 1990. but assembly never allowed by junta to convene election results: percent of vote by party - na%; seats by party - nld 392 (opposition). snld 23 (opposition). nup 10 (pro-government). other 60 judicial branch: remnants of the british-era legal system are in place. but there is no guarantee of a fair public trial; the judiciary is not independent of the executive political parties and leaders: national league for democracy or nld [aung shwe. chairman. aung san suu kyi. general secretary]; national unity party or nup (pro-regime) [tha kyaw] (at last report); shan nationalities league for democracy or snld [khun htun oo]; and other smaller parties political pressure groups and leaders: national coalition government of the union of burma or ncgub (self-proclaimed government in exile) ["prime minister" dr. sein win] consists of individuals. some legitimately elected to the people's assembly in 1990 (the group fled to a border area and joined insurgents in december 1990 to form parallel government in exile); kachin independence army or kia; karen national union or knu; several shan factions; united wa state army or uwsa; union solidarity and development association or usda (pro-regime. a social and political organization) [htay oo. general secretary] international organization participation: apt. arf. asdb. asean. cp. eas. fao. g-77. iaea. ibrd. icao. icrm. ida. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. iho. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iso (correspondent). itu. nam. opcw (signatory). un. unctad. unesco. unido. upu. wco. who. wipo. wmo. wto diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: linn myaing chancery: 2300 s street nw. washington. dc 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-9044 fax: [1] (202) 332-9046 consulate(s) general: new york diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: charge d'affaires shari villarosa embassy: 581 merchant street. rangoon (gpo 521) mailing address: box b. apo ap 96546 telephone: [95] (1) 379-880. 379-881 fax: [95] (1) 256-018 flag description: red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing. 14 white five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a stalk of rice; the 14 stars represent the 7 administrative divisions and 7 states economy - overview: burma is a resource-rich country that suffers from government controls. inefficient economic policies. and abject 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. burma has been unable to achieve monetary or fiscal stability. resulting in an economy that suffers from serious macroeconomic imbalances - including inflation. multiple official exchange rates that overvalue the burmese kyat. and a distorted interest rate regime. most overseas development assistance ceased after the junta began to suppress the democracy movement in 1988 and subsequently ignored the results of the 1990 legislative elections. economic sanctions against burma by the united states - including a ban on imports of burmese products and a ban on provision of financial services by us persons in response to the government of burma's attack in may 2003 on aung san suu kyi and her convoy - further slowed the inflow of foreign exchange. oil and gas development will drive growth in the next few years. other areas. however. are struggling. in february 2003. a major banking crisis hit the country's 20 private banks. shutting them down and disrupting the economy. as of december 2005. the largest private banks remained moribund. leaving the private sector with little formal access to credit. official statistics are inaccurate. published statistics on foreign trade are greatly understated because of the size of the black market and unofficial border trade - often estimated to be one to two times the size of the official economy. burma's trade with thailand. china. and india is rising. though the burmese government has good economic relations with its neighbors. a better investment climate and an improved political situation are needed to promote foreign investment. exports. and tourism. gdp (purchasing power parity): $76.2 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $8.243 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 1.5% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1.800 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 54.6% industry: 13% services: 32.4% (2005 est.) labor force: 27.75 million (2005 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 70%. industry 7%. services 23% (2001 est.) unemployment rate: 5% (2005 est.) population below poverty line: 25% (2000 est.) household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 32.4% (1998) inflation rate (consumer prices): 18% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 11.5% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $523.5 million expenditures: $769.3 million. including capital expenditures of $5.7 billion (2005 est.) agriculture - products: rice. pulses. beans. sesame. groundnuts. sugarcane; hardwood; fish and fish products industries: agricultural processing; knit and woven apparel; wood and wood products; copper. tin. tungsten. iron; construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer; cement; natural gas industrial production growth rate: na electricity - production: 7.393 billion kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 44.5% hydro: 43.4% nuclear: 0% other: 12.1% (2002) electricity - consumption: 6.875 billion kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 0 kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 0 kwh (2004) oil - production: 18.500 bbl/day (2005 est.) oil - consumption: 32.000 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: 3.356 bbl/day (2003) oil - imports: 49.230 bbl/day (2003) oil - proved reserves: 3.2 billion bbl (2003) natural gas - production: 9.98 billion cu m (2003 est.) natural gas - consumption: 1.569 billion cu m (2003 est.) natural gas - exports: 8.424 billion cu m (2003 est.) natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2003 est.) natural gas - proved reserves: 2.46 trillion cu m (2003) current account balance: $-215 million (2005 est.) exports: $2.514 billion f.o.b. note: official export figures are grossly underestimated due to the value of timber. gems. narcotics. rice. and other products smuggled to thailand. china. and bangladesh (2005 est.) exports - partners: thailand 38.9%. india 11.5%. china 5.9%. japan 5.2% (2004) imports: $2.183 billion f.o.b. note: import figures are grossly underestimated due to the value of consumer goods. diesel fuel. and other products smuggled in from thailand. china. malaysia. and india (2005 est.) imports - partners: china 29.8%. singapore 20.8%. thailand 19.3%. south korea 5.2%. malaysia 4.8% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $721.1 million (june 2005) debt - external: $6.967 billion (2005 est.) economic aid - recipient: $127 million (2001 est.) currency (code): kyat (mmk) currency code: mmk exchange rates: kyats per us dollar - 5.82 (2005). 5.7459 (2004). 6.0764 (2003). 6.5734 (2002). 6.6841 (2001) note: these are official exchange rates; unofficial exchange rates ranged in 2004 from 815 kyat/us dollar to nearly 970 kyat/us dollar. and by year-end 2005. the unofficial exchange rate was 1.075 kyat/us dollar fiscal year: 1 april - 31 march telephones - main lines in use: 357.300 (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: 66.500 (2003) telephone system: general assessment: barely meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service for business and government; international service is fair domestic: na international: country code - 95; satellite earth station - 2. intelsat (indian ocean). and shinsat radio broadcast stations: am 1. fm 1 (2004) radios: 4.2 million (1997) television broadcast stations: 2 (2004) televisions: 320.000 (2000) internet country code: .mm internet hosts: 3 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 1 note: as of september 2000. internet connections were legal only for the government. tourist offices. and a few large businesses (2000) internet users: 28.000 (2003) airports: 78 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 19 over 3.047 m: 6 2.438 to 3.047 m: 10 1.524 to 2.437 m: 3 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 65 1.524 to 2.437 m: 14 914 to 1.523 m: 19 under 914 m: 32 (2005 est.) heliports: 1 (2005 est.) pipelines: gas 2.056 km; oil 558 km (2004) railways: total: 3.955 km narrow gauge: 3.955 km 1.000-m gauge (2004) roadways: total: 30.000 km waterways: 12.800 km (2004) merchant marine: total: 37 ships (1.000 grt or over) 429.144 grt/659.622 dwt by type: bulk carrier 8. cargo 19. passenger 3. passenger/cargo 3. roll on'roll off 3. specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 10 (germany 4. japan 5. united kingdom 1) (2005) ports and terminals: moulmein. rangoon. sittwe military branches: myanmar armed forces (tatmadaw): army. navy. air force (2005) military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service for both sexes (may 2002) manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 11.254.374 females age 18-49: 11.303.100 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 6.512.923 females age 18-49: 6.789.720 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 440.914 females: 427.382 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $39 million (fy97) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 2.1% (fy97) disputes - international: over half of burma's population consists of diverse ethnic groups with substantial numbers of kin beyond its borders; despite continuing border committee talks. significant differences remain with thailand over boundary alignment and the handling of ethnic rebels. refugees. and illegal cross-border activities; ethnic karens flee into thailand to escape fighting between karen rebels and burmese troops. in 2004 thailand sheltered about 118.000 burmese refugees; karens also protest thai support for a burmese hydroelectric dam on the salween river near the border; environmentalists in burma and thailand continue to voice concern over china's construction of hydroelectric dams upstream on the nujiang/salween river in yunnan province; india seeks cooperation from burma to keep indian nagaland separatists from hiding in remote burmese uplands refugees and internally displaced persons: idps: 600.000 - 1.000.000 (government offensives against ethnic insurgent groups near borders; most idps are ethnic karen. karenni. shan. and mon) (2004) illicit drugs: remains world's second largest producer of illicit opium (estimated production in 2004 - 292 metric tons. down 40% from 2003 due to eradication efforts and drought; cultivation in 2004 - 30.900 hectares. a 34% decline from 2003); lack of government will and ability to take on major narcotrafficking groups and lack of serious commitment against money laundering continues to hinder the overall antidrug effort; major source of methamphetamine and heroin for regional consumption; currently under financial action task force countermeasures due to continued failure to address its inadequate money-laundering controls (2005)
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