1987 Edition

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)

Coastline

3,060 km

Comparative area

nearly as large as Texas

Contiguous zone

24 nm

Continental shelf

edge of continental margin or 200 nm

Environment

subject to destructive earthquakes and cyclones; flooding and landslides common during rainy season (June to September); deforestation

Extended economic zone

200 nm

Land boundaries

5,850 km total

Land use

15% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 1% meadows and pastures; 49% forest and woodland; 34% other; includes 2% irrigated

Special notes

strategic location near major Indian Ocean shipping lanes

Terrain

central lowlands ringed by steep, tugged highlands

Territorial sea

12 nm

Total area

500 km Andaman Sea

676,550 km?; land area: 657,740 km?

Ethnic divisions

68% Burman, 9% Shan, 7% Karen, 4% Raljome, 3% Chinese, 2% Indian, 7% other

Infant mortality rate

96/1,000 (1986)

Labor force

14.8 million (est. 1985/86); 66.1% agriculture, 12.0% industry, 10.6% government, 9.7% trade, 1.6% other

Language

Burmese; minority ethnic groups have their own languages

Life expectancy

57

Literacy

78%

Nationality

noun—Burmese; adjective— Burmese

Organized labor

Workers’ Asiayone or association (1.8 million members) and Peasants’ Asiayone (7.6 million members) integrated into the country’s sole political party

Population

38,822,484 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 2.08%

Religion

85% Buddhist, 15% indigenous beliefs, Muslim, Christian, or other

Administrative divisions

seven divisions (predominantly Burman population) and seven states (based on ethnic minorities), subdivided into townships, village-tracts (rural), and wards (urban)

Branches

Council of State rules through a Council of Ministers; National Assembly (Pyithu Hluttaw or People’s Congress) has legislative power

Capital

Rangoon

Communists

est. 15,000 (primarily as an insurgent group on the northeast frontier)

Elections

National Assembly and local People’s Councils elected in 1985 Political parties and leaders: governmentsponsored Burma Socialist Program Party only legal party; U Ne Win, party chairman

Government leader

U SAN YU, President and Chairman of Council of State (since November 1981)

Legal system

People’s Justice system and People's Courts instituted under 1974 constitution; has not accepted compulsory 1CJ jurisdiction

Member of

ADB, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, 1AEA, IBRD, 1CAO, IDA, IFC, THO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IRC, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO

National holiday

Independence Day, 4 January

Official name

Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma

Other political or pressure groups

Kachin Independence Army; Karen Nationalist Union, several Shan factions (all insurgent groups)

Suffrage

universal over age 18 Burma (continued)

Type

republic

Agriculture

accounts for 64% of total employment and about 27% of GDP; main crops—paddy, beans, pulses, maize, oilseeds, sugarcane, peanuts; almost 100% self-sufficient; most rice grown in deltaic land; an illegal producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade

Budget

revenues, $3,754 million; expenditures, $4,381 million (FY85/86 est.)

Electric power

826,000 kW capacity; 1,750 million kWh produced, 50 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$317.27 million (f.0.b., FY85/86); teak and hardwoods, rice, pulses and beans, base metals, ores, marine products, rubber

Fiscal year

1 April-31 March

Fishing

catch 585,800 metric tons (1983)

GDP

$7.05 billion (in current prices), $190 per capita; real growth rate 6.2%; 7% inflation rate (FY85/86)

Imports

$602.32 million (f.0.b., FY85/86); machinery and transportation equipment, building materials, oil industry equipment

Major industries

agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood and wood products; petroleum refining; mining of copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials

Major trade partners

exports—Singapore, Western Enrope, China, UK, Japan; imports—Japan, Western Europe, Singapore, UK

Monetary conversion rate

7.18 kyats=US$1 (November 1986)

Natural resources

oil, timber, tin, copper, tungsten, lead, asbestos, some marble, limestone, precious stones; possibly chromium, gypsum

Airfields

89 total, 83 usable; 29 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 37 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

17 major transport aircraft (including 3 helicopters)

Highways

27,000 km total; 3,200 km bituminous, 17,700 km improved earth or gravel, 6,100 km unimproved earth

Inland waterways

12,800 km; 3,200 km navigable by large commercial vessels

Pipelines

crude, 1,117 km; natural gas, 830 km

Ports

4 major, 6 minor

Railroads

4,353 km total; all government owned; 3,878 km 1.000-meter gauge, 113 km narrow-gauge industrial lines; 362 km double track

Telecommunications

meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service; international service is good; radiobroadcast coverage is limited to the most populous areas; 49,597 telephones (1982/83; 1 per 1,000 popl.); 2 AM, 1 FM, and 1 TV stations (1985); 1 satellite ground station

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 March 1987, $249.48 million; about 21.7% of central government budget

Military manpower

eligible 15-49, 18,940,000; of the 9,439,000 males 15-49, 5,069,000 are fit for military service; of the 9,501,000 females 15-49, 5,091,000 are fit for military service; 413,000 males and 403,000 females reach military age (18) annually; both sexes are liable for military service