Burma, or Myanmar, which is its new name, is a country where ancient and splendid Buddhist temples are spread out placidly over a country that is desperate for change. The Tatmadaw, an infamous repressive military government, have ruled the country for the past thirty years. It is a rather vexed moral question whether an individual could financially succeed in Burma, and this is the question this paper will answer based on comprehensive research.
Location
Burma is a Southeast Asian sovereign state that is located between Thailand and India. In the north, the country is bordered by China and India, and in the south, the country stretches over to the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. Burma is also bordered by Bangladesh and Laos on the west and the east, respectively ("indexmundi.com"). In comparison to the state of Texas, Burma is slightly smaller with an area of 678,500 km2 ("export-importtradecenter.com"). Rangoon, also referred to as Yangon, is the capital of Burma and is located in the south of the country. The most important cities in Burma include Bassein, Myanwa, Pegu, Sittwe, and Sittwe.
Physical Geography
The whole of the western border that Burma shares with Bangladesh and India is covered with steep mountain ranges. Running parallel to the coast, these steep mountain ranges then stretch southward approximately as far as the Irrawaddy Delta. The average elevation of most of these mountain ranges is approximately 1,800 m, but some of the peaks are even 3,000 m high ("britannica.com"). The Chindwin River, The Irrawaddy River, The Salween, and the Sittang River are the major rivers in Burma. Mandalay, Naypyidaw, Pagan, and Rangoon are the four major cities in the country.
Burma has a tropical monsoon climate. From June to September, the summers in countries are cloudy, hot, humid and rainy, and from December to April, the winter is less cloudy, with mild temperatures and scant rainfall ("indexmundi.com"). In Burma, there is very little average rainfall because the center of the country is mostly a Dry Zone, unlike other Southeast Asian countries. Every year, less than 72 cm of rainfall is recorded the country. Burma is an arid region (Cooler). Heavy rainfall is mostly experienced in the summer in southwest region of the country. The average range of rainfall in the country is somewhere between 150 and 250 cm every year (Ba-Pe).
History
The origins of human inhabitance in Burma have been dated back 3,500 years, when bronze implements were used by the settlers in the Irrawaddy Valley for farming rice and raising livestock. In the 6th century B.C.E., the Mon and the Pyu migrated to Burma from India and the Tibetan plateau (Chair). Not only did rice become a staple in the diet of the Burmese people but it also became the currency that they used to pay the taxes (Cooler). Burma was among the few places where a policy of regime change was pursued by the British (Lanchester). In the fact of colonialism, the Burmese people were unified by their religious faith (Harris and Matthews 30). Burman-led nation remerged as the “Union of Burma” when the country was occupied invaded and subsequently occupied by the Japanese in 1942. A military coup was staged by Ne Win in March 1962. Ever since then, there has been a dominant military regime in the country, and although a democratic party won the multi-party elections in May 1990, the results were not honored by the military (Joseph), and at the same time Burma was renamed Myanmar (Welsh).
Culture
Although Burma’s name was changed to Myanmar, the culture that the country has adopted is still known as the Burmese culture, which is primarily Buddhist culture. There has been a strong connection between religion and royalty in the Burmese history. The Burmese people have incorporated worship into their everyday life, and praying is the very first daily ritual practiced by the locals. There are about 500,000 monasteries, pagodas and shrines in Burma (Ehrlich). Buddha’s Birthday, Shwedagon Festival and Waso are among Burma's major religious festivals and holidays. Considering the fact that Burm is politically isolated, the outside world has less influence on the Burmese culture. Decision-making in the country is strongly influenced by superstition (Kaung).
Political Stability and Political Problems
After a coup in 1962, the junta, an oppressive military-led government, gained power and Burma is still being run by the same government. Merely 14 short years after Burma gained independence from the United Kingdom; General Ne Win became the Prime Minister of the country on the 2nd March after seizing power. Until 2011, Burma became a single party socialist state as a result of the military coup where the government controlled everything, and especially punished ethnic groups. Currently, Thein Sein, who has formerly served as a commander in the Burmese military, is the president of the country. Burma’s political system transitioned to quasi-civilian government in 2011.
In the past couple of years, Burma has undergone dramatic political reforms ("indexmundi.com"). Currently, Thein Sein’s military-backed regime is struggling against Suu Kyi’s NLD. The ethnic politics in Burma tend to be very complicated, so it is not surprising that there is no consensus (Chachavalpongpun). In the recent months, deadly and violent clashes have taken place between the Buddhists and the Muslim Rohingya in the Burmese state of Rakhine. The political reform of Burma could come crashing down if the ethnic conflict in the region is not dealt with. “Ultimately only Burma itself can determine its place in the world” (Chachavalpongpun).
The Current Economy
For three successive years from 1986 to 1989, severe declines had been suffered by the economy of Burma, which left the country’s economy in bad shape when state power was assumed in 1988. From 1989 to 1992, urgent reform measures were taken the Burmese Government to end the decline and induce immediate recovery. Eventually in the development endeavors in Burma gained further momentum and in 2000 the GDP of the country grew up to about 13.8% ("data.un.org"). After years of having a sluggish economy, the economy of Burma is rapidly changing, although still on Military terms. Due to improper economic management, most of the 55 million people living in Burma have been left in dire poverty, with 32.7% of the population below poverty line in 2007. However, by 2011, the GDP per capita had reached $1,300 ("indexmundi.com").
Environmental Issues
Just like the economy of Burma, even the environment of the country has deteriorated over the past 3 decades to such an extent that Burma is now recognized among the poorest countries in the world. The military regime in the country is to blame for this. Farmers in Burma are forced to produce twice or even thrice the amount of crops they used to traditionally produce, just for military profit. Burma’s soil is gradually depleting and becoming un-arable because of being overused. Simply for military profit, foreign loggers are continuously and methodically cutting down the Burmese forests, which includes the valuable teak trees in the country. The Salween Dam is a huge hydroelectric proposed project because of which the rainforests would be submerged, thus it poses a threat to the indigenous people living there and the natural habitat. Industrial of air, soil, and water pollution are also among the environmental issues that the country is facing.
The Population
The population of Burma is estimated at more than 54.5 million (2012) ("indexmundi.com"), with a 70 persons per sq km population density. There are seven states in the Union of Myanmar and seven divisions ("asterism.info"). According to a 2012 estimate, Burma has a 1.07% population growth rate. Currently, Burma population comprises of 135 national races ("cia.gov"). A majority of Burma’s population comprises of rural inhabitants from the Irrawaddy valley while the rest are urban inhabitants. The delta and dry zone of the Irrawaddy valley are the most popular regions in the country because of the agricultural production that the rural inhabitants partake in. the upper delta between Hinthada and Yangon has the highest densities. A majority of the people in Burma are Buddhists, who practice Theravada Buddhism.
Summary and Conclusion
Myanmar is a Southeast Asian sovereign state that is often referred by its former name of Burma, and is sandwiched between two major competing powers in Asia, the People’s Republic of China and India. The landmass of Burma is the largest in the whole of East Asia. From a personal point of view, since the population of Burma is more than 50 million and the natural resources in the country are abundant, this seems to suggest that a viable economy can be potentially created in Burma. However, the military rule that has dominated the country for about five decades has dissipated this potential. No opposition is tolerated by the junta military regime, and has repeatedly violated a bulk of human rights laws and rules, including forcing the villagers into slave labor and to relocate. The junta military regime has been using villagers as slaves to build high-end tourist infrastructure and natural gas pipelines, which done little to improve the lives of the ordinary people of Burma. Thus, personally I believe that succeeding financially in Burma is perhaps possible but would be very challenging.
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