Britain conquered Burma over a period of 62 years (1824-1886) and incorporated it into its Indian Empire. Burma was administered as a province of India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony; independence from the Commonwealth was attained in 1948.

Gen. NE WIN dominated the government from 1962 to 1988, first as military ruler, then as self-appointed president, and later as political kingpin. Despite multiparty legislative elections in 1990 that resulted in the main opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) - winning a landslide victory, the ruling junta refused to hand over power.

NLD leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient AUNG SAN SUU KYI, who was under house arrest from 1989 to 1995 and 2000 to 2002, was imprisoned in May 2003 and subsequently transferred to house arrest, where she remains virtually incommunicado.

In February 2006, the junta extended her detention for another year. Her supporters, as well as all those who promote democracy and improved human rights, are routinely harassed or jailed.

Capital: Rangoon (Nay Pyi Taw is the administrative capital)

Currency: kyat (MMK)

Burma is located in Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. To its west are Bangladesh and India, China is to the north, and Loas and Thailand are to the east.

The country is comprised of 20,760 square kilometers of water and 657,740 square kilometers of land, for a total area of 678,500 square kilometers -- slightly smaller than Texas.

The climate of Burma is tropical monsoon. Summers are cloudy, rainy, humid, and hot (southwest monsoon, June to September); winters are less cloudy with scant rainfall, mild temperatures, and lower humidity (northeast monsoon, December to April).

Burma's natural resources include petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal, some marble, limestone, precious stones, natural gas, and hydropower.

Burma occupies a strategic location near major Indian Ocean shipping lanes.

Burmese are represented by several ethnic groups, including:

• Burman 68%
• Shan 9%
• Karen 7%
• Rakhine 4%
• Chinese 3%
• Indian 2%
• Mon 2%
• Other 5%
  

89% of Burmese are Buddhists, with remainder including Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%, and animist 1%.

Burmese and minority ethnic groups have their own languages. 

The Burmese flag is red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing fourteen white, five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a stalk of rice.

The fourteen stars represent the seven administrative divisions and seven states of Burma.