Article Outline
In contrast to the period from 1962 to 1988, when the Burma Socialist Program Party was the only legitimate political party, more than 100 political parties began organizing in 1988, and 93 competed in the national election held in May 1990. The political role of competitive parties was extinguished, however, after the major opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won more than 80 percent of the seats in the 1990 election, while the parties supported by the army captured only 2 percent.
In 2004 the armed forces of Myanmar included 428,000 people. The army had 350,000 members, the navy had 13,000, the air force had 12,000, and the remainder were paramilitary personnel, including the People’s Police Force and the People’s Militia. Myanmar has a military conscription law but it has not been applied because of sufficient voluntary enlistments. When required by military necessity, voluntary and involuntary labor is recruited from the streets, a practice that has been described by the government as traditional but is much criticized in international forums. Women, with the exception of medical personnel, generally do not serve in Myanmar’s armed forces.
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International Organizations
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Myanmar is a member of the following international organizations: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Myanmar became a full member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1997.
The history of what is now Myanmar (formerly Burma; renamed in 1989) has been made by a succession of peoples who migrated down along the Irrawaddy River from Tibet and China, and who were influenced by social and political institutions that had been carried across the sea from India. First came the Mon, perhaps as early as 3000 bc. They established centers of settlement in central Myanmar, in the Irrawaddy delta, and farther down the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal. They constructed irrigation systems and developed commercial and cultural contacts with India, while maintaining loose ties with other Mon civilizations in the Chao Phraya Valley of Siam (now Thailand). The Pyu followed much later, moving down the western side of the Irrawaddy and founding a capital near present-day Prome in ad 628. The Burmans entered the Irrawaddy River valley in the mid-9th century, absorbing the nearby Pyu and Mon communities. Later waves brought in the Shan and Kachin, who, along with the native Karen, have all played a part in the country’s development.
The first unified Myanmar state was founded by King Anawrahta (reigned 1044-1077) at Pagan in Upper Myanmar and was brought to its height by his son, Kyanzittha (reigned 1084-1112). Their domain advanced from the dry zone to incorporate the delta Mon centers at Pegu and Thaton; they extended political and religious ties overseas to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and fought off a Chinese invasion from the north. The internal structure of the state was similar to that of a Hindu kingdom, with a court at the capital supported by direct household taxes or service obligations drawn from villages, which were under the guidance of hereditary myothugis (township headmen). In time an increasing proportion of the land was donated to Buddhist monasteries in the form of slave villages for the maintenance of the sangha (monkhood). Kingship was legitimated by both Hindu ideology and the king’s role as defender of the Buddhist faith. During 250 years of relative peace, the devout rulers built the many pagodas for which Pagan is known today.
In 1287 Pagan was conquered by the Mongols under Kublai Khan. This was the beginning of a turbulent period during which Upper Myanmar led an uncertain existence between Shan domination and tributary relations with China, while Lower Myanmar reverted to Mon rule based at Pegu.
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