I.

Introduction

Myanmar, officially Union of Myanmar, republic in Southeast Asia, bounded on the west by Bangladesh, on the northwest by India’s Assam State, on the northeast by China’s Yunnan Province, on the east by Laos and Thailand, and on the southwest by the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The longest land border is shared with China. Myanmar was known as Burma until 1989; the country’s name was officially changed by the military government that took over in 1988. Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon) is the commercial capital and largest city. The administrative capital is Naypyidaw.