History UsefulNotes / ThatSouthEastAsianCountry

In 2010, the junta stepped down, and handed power to a civilian government after flawed elections. However, the military continues to have strong ties with the government. Thein Sein (pronounced "Tane Sane") is the current president, famous for his democratic reforms and reconciliation with the west.

In fact, the country has recently come under fire for indulging in what can be best described as ''genocide'' on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya_people Rohingya]], an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who are closely related to the Bengalis and actually live near the border with UsefulNotes/{{Bangladesh}}, which makes it seem as if they are Bangladeshis who crossed the border. This last fact is greatly used by the Bamars to make people think that they are illegal immigrants and thus non-entities. In truth, the Rohingyas ''are'' recent settlers...[[MetaphoricallyTrue that arrived in the 18th century as part of the demand for work when the British conquered the country]]. Stating that they're non-entities is akin to saying that the [[UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} Israelis]] are non-entities because most of them only arrived in the late 1940s. Nevertheless, they are harshly persecuted in everything from politics, economy, and even religion (the fact that they're Muslims are an oft-stated easy target) that analysts have described them as "the most unwanted people in the whole world".

The country is ''[[BiggerIsBetter big]]''; at 676,578 km2 (261,227 sq mi)[[note]]just a tad smaller than [[EverythingIsBigInTexas Texas]][[/note]], it's the second-largest nation in Southeast Asia (after UsefulNotes/{{Indonesia}}, which is just plain gigantic, even if most of it are water). While the southern half consists of fertile plains and lowlands as in typical of other parts of Southeast Asia, the northern half is littered with hills and mountains, one of which is a part of the Himalayan Range, which means that it has an alpine climate in contrast to the tropics of the lowlands. The highest mountain of Southeast Asia, Hkakabo Razi, is located in the far north, in the border with UsefulNotes/{{China}}.

In fact, the country has recently came under fire for indulging in what can be best described as ''genocide'' on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya_people Rohingya]], an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who are closely related to the Bengalis and actually live near the border with UsefulNotes/{{Bangladesh}}, which makes it seem as if they are Bangladeshis who crossed the border. This last fact is greatly used by the Bamars to make people think that they are illegal immigrants and thus non-entities. In truth, the Rohingyas ''are'' recent settlers...[[MetaphoricallyTrue that arrived in the 18th century as part of the demand for work when the British conquered the country]]. Stating that they're non-entities is akin to saying that the [[UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} Israelis]] are non-entities because most of them only arrived in the late 1940s. Nevertheless, they are harshly persecuted in everything from politics, economy, and even religion (the fact that they're Muslims are an oft-stated easy target) that analysts have described them as "the most unwanted people in the whole world".

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<<|UsefulNotes/{{Asia}}|>>

The country is ''[[BiggerIsBetter big]]''; at 676,578 km2 (261,227 sq mi), it's the second-largest nation in Southeast Asia (after UsefulNotes/{{Indonesia}}, which is just plain gigantic, even if most of it are water). While the southern half consists of fertile plains and lowlands as in typical of other parts of Southeast Asia, the northern half is littered with hills and mountains, one of which is a part of the Himalayan Range, which means that it has an alpine climate in contrast to the tropics of the lowlands. The highest mountain of Southeast Asia, Hkakabo Razi, is located in the far north, in the border with UsefulNotes/{{China}}.

This country is known in English by two names. Firstly, its colonial name, Burma. Secondly, the name the ruling military government has given it in 1989, Myanmar. The renaming is understandable, because "Burma" led to confusion as the country is made up of one large ethnic group called the ''Burmans'' (or Bamar) and a huge number of smaller ones, who are collectively called ''Burmese''; Myanmar is a more neutral term. However sensible the renaming, a ''lot'' of media outlets and governments continue to use "Burma" as a symbolic protest against the military dictatorship that ruled it from 1962 to 2010. Creator/TheBBC now calls it [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12990563 "Myanmar"]], but note that the very first paragraph also refers to it as Burma. Basically, it's Asia's version of UsefulNotes/BritainVersusTheUK.

* Radical author Creator/GeorgeOrwell was sent out here as a policeman responsible to the British colonial administration. While here, he became a friend of the family of Creator/SpikeMilligan (then aged around ten), whose father had been posted here. The experience of Burma shaped his dislike of British imperialism and his later opposition to it. He refers to it in two books, ''Burmese Days'' and ''Shooting An Elephant''.

* Mentioned in SpittingImage's "I've Never Met a Nice South African", as featuring unicorns. Creator/TheBBC noted it as rather ironic, as a song that was ridiculing the evils of TheApartheidEra referred to a country that would later do even worse things.

* In Stuart Slade's ''Literature/SalvationWar'' Naypyidaw has to be taken out during one of the battles against the forces of either Heaven or Hell.

[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Myanmar-map_7708.jpg]]

[[quoteright:280:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Myanmar-map_7708.jpg]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Myanmar-map_7708.jpg]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Myanmar-map_7708.jpg

* Its people appear as the villains in the fourth ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' movie, which proved highly popular with Karen rebels (especially since the government [[BannedInChina banned it]]).

This country is known in English by two names. Firstly, its colonial name, Burma. Secondly, the name the ruling military government has given it in 1989, Myanmar. The renaming is understandable, because "Burma" led to confusion as the country is made up of one large ethnic group called the ''Burmans'' (or Bamar) and a huge number of smaller ones, who are collectively called ''Burmese''; Myanmar is a more neutral term. However sensible the renaming, a ''lot'' of media outlets and governments continue to use "Burma" as a symbolic protest against the military dictatorship that ruled it from 1962 to 2010. The {{BBC}} now calls it [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12990563 "Myanmar"]], but note that the very first paragraph also refers to it as Burma. Basically, it's Asia's version of UsefulNotes/BritainVersusTheUK.

This country is known in English by two names. Firstly, its colonial name, Burma. Secondly, the name the ruling military government has given it in 1989, Myanmar. The renaming is understandable, because "Burma" led to confusion as the country is made up of one large ethnic group called the ''Burmans'' (or Bamar) and a huge number of smaller ones, who are collectively called ''Burmese''; Myanmar is a more neutral term. However sensible the renaming, a ''lot'' of media outlets and governments continue to use "Burma" as a symbolic protest against the military dictatorship that ruled it from 1962 to 2010. The {{BBC}} now calls it [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12990563 "Myanmar"]], but note that the very first paragraph also refers to it as Burma. Basically, it's Asia's version of BritainVersusTheUK.

There is great controversy over the government's brutal treatment of various minorities, such as the native Karen. Burma has been involved in a civil war since 1948, the oldest ongoing war in the world. They moved their capital from Rangoon to a purpose built city, Naypyidaw, ostensibly because of a prophecy that Burma would be conquered by a foreign invader from the sea, but more likely because it could be designed to make urban insurgency very hard, unlike the sprawling Rangoon.

Oh, and the map on the left is slightly out of date - for whatever reason, the junta moved the capital from Rangoon/Yangon to a purpose-built central city called Naypyidaw in 2005. Apparently this was done out of a superstitious prophecy that predicted the fall of the coastal capital to a foreign invasion from the sea.

* Mentioned frequently in the McAuslan series -- the author and his expy/main character served in Burma and it is something of a [[SpiritualSuccessor spiritual prequel]] to his memoir ''Quartered Safe Out Here.''

* An episode of the short-lived ''ThePhilanthropist'' series has Teddy go there in after he's publicly accused of endorsing the Myanmar junta (the show was filmed prior to the junta step-down), as his company has dealings with the Myanmar government, and their forced labor. After visiting the country and finding out the truth for himself, Teddy is forced to further cooperate with the junta in order to get his bodyguard out of prison.

There is great controversy over the government's brutal treatment of various minorities, such as the native Karen. Burma has been involved in a civil war since 1948, the oldest ongoing war in the world.

This country is known in English by two names. Firstly, its colonial name, Burma. Secondly, the name the ruling military government has given it in 1989, Myanmar. The renaming is understandable, because "Burma" led to confusion as the country is made up of one large ethnic group called the ''Burmans'' (or Bamar) and a huge number of smaller ones, who are collectively called ''Burmese''; Myanmar is a more neutral term. However sensible the renaming, a ''lot'' of media outlets and governments continue to use "Burma" as a symbolic protest against the military dictatorship that ruled it from 1962 to 2010. Basically, it's Asia's version of BritainVersusTheUK.

* ''[[Franchise/RoadTo Road To Mandalay]]'', of course. And the same poem by Kipling, naturally.

* Mentioned frequently in the McAuslan series -- the author served in Burma and it is something of a [[SpiritualSuccessor]] to his memoir ''Quartered Safe Out Here.''

Oh, and the map on the left is slightly out of date - for whatever reason, the junta moved the capital from Rangoon/Yangon to a purpose-built central city called Naypyidaw in 2005.