|
Myanmar's
(Burma) population is estimated at over 47 million,
with the population density being 70 persons per sq
km. Roughly three quarters of the population are rural
inhabitants, with the remaining population living in
urban Yangon, Mandalay and Moulmein. About two thirds
of Myanmar's population are Burman (ethnically close
to Tibetans and Chinese) with other minorities making
up the other third.
Of
the minorities, the Karen and the Shan groups which
together make up less than ten percent of Myanmar's
population are considered to be the two most important
ones. With the British occupation, most of the ethnic
minorities were kept separate within their borderlands,
thus enabling them to maintain their traditions. Since
Burman rule, these minorities, especially the Karen
with occasional help from Shan political groups and
the Kachin have rebelled by using arms.
Burma,
which has a total area of 678,500 square kilometres
(262,000 sq mi), is the largest country in mainland
Southeast Asia, and the 40th-largest in the world. It
is bordered to the northwest by Chittagong Division
of Bangladesh and Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal
Pradesh of India to the northwest. Its north and northeast
border straddles the Tibet and Yunnan regions of China
for a Sino-Burman border total of 2,185 kilometres (1,358
mi). It is bounded by Laos and Thailand to the southeast.
|
