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General Information
Area: 676,552 sq km (261,218 sq miles).
Population: 47,260,000 (1998).
Population Density: 69.8 per sq km.
Capital: Yangon (Rangoon). Population: 5,037,000 (official estimate 1994).
GEOGRAPHY: Myanmar is a diamond-shaped country extending 925km (575 miles) from east to west and 2100km (1300 miles) from north to south. It is bounded by China, Laos and Thailand in the east, by Bangladesh and India in the north and by the Indian Ocean in the west and south. The Irrawaddy River runs through the centre of the country and fans out to form a delta on the south coast; Yangon stands beside one of its many mouths. North of the delta lies the Irrawaddy basin and central Myanmar, which is protected by a horseshoe of mountains rising to over 3000m (10,000ft), creating profound climatic effects. To the west are the Arakan, Chin and Naga mountains and the Patkai Hills; the Kachin Hills are to the north; to the east lies the Shan Plateau, which extends to the Tenasserim coastal ranges. Intensive irrigated farming is practised throughout central Myanmar, and fruit, vegetables and citrus crops thrive on the Shan Plateau, but much of the land and mountains are covered by subtropical forest.
Government: Socialist Republic since 1974. Power assumed by the army in 1988. Head of State and Government: Senior General Than Shwe since 1992.
Language: The official language is Myanmar (Burmese). There are over 100 dialects spoken in Myanmar. English is spoken in business circles.
Religion: 87 per cent Theravada Buddhist. The remainder are Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Animist.
Time: GMT + 6.5.
Electricity: 220/230 volts AC, 50Hz.
Communications:
Telephone
IDD is available to the main cities. Country code: 95. Outgoing international code: 00. For emergencies, dial 199 (police), 191 (fire) and 192 (ambulance). There is a limited public internal service. Only larger cities can be dialled direct from within Myanmar; smaller towns still use manual switchboards and callers need to ask the operator to connect them to a specific town operator. The Central Telephone & Telegraph (CTT) office on the corner of Pansodan and Mahabandoola Streets is the only public place in the country where international telephone calls can be conveniently arranged. The office is open Mon-Fri 0800-1600 and weekends and holidays 0900-1400.
Mobile telephone
GSM 900 network is operated by Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications. Fees are high and coverage limited.
Fax
May be sent from the Central Telegraph Office on Mahabandoola Street and there are further facilities at the Post and Telecommunications Corporation in Yangon.
Internet
ISPs include the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication (website: www.mpt.net.mm). Set-up fees are high.
Post
Service to Europe takes up to a week and letter forms are quicker than ordinary letters. To ensure despatch, it is advisable to go to the post office personally to obtain a certificate of posting, for which a small fee is charged.
Press
The only English-language newspapers are The New Light of Myanmar and the Guardian. Myanmar Travel & Tours also publishes a tourist publication, Today, in English. Locally published magazines in English include Golden Myanmar, Myanmar Chronicle and Myanmar Perspective, which are all available from bookshops.
BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change.
BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice):
Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov):
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
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