Myanmar (Burma) • မြန်မာ (Myanma)

31.01.1862: Arakan, Tenasserim, and Pegu are united as (British) Lower Burma, within British India
01.01.1886: remnant of Ava (Upper Burma) annexed to British India
26.02.1886: Upper and Lower Burma united as Burma (within British India)
01.04.1937: a separate British colony - Crown Colony of Burma
01.08.1942-08.05.1945: Japanese occupation
01.08.1943-04.1945: State of Burma
04.01.1948: independence - Union of Burma • ပြည်ထောင်စုမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်‌ (Pyihtaungcu Myanma Naingngandaw)
19.04.1948: member of United Nations
04.01.1974: Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
23.09.1988: Union of Burma
18.06.1989: Union of Myanmar (official English name of country changed)

Area: 676,578 km²
Population: 33,234,000 (1983), 55,000,000 (2005 est.)
Capital: Naypyidaw (နေပ္ရည္‌တော္) - since 27.03.2006; 1948-2006 Yangon (ရန္‌ကုန္, Rangoon)
Currency: since 1952 kyat (ကျပ်, K) = 100 pya (ပ္ရား)
GDP per capita: $ 1200 (2008)
Ethnic groups: Bamar (Burmese) 55.9%, Karen 9.5%, Shan 6.5%, Rakhine 4%, Han Chinese 2.5%, Indian 2%, Mon 2.3%, Yangbye 2.2%, Kachin 1.5%, other 13.6% (2000)
Official language: Burmese; recognised regional languages (de iure): Jingpho (Kachin), Kayah, Karen, Chin, Mon, Rakhine and Shan

Merchant marine: 24 ships over 1000 Grt (2008)
Coastline: 1930 km
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm (or to the edge of the continental margin)
Waterways: 12800 km
Military expenditures: 2.1% of GDP (2005)

Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (Head of State), Commander-in-Chief
and Minister of Defense: Sr.Gen. Than Shwe (15.11.1997)
Prime Minister: Gen. Thein Sein (12.10.2007)
Chief of General Staff: Gen. Shwe Mann (2001)
People's Pearl and Fishery Dept. | Customs Dept.
Major wars & other armed conflicts

08.1943: declared war on United Kingdom and United States
27.03.1945: Burmese National Army mutinied against Japan
04.1948-present (with slight break c.1951-1962): internal conflict against some minorities ( Karen, Shan,
Mon, Kachin, Wa, Arakanese, Rohingya) and communists
08.08-19.09.1988: democratic "8888" uprising against military junta (failed)

တပ္မေတာ္ေရ (Tatmadaw Yay) • Myanmar Navy or 'Armed Forces, Sea'

06.1940: Burma Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (BRNVR)
1945: first regular vessels acquired
12.1947: Union of Burma Navy
02-03.05.2008: cyclone "Nargis" destroyed ~25 naval vessels and killed 280 personnel

Commander: R.Adm. Nyan Htun (2007/2008)
Personnel: 700 (1948), 2000 (1954), 3000 (1958;1961), 300+5900 (1969;1976), 6300 (incl. 800 marines, 1978), 10000 (1980;1984), 7000 (1986), 9000 and 900 marines (1989;1991), 12000 (1992), 14000 (1995), 10000 (1999), 16000 (2004), 19000 (2006)
Warship prefix: UMS = Union of Myanmar Ship (Myanma-sit Yay-yin)
Organisation: about a third of navy is dedicated to strategic fleet (Sitbyuha Yay-yinsu)
Education: Training Command at Yangon-Seikkyi
Naval infantry: 2-3 battalions, 1500-2500 men (established 1964)
Main base: Yangon (Rangoon)
Structure: five regional commands
• 1. Irrawaddy - bases Yangon, Thanhklyet Sun, Pathein (Bassein), Yangon-Sinmalaik
• 2. Danyawaddy - Sittwe (Akyab), Kyaukpyu, Thandwe (Sandoway)
• 3. Panmawaddy - Hainggyi I.
• 4. Mawyawaddy - Mawlamyaing (Moulmein)
• 5. Tanintharyi - Mergui (Myeik), Dawei (Tavoy), Pearl I., Zadetkyi Kyun, Palai Kyun, Lampi Kyun, Kadan Kyun, Sakanthit

Ensigns

1937-1942 and 1945-1948:

1942-1943:

08.1943-04.1945:

01.1948-01.1974 (ensigns adopted 1952):

Since 01.1974 (some flags adopted later):
 Ranks insignia

Map

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Governors
02.01.1923-20.12.1927Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler (1869-1938)
20.12.1927-20.12.1932Sir Charles Alexander Innes (1874-1959)
20.12.1932-08.05.1936Sir Hugh Landsdowne Stephenson (1871-1941)
08.05.1936-06.05.1941Sir Archibald Douglas Cochrane (1885-1958)
06.05.1941-31.08.1946Col. Sir Reginald Hugh Dorman-Smith (1899-1977; 05.1942-10.1945 at Simla, India)
31.08.1946-04.01.1948Mjr.Gen. Sir Hubert Elvin Rance (1898-1974)

Deputy Chairmen of the Executive Council
01.04.1937-20.02.1939Ba Maw (1893-1977)
20.02.1939-09.1940Maung Pu (1881-?)
09.1940-19.01.1942"Galon" Saw (1900-1948)
19.01.1942-03.1942Sir Paw Tun (1883-1953)
03.1942-28.09.1946vacant
28.09.1946-19.07.1947Aung San (1915-1947)   အောင္‌ဆန္‌း
24.07.1947-04.01.1948Thakin Nu (1907-1995)   ဦးနု
Chief of State, Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief (Adipati)
01.08.1943-04.1945Mjr.Gen. Ba Maw

Minister of War
01.08.1943-03.1945Lt.Gen. Aung San

(Japanese) Supreme Adviser
08.1943-04.1945Gotara Ogawa
Presidents
04.01.1948-16.03.1952 Saw Shwe Thaik (1896-1962)   စဝ်ရွှေသိုက်
16.03.1952-13.03.1957 Ba U (1887-1963)
13.03.1957-02.03.1962 Mahn Win Maung (1916-1989)
Chairman of Revolutionary Council
02.03.1962-02.03.1974 Gen. Ne Win (Shu Maung; 1910/11-2002)   နေဝင်
Presidents
02.03.1974-09.11.1981 Gen. Ne Win
09.11.1981-25.07.1988 Gen. San Yu (1918-1996)   စန်းယု
25.07.1988-12.08.1988 Gen. Sein Lwin (1923-2004)
12.08.1988-19.08.1988 acting: Aye Ko
19.08.1988-18.09.1988 Maung Maung (1925-)   မောင်မောင်
Chairmen of the State Law and Order Restoration Council
18.09.1988-23.04.1992 Sr.Gen. Saw Maung (1928-1997)   စောမောင်
23.04.1992-15.11.1997 Gen. Than Shwe (1933-)   သန္းေရႊ
Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (Naingngandaw Ayechan Thaya Yay Hnin Phwanphyo Yay Kaungsi)
15.11.1997- Sr.Gen. Than Shwe

Prime ministers
04.01.1948-12.06.1956 Thakin Nu
12.06.1956-01.03.1957 Ba Swe (1915-1987)   ဘဆွေ
01.03.1957-29.10.1958 Thakin Nu
29.10.1958-04.04.1960 Gen. Ne Win
04.04.1960-02.03.1962 Thakin Nu
02.03.1962-04.03.1974 Gen. Ne Win
04.03.1974-29.03.1977 Brig. Sein Win (1919-1993)   စိန်ဝင်း
29.03.1977-26.07.1988 Col. Maung Maung Kha (1920-1995)   မောင်မောင်ခ
26.07.1988-18.09.1988 Col. Tun Tin (1930-)   ထွန်းတင်
21.09.1988-23.04.1992 Gen. Saw Maung
29.04.1992-25.08.2003 Sr.Gen. Than Shwe
25.08.2003-19.10.2004 Gen. Khin Nyunt (1939-)   ခင္‌ညြန္‌့
19.10.2004-12.10.2007 Gen. Soe Win (1948-2007)   စိုးဝင်း
12.10.2007- Gen. Thein Sein (1945-; acting 18.05-24.10.2007)   သိန်း​စိန်

Commanders in Chief, Armed Forces
01.1948-31.01.1949 Lt.Gen. Smith Dun
01.02.1949-20.04.1972 Gen. Ne Win
20.04.1972-08.03.1974 Gen. San Yu
08.03.1974-06.03.1976 Gen. Tin U
06.03.1976-1983 Gen. Kyaw Htin
1983-23.04.1992 Sr.Gen. Saw Maung
23.04.1992- Sr.Gen. Than Shwe

Commanding Officers, BRNVR
1940-04.1946 Lt.Cdr. Kenneth S. Lyle
04.1946-1947 ...
1947-01.1948 Lt.Cdr. Khin Maung Bo
Commanders of Navy
01.1948-af.1952Cmdr. Khin Maung Bo
bf.1954-1962/63Cdre. Than Pe
1962/63-c.1978Cdre. Thaung Tin
c.1978-af.1983R.Adm. Chit Hlaing
af.1983-1985/87R.Adm. Maung Maung Win
1985/87-02.1992V.Adm. Maung Maung Khin
02.1992-1993/94V.Adm. Than Nyunt
1993/94-bf.1997V.Adm. Tin Aye
bf.1997-08.2000V.Adm. Nyunt Thein
08.2000-2005V.Adm. Kyi Min
2005-2007/08V.Adm. Soe Thein
2007/08-R.Adm. Nyan Htun
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