Britain conquered Burma over a period of 62 years (1824-1886) and incorporated it into its Indian Empire. Burma was administered as a province of India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony; independence from the Commonwealth was attained in 1948.

Gen. NE WIN dominated the government from 1962 to 1988, first as military ruler, then as self-appointed president, and later as political kingpin. Despite multiparty legislative elections in 1990 that resulted in the main opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) - winning a landslide victory, the ruling junta refused to hand over power.

NLD leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient AUNG SAN SUU KYI, who was under house arrest from 1989 to 1995 and 2000 to 2002, was imprisoned in May 2003 and subsequently transferred to house arrest, where she remains virtually incommunicado.

In February 2006, the junta extended her detention for another year. Her supporters, as well as all those who promote democracy and improved human rights, are routinely harassed or jailed.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 47,373,958 note: estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 26.1% (male 6,277,073/female 6,084,001) 15-64 years: 68.6% (male 16,089,764/female 16,425,299) 65 years and over: 5.3% (male 1,075,868/female 1,421,953) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 27.4 years male: 26.8 years female: 28 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 0.815% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 17.48 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 9.33 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.032 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.757 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 50.68 deaths/1,000 live births male: 57.33 deaths/1,000 live births female: 43.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 62.49 years male: 60.29 years female: 64.83 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 1.95 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 1.2% (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 330,000 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: 20,000 (2003 est.)

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Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria are high risks in some locations note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified among birds in this country or surrounding region; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2007)

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Nationality: noun: Burmese (singular and plural) adjective: Burmese

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Ethnic groups: Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, other 5%

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Religions: Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%, animist 1%, other 2%

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Languages: Burmese, minority ethnic groups have their own languages

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 89.9% male: 93.9% female: 86.4% (2000 est.)

Burma, a resource-rich country, suffers from pervasive government controls, inefficient economic policies, and rural poverty. The junta took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy after decades of failure under the "Burmese Way to Socialism," but those efforts stalled, and some of the liberalization measures were rescinded. Lacking monetary or fiscal stability, the economy suffers from serious macroeconomic imbalances - including rising inflation, fiscal deficits, multiple official exchange rates that overvalue the Burmese kyat, a distorted interest rate regime, unreliable statistics, and an inability to reconcile national accounts to determine a realistic GDP figure. Most overseas development assistance ceased after the junta began to suppress the democracy movement in 1988 and subsequently refused to honor the results of the 1990 legislative elections. In response to the government of Burma's attack in May 2003 on AUNG SAN SUU KYI and her convoy, the US imposed new economic sanctions in August 2003 against Burma - including a ban on imports of Burmese products and a ban on provision of financial services by US persons. Further, a poor investment climate hampers attracting outside investment slowing the inflow of foreign exchange. The most productive sectors will continue to be in extractive industries, especially oil and gas, mining, and timber with the latter especially causing environmental degradation. Other areas, such as manufacturing and services, are struggling with inadequate infrastructure, unpredictable import/export policies, deteriorating health and education systems, and endemic corruption. A major banking crisis in 2003 shuttered the country's 20 private banks and disrupted the economy. As of 2006, the largest private banks operate under tight restrictions limiting the private sector's access to formal credit. Official statistics are inaccurate. Published statistics on foreign trade are greatly understated because of the size of the black market and unofficial border trade - often estimated to be as large as the official economy. Though the Burmese government has good economic relations with its neighbors, better investment and business climates and an improved political situation are needed to promote serious foreign investment, exports, and tourism.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $85.2 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $9.6 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 3% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,800 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 50% industry: 15% services: 35% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 28.49 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 70% industry: 7% services: 23% (2001 est.)

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Unemployment rate: 10.2% (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line: 25% (2000 est.)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 32.4% (1998)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 21.4% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 11.8% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $2.18 billion expenditures: $2.36 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane; hardwood; fish and fish products

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Industries: agricultural processing; wood and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; cement, construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer; natural gas; garments, jade and gems

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Industrial production growth rate: NA%

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Electricity - production: 6.02 billion kWh (FY05/06)

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Electricity - consumption: 5.325 billion kWh (FY05/06)

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Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2006)

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Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2006)

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Oil - production: 9,500 bbl/day (2006 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 20,460 bbl/day (2006 est.)

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Oil - exports: 5,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)

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Oil - imports: 19,180 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - proved reserves: less than 50 million bbl (1 January 2005)

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Natural gas - production: 10.2 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 2.7 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 7.5 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 283.2 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

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Current account balance: $1.247 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $3.56 billion f.o.b. note: official export figures are grossly underestimated due to the value of timber, gems, narcotics, rice, and other products smuggled to Thailand, China, and Bangladesh (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: gas, wood products, pulses, beans, fish, rice, clothing, jade and gems

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Exports - partners: Thailand 49%, India 12.8%, China 5.3%, Japan 5.2% (2006)

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Imports: $1.98 billion f.o.b. note: import figures are grossly underestimated due to the value of consumer goods, diesel fuel, and other products smuggled in from Thailand, China, Malaysia, and India (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: fabric, petroleum products, fertilizer, plastics, machinery, transport equipment; cement, construction materials, crude oil; food products, edible oil

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Imports - partners: China 34.6%, Thailand 21.8%, Singapore 16.2%, Malaysia 4.7%, South Korea 4.3% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.01 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $7.162 billion (2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: $127 million (2001 est.)

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Currency (code): kyat (MMK)

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Exchange rates: kyats per US dollar - 1,280 (2006), 5.761 (2005), 5.7459 (2004), 6.0764 (2003), 6.5734 (2002) note: unofficial exchange rates ranged in 2004 from 815 kyat/US dollar to nearly 970 kyat/US dollar, and by yearend 2005, the unofficial exchange rate was 1,075 kyat/US dollar; data shown for 2002-05 are official exchange rates

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Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March