Burma; officially the country is called in English: “Republic of the Union of Myanmar” (translated means: Myanmar Union Republic ); formerly officially: “the Union of Myanmar” and before that: “the Union of Burma”. According to Ehistorylib, the country is a federal state or union in Southeast Asia with borders to Bangladesh and India in the west, China in the northeast, Laos in the east and Thailand in the southeast. The country has over 2,000 km of coastline towards the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

Since 1962, Burma has actually been ruled by a military junta, first led by Ne Win for 26 years and after a brief immediate democratic interplay around 1990, with a democratic parliamentary election subsequently suppressed by the country’s military leadership, where the military junta since 1992 has been led by General Than Shwe. Throughout this period, the military junta has been under strong international criticism, but the regime has been successful in navigating the big political scene while pretending to be a form of independence and neutrality, although it has entailed an ever-increasing dependence on China. The capital was moved to Naypyidaw from Yangon (formerly Rangoon) November 7, 2005. Other major cities include: Mandalay 600,000, Mawlamyine (Mulmein) 225,000, Bago (Pegu) 170,000 and Pathein (Bassein) 150,000.

The regime is accused of not respecting human rights. Opposition and political opposition to the regime will not be tolerated.

Burma is a member of ASEAN.

TIMELINE:

1886 – The country, formerly an independent kingdom, is incorporated into the British Empire and subordinated to India.

1945 – Japan occupies the country during World War II, but Britain recaptures it.

1947 – General Aung San is a Burmese revolutionary, nationalist and general. He is best known as the key figure in the negotiations for Burma’s independence from Britain in 1947. He was assassinated by rivals on July 19, the same year that independence became a reality. He is the father of freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi.

1948 – The country becomes independent, as the Union of Burma with U Now as prime minister.

1962 – A military coup led by General Ne Win ends in democratic Burma. Ne Win led the country for 26 years, but in 1990, democratic elections were held. Aung San Suu Kyi and her party NLD won the election supremely, but the military regime refused to relinquish power, and continues to rule the country with an iron fist.

1990 – Free elections are held in 1990, shortly after the 1988 uprising. In the election, Aung San Suu Kyi was elected Prime Minister, but the military refused to accept her. She has been placed under house arrest several times. She has now (January 2007) been under house arrest since May 2003. Since the late 1980s, she has been under house arrest or imprisonment for a total of eleven years.

1998 – The regime changes its official English name from ” the Union of Burma ” to ” the Union of Myanmar “, which was subsequently recognized by the United Nations. At the same time, the names of many cities were changed, such as the capital which was renamed from Rangoon to Yangon. The name change from “Burma” to “Myanmar” is disputed by the opposition in the country and by several western countries. The country’s former name “Burma” is still often used in i.a. Denmark.

2005 – The military junta announces that the country’s capital will be moved from Yangon to Pyinmana which means: The Royal Capital.

2008 – On January 25, Sylvester Stallone’s 4th film ( Wikipedia ) about Vietnam veteran John Rambo is released in the United States. It was recorded between January 22-4. May, 2007 in Chiang Mai, Thailand in Mexico, United States in Arizona and California. Inspired by the Uprising in Burma in 2007, Stallone chose to let the plot deal with this country’s conflicts since 1988, when Rambo is approached by missionaries in Thailand who want his help to sail them up the river to Burma, via Salween rivers. Rambo rejects it, but is later persuaded to do so by missionary Sarah Miller ( Julie Benz ). The missionaries end up being kidnapped by the Burmese military regime, and Rambo decides to do something about it as he is approached by five mercenaries who need his help to find the village that was burned and the missing missionaries. He follows the mercenaries, rescuing them from the military, who returned to the village with new hostages to be executed. After that, Rambo convinces the mercenaries that they can save the missionaries and avenge the massacre. They then infiltrate the camp to find the kidnapped and the rest of the prisoners and do away with the main villain once and for all.