Key facts about Myanmar

Key facts about Myanmar, which is experiencing the largest protests since a failed democratic uprising in 1988.

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COUNTRY: Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a Southeast Asian nation bordered by Bangladesh and India to the west, China to the north and Thailand and Laos to the east and southeast. Its total land area is 679,000 square kilometers (262,000 square miles), or slightly smaller than Texas. Its population is 54 million.
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POLITICS: Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962. Dictator Ne Win was replaced in 1988 by another group of generals who crushed a pro-democracy movement that left thousands dead. The junta held general elections in 1990, but refused to honor the results when Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for almost 12 of the past 18 years. In 1993, the government launched a self-described, seven-step democratic "road map." The first step was completed in September with the completion of guidelines for a new constitution. No date for a referendum on the constitution or elections has been set.
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ECONOMY: Once Southeast Asia's most prosperous country, Myanmar today is one of the world's 20 poorest nations, with a per capita income of about US$200 (euro141). Economic problems are related to the military's misrule and exasperated by sanctions imposed by Western countries to force political change. Poverty is endemic and AIDS and other diseases are spreading rapidly. In recent years, the government has opened up the economy. Neighboring countries including China, India and Thailand have rushed in to tap its vast reserves of oil and natural gas, which has propped up the regime.