| Country name: | Republic of the Union of Myanmar |
| Government type: | Parliamentary republic |
| Capital: | Naypyidaw |
| Administrative divisions: | 7 regions, 7 states, 1 union territory |
| Independence: | 4 January 1948 (from the UK) |
| Legal system: | Mixed legal system of English common law and customary law |
| Total area: | Land 653,508 sq km, water 23,070 sq km, coastline 1,930 km, land boundaries 6,522 km |
| Natural resources: | petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal, marble, limestone, precious stones, natural gas, hydropower, arable land |
| Land use: | Agricultural land 19.2%, forest 48.2%, other 32.6% (2011 est.) |
| Population: | 55,622,506 (July 2018 est.) |
| Ethnic groups: | Burman (Bamar) 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, other 5% |
| Languages: | Burmese (official), minority ethnic groups use their own languages |
| Religions: | Buddhist 87.9%, Christian 6.2%, Muslim 4.3%, Animist 0.8%, Hindu 0.5%, other 0.3% (2014 est.) |
| Age structure: | Median age 28.5 years, life expectancy 68.6 years, total fertility rate 2.13 children born/woman (2018 est.) |
| Urbanization: | Urban population: 30.9% of total population (2019) |
| Literacy: |
Total population: 75.6%, male: 80%, female: 71.8% (2015 est.)
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| Unemployment: | Unemployment youth ages (15-24): 4% |
Since Myanmar began the transition to a civilian-led government in 2011, the country initiated economic reforms aimed at attracting foreign investment and reintegrating into the global economy. State Counsellor AUNG SAN SUU KYI and the ruling National League for Democracy, who took power in March 2016, have sought to improve Burma’s investment climate following the US sanctions lift in October 2016 and reinstatement of Generalized System of Preferences trade benefits in November 2016.
Myanmar’s economic growth rate recovered from a low growth under 6% in 2011 but has been volatile between 6% and 7.2% during the past few years. Myanmar’s abundant natural resources and young labor force have the potential to attract foreign investment in the energy, garment, information technology, and food and beverage sectors. The government is focusing on accelerating agricultural productivity and land reforms, modernizing and opening the financial sector, and developing transportation and electricity infrastructure. The government has also taken steps to improve transparency in the mining and oil sectors through publication of reports under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in 2016 and 2018.
Despite these improvements, living standards have not improved for the majority of the people residing in rural areas. Myanmar remains one of the poorest countries in Asia – approximately 26% of the country’s 51 million people live in poverty. The isolationist policies and economic mismanagement of previous governments have left Myanmar with poor infrastructure, endemic corruption, underdeveloped human resources, and inadequate access to capital, which will require a major commitment to reverse. The Myanmar Government has been slow to address impediments to economic development such as unclear land rights, a restrictive trade licensing system, an opaque revenue collection system, and an antiquated banking system.
Myanmar established a managed float of the kyat in 2012, granted the Central Bank operational independence in July 2013, enacted a new anti-corruption law in September 2013, and granted licenses to 13 foreign banks in 2014-16.
