![burma vs myanmar burma vs myanmar](https://www.globalr2p.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Myanmar_48.png)
Why is this so We argue that much of the reason has to do with an ongoing struggle for national identity.
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Yet it remains both economically and politically underdeveloped. government still officially uses “Burma.” But even Washington has mellowed its stance. Burma, also known as Myanmar, strategically located between China and India, is one of the largest and most richly endowed states in Southeast Asia. Most travellers instead hasten north to Mandalay, the hub for Upper Burma and the base for visiting the remains of several former capital cities, or to Bagan. Inside the country, opposition leaders made clear it didn’t matter much anymore. As repression eased and international opposition to the military became less vocal, “Myanmar” became increasingly common. Over the years, many countries and news outlets, including The Associated Press, had begun using the country’s official name. Longtime pro-democracy activist Suu Kyi became the country’s civilian leader. The military retained extensive political power, but opposition leaders were freed from prison and house arrest, and elections were allowed. Much of the world showed defiance of the junta by refusing to use the new name.Ī little over a decade ago, the country began a stumbling semi-democratic transition. In the Burmese language, “Myanmar” is simply the more formal version of “Burma.” The country’s name was changed only in English. The old name, officials said, excluded the country’s many ethnic minorities.Īt home, though, it changed nothing. Hoping for a sliver of international legitimacy, it said it was discarding a name handed down from its colonial past and to foster ethnic unity. But in 1989, one year after the ruling junta brutally suppressed a pro-democracy uprising, military leaders suddenly changed its name to Myanmar.īy then, Burma was an international pariah, desperate for any way to improve its image. Myanmar, also called Burma, country, located in the western portion of mainland Southeast Asia.In 1989 the country’s official English name, which it had held since 1885, was changed from the Union of Burma to the Union of Myanmar in the Burmese language the country has been known as Myanma (or, more precisely, Mranma Prañ) since the 13th century. Burmese, like Javanese and other languages of Southeast Asia, has different levels of register, with sharp differences between literary and spoken language. Mranma is the written, literary name of the country, while Bama is the spoken name of the country.
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Clearly, Burma and Myanmar (and Burmese and Myanmar). In the Burmese language Burma is known as Mranma Pran(). – People in Myanmar honk horns, bang on pots to protest coupįor generations, the country was called Burma, after the dominant Burman ethnic group. I have at home their latest Myanmar English Dictionary (1993), which also mentions a Myanmar alphabet.– EXPLAINER: Myanmar, Burma and why the different names matter.– Coup a further complication for tricky Myanmar-China ties.