Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%, animist beliefs 1%, other 2%
_#_Language: Burmese; minority ethnic groups have their own languages
_#_Literacy: 81% (male 89%, female 72%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
_#_Labor force: 16,036,000; agriculture 65.2%, industry 14.3%, trade 10.1%, government 6.3%, other 4.1% (FY89 est.)
_#_Organized labor: Workers' Asiayone (association), 1,800,000 members; Peasants' Asiayone, 7,600,000 members
_*Government #_Long-form name: Union of Burma; note—the local official name is Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw which has been translated by the US Government as Union of Myanma and by the Burmese as Union of Myanmar
_#_Type: military regime
_#_Capital: Rangoon (sometimes translated as Yangon)
_#_Administrative divisions: 7 divisions* (yin-mya, singular—yin) and 7 states (pyine-mya, singular—pyine); Chin State, Irrawaddy*, Kachin State, Karan State, Kayah State, Magwe*, Mandalay*, Mon State, Pegu*, Rakhine State, Rangoon*, Sagaing*, Shan State, Tenasserim*
_#_Independence: 4 January 1948 (from UK)
_#_Constitution: 3 January 1974 (suspended since 18 September 1988)
_#_Legal system: martial law in effect throughout most of the country; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 4 January (1948)
_#_Executive branch: chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, State Law and Order Restoration Council
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral People's Assembly (Pyithu Hluttaw) was dissolved after the coup of 18 September 1988
_#_Judicial branch: Council of People's Justices was abolished after the coup of 18 September 1988
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government—Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Gen. SAW MAUNG (since 18 September 1988)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
National Unity Party (NUP; proregime), THA KYAW;
National League for Democracy (NLD), U TIN OO and AUNG SAN SUU KYI;
League for Democracy and Peace, U NU
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
People's Assembly—last held 27 May 1990, but Assembly never convened; results—NLD 80%; seats—(485 total) NLD 396, the regime-favored NUP 10, other 79
_#_Communists: several hundred (est.) in Burma Communist Party (BCP)
_#_Other political or pressure groups: Kachin Independence Army (KIA), United Wa State Army (UWSA), Karen National Union (KNU), several Shan factions, including the Shan United Army (SUA) (all ethnically-based insurgent groups)
_#_Member of: AsDB, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador U MYO AUNG; Chancery at 2300 S Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 332–9044 through 9046; there is a Burmese Consulate General in New York;
US—Ambassador (vacant); Deputy Chief of Mission Franklin P. HUDDLE, Jr.; Embassy at 581 Merchant Street, Rangoon (mailing address is G. P. O. Box 521, Rangoon or Box B, APO San Francisco 96346); telephone 82055 or 82181
_#_Flag: red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing, all in white, 14 five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a stalk of rice; the 14 stars represent the 14 administrative divisions
_*Economy #_Overview: Burma is a poor Asian country, with a per capita GDP of about $400. The nation has been unable to achieve any substantial improvement in export earnings because of falling prices for many of its major commodity exports. For rice, traditionally the most important export, the drop in world prices has been accompanied by shrinking markets and a smaller volume of sales. In 1985 teak replaced rice as the largest export and continues to hold this position. The economy is heavily dependent on the agricultural sector, which generates about half of GDP and provides employment for 66% of the work force.
_#_GDP: $16.8 billion, per capita $408; real growth rate NEGL% (FY90 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 22.6% (FY89 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 9.6% in urban areas (FY89 est.)
_#_Budget: revenues $4.9 billion; expenditures $5.0 billion, including capital expenditures of $0.7 billion (FY89 est.)
_#_Exports: $228 million (f.o.b., FY89)
commodities—teak, rice, oilseed, metals, rubber, gems;
partners—Southeast Asia, India, China, EC, Africa
_#_Imports: $540 million (c.i.f., FY89)
commodities—machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, food products;
partners—Japan, EC, China, Southeast Asia
_#_External debt: $5.5 billion (December 1990 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 2.6% (FY90 est.); accounts for 10% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 950,000 kW capacity; 2,900 million kWh produced, 70 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood and wood products; petroleum refining; mining of copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 51% of GDP (including fish and forestry); self-sufficient in food; principal crops—paddy rice, corn, oilseed, sugarcane, pulses; world's largest stand of hardwood trees; rice and teak account for 55% of export revenues; fish catch of 732,000 metric tons (FY90)
_#_Illicit drugs: world's largest illicit producer of opium poppy and minor producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; opium production is on the increase as growers respond to the collapse of Rangoon's antinarcotic programs
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70–89), $158 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970–88), $3.9 billion; Communist countries (1970–88), $424 million
_#_Currency: kyat (plural—kyats); 1 kyat (K) = 100 pyas
_#_Exchange rates: kyats (K) per US$1—6.0476 (January 1991), 6.3386 (1990), 6.7049 (1989), 6.3945 (1988), 6.6535 (1987), 7.3304 (1986), 8.4749 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
_*Communications #_Railroads: 3,991 km total, all government owned; 3,878 km 1.000-meter gauge, 113 km narrow-gauge industrial lines; 362 km double track
_#_Highways: 27,000 km total;
