Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

(also known as Burma) is the northwesternmost country of mainland Southeast Asia located on the

Indochinese peninsula Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

. With an area of 261,228 sq mi (676,578 km²), it is the second largest country in Southeast Asia and the largest on mainland Southeast Asia. The kite-shaped country stretches from 10'N to 20'N for 1,275 miles (2,050 km) with a long tail running along the western coast of the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

. Myanmar lies along the Indian and Eurasian Plates, to the southeast of the

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of H ...

. To its west is the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

and to its south is the

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and the west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated f ...

. The country is nestled between several mountain ranges with the

Arakan Mountains The Arakan Mountains, natively referred as Rakhine Yoma () and technically known as the Southern Indo-Burman Range, are a mountain range in western Myanmar, between the coast of Rakhine State and the Central Myanmar Basin, in which flows the Irra ...

on the west and the Shan Plateau dominating the east. The central valley follows the

Irrawaddy River The Irrawaddy River (, , Ayeyarwady) is the principal river of Myanmar, running through the centre of the country. Myanmar’s most important commercial waterway, it is about 1,350 miles (2,170 km) long. Originating from the confluence of the ...

, the most economically important river to the country with 39.5 million people, including the largest city

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

, living within its basin. The country is home to many diverse

ethnic groups An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, rel ...

, with 135 officially recognized groups. It is strategically located near major Indian Ocean shipping lanes and was historically home to overland trade routes into China from the Bay of Bengal. The neighboring countries are China, India,

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Area and boundaries

;Area: :*Total: :**country rank in the world: ''39th'' :*Land: :*Water:

Maritime borders

The southern maritime boundary follows coordinates marked by both Myanmar and Thailand towards the maritime tripoint with India's

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

. The maritime India-Myanmar border resumes end south of

Coco Islands The Coco Islands () are a small group of islands in the northeastern Bay of Bengal. They are part of the Yangon Region of Myanmar since 1937. The islands are located south of the city of Yangon. Coco Island group consists of five islands: four ...

before heading towards Myanmar's narrow boundary with international Bay of Bengal waters. Myanmar has a total coastline of and has several islands and archipelagos- most notably the

Mergui Archipelago The Mergui Archipelago (also Myeik Archipelago or ''Myeik Kyunzu''; ) is located in far southern Myanmar (Burma) and is part of the Tanintharyi Region. It consists of around 800 islands, varying in size from very small to hundreds of square kilo ...

. The county has a total water area is and an

Exclusive Economic Zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

covering .

Land borders

Myanmar has a land border totaling bordering five countries and encompassing a total land area of . The Bangladesh-Myanmar border begins at the mouth of the

Naf River The Naf River ( ''Naf Nodi'' ; ; ) is an international river marking part of the Bangladesh–Myanmar border, border of southeastern Bangladesh and northwestern Myanmar. Geography The Naf's average depth is , and maximum depth is . Its width ...

at the

and head north around the Mayu Range in a wide arc before head back north through the

Chittagong Hill Tracts The Chittagong Hill Tracts (), often shortened to simply the Hill Tracts and abbreviated to CHT, refers to the three hilly districts within the Chittagong Division in southeastern Bangladesh, bordering India and Myanmar (Burma) in the east: Kh ...

to the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

with India at the peak of Teen Matha for a total of . The India-Myanmar border heads north through the

Chin Hills The Chin Hills are a range of mountains in Chin State, northwestern Burma (Myanmar), that extends northward into India's Manipur state. Geography The highest peak in the Chin Hills is Khonu Msung, Nat Ma Taung, or Mount Victoria, in southern ...

towards the

Tiau River Tyao River (or Tiau River, Tio River) is a long river that flows between the Mizoram state in India and the Chin State in Myanmar, forming part of the international boundary between the two countries. It rises near Khuangphah village of Champh ...

. It follows this river upstream and then through various rivers near

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

before going northeast through the

Patkai The Pat-kai (Pron:pʌtˌkaɪ) or Patkai Bum ( Burmese: ''Patkaing Taungdan'') are a series of mountains on the Indo-Myanmar border falling in the northeastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Upper Burma region of Myanmar. I ...

range to the Chaukan Pass and the

Mishmi Hills The Mishmi Hills are located at the northeastern tip of India, in northeastern Arunachal Pradesh. On the Chinese side, they form the southern parts of Nyingchi Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region. These hills occur at the junction of Nor ...

for a total of . The tripoint with China and India is disputed due to the

Sino-Indian border dispute The Sino–Indian border dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute over the sovereignty of two relatively large, and several smaller, separated pieces of territory between China and India. The territorial disputes between the two countries st ...

but lies de facto north of the Diphu Pass. The China-Myanmar border heads northeast to

Hkakabo Razi Hkakabo Razi (, ; ) is believed to be Myanmar's highest mountain. The -tall mountain is the highest mountain in Southeast Asia as well. It is located in the northern Myanmar state of Kachin State, Kachin in an outlying subrange of the Greater Him ...

just one mile west of its summit. It then turns southeast following the Hengduan and

Gaoligong Mountains The Gaoligong Mountains () are a mountainous sub-range of the southern Hengduan Mountain Range, located in the western Yunnan highlands and straddling the border of southwestern China and northern Myanmar (Burma). It's described as a "global biod ...

through many irregular lines towards the

Taping River The Taping River (), known as Ta Hkaw Hka in Kachin and Daying River () in Chinese, is a river in Yunnan province, China and northern Myanmar (Burma). It is the first tributary of the country's chief river, the Irrawaddy, and the watersheds betw ...

and

Shweli River Shweli River (; zh, 瑞丽江) is a river in China and Myanmar (Burma). Also known as the Nam Mao (; ) in Shan or Dai, and Ruili River or Longchuan River (龙川江) in Chinese, it forms 26 km of the boundary between Burma and China. It is on ...

. It then heads south-eastwards across the far Shan Hills, following hills and rivers, until it reaches the

Mekong river The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth-longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third-longest in Asia with an estimated l ...

. It follows the Mekong until the tripoint with Laos for a grand total of . The Laos-Myanmar border runs entirely along the Mekong river from the tripoint with China the tripoint with Thailand at the confluence of the Kok and Mekon Rivers for The Myanmar-Thailand border follows the Kok River and Sai River briefly before continuing overland on a series of irregular lines southwards through the

Daen Lao Range The Daen Lao Range (,
; ) is a mountain range of the Salween River The Salween is a Southeast Asian river, about long, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau south into the Andaman Sea. The Salween flows primarily within southwest China and eastern Myanmar, with a short section forming the border of Myanmar and Tha ...

. The border follows the Salween and then the

Moei River The Moei River (, , ), also known as the Thaungyin River (; ) is a tributary of the Salween River. Unlike most rivers in Thailand, the Moei River flows north in a northwest direction. It originates in Phop Phra District, Tak Province, flowing th ...

before going overland again through the

Tenasserim Hills The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range (, ; , , ; ) is the geographical name of a roughly 1,700 km long mountain chain, part of the Indo-Malayan mountain system in Southeast Asia. Despite their relatively scant altitude these mo ...

towards the

. Near Prachuap Khiri Khan, the border comes within to the Gulf of Thailand. It then heads south towards the

Kraburi River The Kraburi River (, , ; , BGN/PCGN: myitkyina, ''Kyan River''), also Kra () or Pak Chan River (), is the boundary river between Thailand and Myanmar at the Kra Isthmus of the Malay Peninsula. The river has its source in the Tenasserim Hills ...

which it then follows towards a wide estuary before ending in the

, forming Myanmar's longest border at .

Climate

Tropical

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

in the lowlands below ; cloudy, rainy, hot, humid summers (southwest monsoon, June to September); less cloudy, scant rainfall, mild temperatures, lower humidity during winter (northeast monsoon, December to April). Myanmar has three seasons: the cool and drier northeast monsoon running from late October to mid-February, the hot and dry intermonsoonal season from mid-February to mid-May and the rainy southwest monsoon from mid-May to late-October. Colloquially, they are called the winter, summer and rainy seasons respectively. The alternating mountain ranges and valleys create alternate zones of heavy and subdued precipitation during the monsoon season, with the majority of the country's precipitation coming from the southwest monsoons. Climate varies in the highlands depending on elevation; subtropical temperate climate at around , temperate at , cool, alpine at and above the alpine zone, cold, harsh tundra and Arctic climate. The higher elevations are subject to heavy snowfall, especially in the north. Distance from the sea also affects temperature and inland highlands can experience daily temperature ranges spanning 22'F (12'C) despite the tropical latitude.

Mountains

Myanmar's mountains create five distinct

physiographic Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, h ...

regions. Northern Mountains Mount Popa 13

The Northern Mountains are characterised by complex ranges centred around the eastern ends of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

and the northeastern limit of the Indian-Australian Plate. The ranges at the southern end of the Hengduan System form the border between Myanmar and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, the country's highest point at , is located at the northern end of the country. This mountain is part of a series of parallel ranges that run from the

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

of the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

through the border areas with

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

and

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

. Central Lowlands Myanmar is characterized by its Central Lowlands running north–south between several different mountain ranges. This was deeply excavated by many rivers and today forms the basin for major rivers like the

Irrawaddy Irrawaddy or Ayeyarwady may refer to: *Irrawaddy River, the main river of Burma *Irrawaddy Delta, a rice growing region of the country *Irrawaddy, an alternative spelling of Ayeyarwady Region, an administrative division of Burma *''The Irrawaddy'' ...

Chindwin The Chindwin River (), also known as the Ningthi River (), is a river in Myanmar and is the largest tributary of the Irrawaddy River. Sources The Chindwin originates in the broad Hukawng Valley of Kachin State of Burma, roughly , where the Tanai ...

and

Sittaung River The Sittaung River ( ; formerly, the Sittang or Sittoung) is a river in south central Myanmar in Bago Division. The Pegu Range separates its basin from that of the Irrawaddy. The river originates at the edge of the Shan Hills southeast of M ...

s. The Bago Yoma (Pegu Range) is a prominent but relatively low mountain chain between the Irrawaddy and the Sittaung River in lower-central Myanmar. Many smaller mountain ranges run through the lowlands like the small mountain ranges of Zeebyu Taungdan, Min-wun Taungdan, Hman-kin Taungdan and Gangaw Taungdan.

Mount Popa Mount Popa (, ) is a dormant volcano 1518 metres (4981 feet) above sea level, and located in central Myanmar in the region of Mandalay Region, Mandalay about southeast of Bagan (Pagan) in the Pegu Range. It can be seen from the Irrawaddy Ri ...

, an extinct volcano and Nat worship holy site, rises prominently from the surrounding lowlands in these lowlands. Western Ranges The Western Ranges are characterized by the

running from

into western Myanmar southwards through

Rakhine State Rakhine State ( ; , ; ), formerly known as Arakan State, is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Re ...

almost to Cape Negrais in the shores of the

Ayeyarwady Region Ayeyarwady Region ( , , ; formerly Ayeyarwady Division and Irrawaddy Division) is a region of Myanmar, occupying the delta region of the Ayeyarwady River (Irrawaddy River). It is bordered by the Rakhine State to the northwest, the Bago Region to ...

. The mountains reappear as the

further within the

. These mountains are old crystalline rocks separating the Arakan Coast from the rest of the country. The Arakan Range includes the

Naga Hills The Naga Hills, reaching a height of around , lie prominently on the border of India and Myanmar. They are part of a complex mountain system, and the parts of the mountain ranges inside the States and territories of India, Indian states of Naga ...

, the

, and the

range which includes the Lushai Hills."Rakhine Mountains"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' The Arakan Coast of the Bay of Bengal lays west of these mountains with prominent island archipelagos and coral reefs. Shan Plateau In eastern Myanmar, the Shan Plateau rises abruptly from the central lowlands in single steps of some 2,000 feet (600m). The highest point of the

Shan Hills The Shan Hills (; ''Shan Yoma''), also known as Shan Highland, is a vast mountainous zone that extends through Yunnan to Myanmar and Thailand. The whole region is made up of numerous peaks separated mostly by narrow valleys, as well as a few ...

is 2,563 m high Loi Pangnao, one of the

ultra prominent peak An ultra-prominent peak, or ultra for short, is a mountain summit with a topographic prominence of or more; it is also called a P1500. The prominence of a peak is the minimum height of climb to the summit on any route from a higher peak, or fro ...

s of Southeast Asia. The Shan Hills form, together with the

Karen Hills The Karen Hills, (, Burmese language, Burmese: ကရင်တောင်တန်း) also known as Kayah-Karen Mountains, are one of the main hill ranges in eastern Burma. They are located at the SW corner of Shan State and in Kayah State, a ...

Dawna Range The Dawna Range (; ), also known as Dawna Hills, is a mountain range in eastern Myanmar (Burma) and northwestern Thailand. Its northern end is located in Kayah State where it meets the Daen Lao Range, a subrange of the Shan Hills. The range runs ...

and

, a natural border with

as well as the Kayah–Karen montane rain forests

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

which is included in the

Global 200 The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...

list of ecoregions identified by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as priorities for conservation. The plateau was formed during the Mesozoic Era and are a much older feature than the other ranges of Myanmar, creating a series of elevated ranges and valleys. The most notable being the

Salween River The Salween is a Southeast Asian river, about long, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau south into the Andaman Sea. The Salween flows primarily within southwest China and eastern Myanmar, with a short section forming the border of Myanmar and Tha ...

basin, covering 109,266 sq mi (283,00 km²). Southeastern Hills Myanmar's Southeastern Hills and see the Tenasserim Plains have western shores backed by the Tenasserim Range respectively. The Tenessarim Plains consists largely of the western slopes of the

Bilauktaung Bilauktaung is a subrange of the Tenasserim Hills. It is located in Myanmar on the Myanmar–Thailand border. It extends from the Dawna Range for about along the frontier area to the Kra Isthmus. Geography The Bilauktaung includes Myinmoletkat ...

, the highest part of the Tenasserim Range, which extends southwards forming the central range of the

. The

also stretches along the northern parts of the Tenasserim tail of Myanmar. Many hills in this area, like Mount Zwegabin and Kyaiktiyo, are important cultural and religious sites. The coastal islands rise prominently from the sea and form multiple island archipelago with coral reefs, especially in the

Rivers

The

, the main river of Burma, flows from north to south through the Central Burma Basin and ends in a wide

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

. The

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of wat ...

river runs from the

through China's

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

and northeastern Burma into

. The basin has significant mining resources and forest ecosystems. Its fertile delta also create 60% of annual rice harvests. The river is historically significant with the

Bagan Bagan ( ; ; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that w ...

temples on their banks and the

Kachin people The Kachin peoples (, ; , ) are a collection of diverse ethnolinguistic groups inhabiting the Kachin Hills in northern Myanmar's Kachin State, as well as Yunnan Province in China, and the northeastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and As ...

's homeland near the river's source- the confluence of the N'mai and

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

rivers. In the east the

Salween The Salween is a Southeast Asian river, about long, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau south into the Andaman Sea. The Salween flows primarily within southwest China and eastern Myanmar, with a short section forming the border of Myanmar and Tha ...

and the

run along the western side of the Shan Hills and the northern end of the Dawna Range. The Salween begins in China, where it is called the Nu River , and runs south through 17 degrees of latitude through the Shan Plateau. The Salween runs is called the angry river in Mandarin due to its fast running waters snaking through mountainous terrain for almost the entirety of its 1,491-mile (2,400 km) long length. In the narrow southeastern part of Burma, the Ye, Heinze,

Dawei Dawei (, ; , ; , RTGS: ''Thawai'', ; formerly known as Tavoy) is a city in south-eastern Myanmar and is the capital of the Tanintharyi Region, formerly known as the Tenasserim Division, on the eastern bank of the Dawei River. The city is about ...

(Tavoy), Great Tenasserim (Tanintharyi) and the Lenya rivers are relatively short and flow into the

. Further south the

forms the southern border between Thailand and Burma.

Maritime claims

Myanmar has the 50th largest

exclusive economic zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

of . It includes more than 16 islands and the

. ''Contiguous zone:''
''Continental shelf:'' or to the edge of the continental margin
''

Exclusive economic zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

:'' ,

Islands

* Apaw-ye Kyun * Calventuras Islands * Cheduba Island *

* Kaingthaung Island * Kalegauk Island * Kokunye Kyun * Kyungyi Island *

Moscos Islands The Moscos Islands are an island chain in the Andaman Sea off the northern coast of the Tanintharyi Region of southern Myanmar. The islands are administered from the Dawei District of the Taninthayi Division. No tourism is allowed on any of the i ...

* Myingun Island * Nantha Kyun * Preparis *

Ramree Island Ramree Island (; also spelled Yanbye Island) is an island off the coast of Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). Ramree island is the largest island on the entire Arakan Coast and in Myanmar. The area of the island is about and the main populated ce ...

* Unguan * Wa Kyun * Zalat Taung *

Auriol Island Auriol Island () is an island at the southern end of the Mergui Archipelago, Burma. Its highest point is 183 m and is located at its western end. The island is densely wooded, and lies 4.5 km south of Breuer Island.''Prostar Sailing Di ...

** Bentinck Kyun **

Christie Island Christie Island is an island in the Mergui Archipelago and the southernmost point of Burma (Myanmar). It lies at the southern end of the archipelago to the NNE of Ko Surin Nuea, and the Thai-Burmese oceanic border is located between these two i ...

, the southernmost island of the archipelago **

Kadan Kyun Kadan Island () is the largest island in the Mergui Archipelago, Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeas ...

, the largest island of the archipelago ** Lanbi Kyun ** Letsok-aw Kyun ** Mali Kyun, the northernmost island of the archipelago ** Saganthit Kyun **

Than Kyun Than Kyun or Davis Island is an island at the southern end of the Mergui Archipelago, Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in ...

** Thayawthadangyi ** Zadetkyi

Land use and natural resources

A large company Jade Mine in Hpakant 2018 January

Since ancient times, Myanmar has been famous for its abundance of natural resources. The Sanskrit name ''Suvarnabhumi'' (သုဝဏ္ဏဘူမိ) has been used in relation to the area in modern-day Lower Burma and Thailand for millennia. Today, major resources include petroleum, natural gas,

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panic ...

, other timber,

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

antimony Antimony is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Sb () and atomic number 51. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

, copper,

tungsten Tungsten (also called wolfram) is a chemical element; it has symbol W and atomic number 74. It is a metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively in compounds with other elements. It was identified as a distinct element in 1781 and first ...

, lead, coal,

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

rubies Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphi ...

sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

natural gas, and

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

. Since 2010, Myanmar has had an explosion of foreign direct investment in the extractive sector. New large-scale infrastructure projects like the Kyaukphyu Pipeline and

Myitsone Dam The Myitsone Dam ( ; 'Confluence Dam') is a large dam and hydroelectric power development project which was planned to be built in northern Myanmar (Burma). The proposed construction site is at the confluence of the Mali and N’mai rivers and th ...

have caused controversy within the country, particularly in regard to China's role in the projects.

Natural hazards

Natural hazards include destructive earthquakes and

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

s. Flooding and landslides are common during the rainy season from June to September. Periodic droughts also occur.

Earthquakes

Myanmar lies at the confluence of the

Indian Plate The Indian plate (or India plate) is or was a minor tectonic plate straddling the equator in the Eastern Hemisphere. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, the Indian plate broke away from the other fragments of Gondwana an ...

, Eurasian Plate and the

Burma microplate The Burma plate is a minor tectonic plate or microplate located in Southeast Asia, sometimes considered a part of the larger Eurasian plate. The Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands, and northwestern Sumatra are located on the plate. This island ar ...

. Both the Indian-Eurasian subduction zone and the Indian-Burma plate boundaries are frequent

hypocenters A hypocenter or hypocentre (), also called ground zero or surface zero, is the point on the Earth's surface directly below a nuclear explosion, meteor air burst, or other mid-air explosion. In seismology, the hypocenter of an earthquake is its p ...

for earthquakes. The continental right-lateral transform

Sagaing Fault The Sagaing Fault is a major fault in Myanmar, a mainly continental right-lateral transform fault between the Indian plate and Sunda plate. It links the divergent boundary in the Andaman Sea with the zone of active continental collision along t ...

runs north-south through the middle of the country. It is responsible for many damaging

earthquakes An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they c ...

through the country's history like the

1839 Ava earthquake The 1839 Ava earthquake, also known as the Amarapura earthquake or Inwa earthquake, was a disastrous seismic event that struck present-day central Myanmar on March 23. This earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude as high as 8.3, was one of ...

. Many earthquakes with a 6-8 magnitude caused damage in the country. For example the

1881 Nicobar Islands earthquake The 1881 Nicobar Islands earthquake occurred at about 07:49 local time (01:49 UTC) on 31 December, with an epicentre beneath Car Nicobar. It occurred as two separate ruptures, the largest of which had an estimated magnitude of 7.9 on the moment ...

, 1941 Andaman Islands earthquake, and the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+07:00, UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicenter, epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The Submarine earthquake, undersea ...

Cyclones

Myanmar is also hit by a powerful cyclone roughly every two years. The highest frequency of severe cyclones occur during November and May. The past century of cyclogenesis data in the North

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

has seen a significant increase in cyclone formation during these two months. The most damaging cyclone that hit Myanmar was the

Cyclone Nargis Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis (; , ) was an extremely destructive and deadly tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar during early May 2008. The cyclone made landfall in Myanmar on Friday ...

in April–May 2008; with ongoing climate change, oceans will become warmer, which may lead to cyclones becoming more intense and devastating for Myanmar.

Environment

Environmental issues Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans (human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot recov ...

include

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

; industrial pollution of air, soil, and water; inadequate sanitation and water treatment that contributes to disease.

Climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

is also projected to have major impacts on Myanmar, such as increasing the prevalence and intensity of drought and extreme weather. An IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Assessment was conducted for Myanmar in 2020 that assessed 64 terrestrial ecosystem types across 10 biomes. Of these 64 ecosystem types, 1 was confirmed as collapsed, 8 were considered Critically Endangered, 9 were considered Endangered, 12 were considered Vulnerable, 3 were considered Near Threatened, 14 were considered of Least Concern, and 17 were deemed Data Deficient. The 64 terrestrial ecosystem types included five brackish tidal systems, one dry subterranean system, one lake, five palustrine wetlands, four polar/alpine systems, twelve savannas and grasslands, two shoreline systems, two supralittoral coastal systems, seven temperate-boreal forests and woodlands, and twenty five tropical and subtropical forests. A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were 3,316 km² of tidal flats in Myanmar, making it the 8th ranked country in terms of tidal flat area.

Environment – international agreements

''party to:''

Biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

Desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...

, Endangered Species,

Law of the Sea Law of the sea (or ocean law) is a body of international law governing the rights and duties of State (polity), states in Ocean, maritime environments. It concerns matters such as navigational rights, sea mineral claims, and coastal waters juris ...

, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,

Tropical Timber 94 The International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA), 1983) is an agreement to provide an effective framework for cooperation between tropical timber producers and consumers and to encourage the development of national policies aimed at sustainable ...

References

External links

Myanmar Marine Biodiversity Atlas Online

Ramsar – Burma

The Geology of Burma (Myanmar)
{{Asia topic, Climate of