Union of Myanmar

Area: 677,000 square kilometres (261,228 square miles) ranging 936 kilometres (581 miles) from east to west and 2,051 kilometres (1,275 miles) from north to south.

Location: situated in South East Asia, bordered on the north and northeast by China, on the east and southeast by Laos and Thailand, on the south by the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal and on the west by Bangladesh and India. Burma’s eastern border lies along mountain ranges, extending from the Chinese border in the north, south and south east to the River Mekong and the Indo-Chinese border (Laos) and then south and south west along the Indo-Chinese and then the Siamese (Thai) borders. The mountains are high in the north and gradually decline in height until they peter out at the southern end of Tenasserim. The western border also runs along a mountain range - from the Himalayas near Fort Herz in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. The range includes the Naga Hills in the north, the Chin Hills in the centre and the Arakan Yomas in the south. The Naga Hills rise to around 12,000 feet, the Chin Hills have peaks between 8,000 and 10,000 feet, while the Arakan Yomas are much lower. The mountains are covered in dense jungle up to a height of 6,000 feet.

Geographic coordinates: 22 00 N, 98 00 E; between latitudes 09 32 N and 28 31 N and longitudes 92 10 E and 101 11 E.

Area: The length of contiguous frontier is 6,159 kilometres. The total length of Myanmar-Bangladesh boundary is 271 kilometres (168.7 miles). The total length of Myanmar-China boundary is 2,204 kilometres (1,370 miles); Myanmar-Thailand 2,107 kilometres (1,309.8 miles); Myanmar-India 1,338 kilometres (831.8 miles); and Myanmar-Laos 238 kilometres (147.9 miles). The fertile delta of the Irrawaddy River in the south contains a network of intercommunicating canals and nine principal river mouths.
Terrain: The country's highest point at the 5881m Hkakabo. Lowest point: Andaman Sea 0 m (0 feet)
Razi.Land Use: arable land: 15% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 1% forests and woodland: 49% other: 34% (1993 est.) Irrigated land: 10,680 km² (1993 est.) It is a land of hills and valleys and is rimmed in the north, east and west by mountain ranges forming a giant horseshoe. Enclosed within the mountaion barriers are the flat lands of Ayeyarwaddy, Chindwin and Sittaung River valleys where most of the country's agricultural land and population are concentrated. Central Burma consists of the valleys of three of the country’s four main rivers (the Irrawaddy, the Chindwin, the Sittang) and the Irrawaddy delta. The fourth river, the Salween, flows through the eastern tableland of the Shan States. The Irrawaddy rises in the north near Fort Herz and flows down the centre of the country, being joined by its tributary, the Chindwin, near Pakkoku south of Mandalay, and on to the delta at Rangoon. The Chindwin also rises in the far north, near the Assam border, and flows south west on the eastern side of the Naga and Chin Hills. For much of its length, the river flows through rugged country, covered in jungle. The Sittang also flows north-south, from just south of Meiktila to the Gulf of Martaban and although inferior has similar characteristics to the Irrawaddy. The Salween rises in China and flows through the Shan States, the Karen Hills and Tenasserim into the Gulf of Martaban at Moulmein.

"Come you back to Mandalay, where the old Flotilla lay, Can't you hear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?" - Rudyard Kipling

The Burma Road: Beginning in Mandalay, this ran through Lashio to Wantung on the Chinese border. It then crossed the only bridge over the Salween and on to Chungking. Lend-Lease supplies for China were landed at Rangoon and then railed or motored Mandalay. The significance of the road for keeping China in being in her war with Japan made Burma of strategic value.

Cities: New Capital: Nay Pyi Daw (Nay Pyi Taw) , near the township of Pyinmana (pop. 200,000);

Other Cities: Main City - Yangon (Rangoon) (pop. 5.5 million), Mandalay (pop. 700,000), Mawlamyaing (Moulmein), Bagan, Meiktila , Mergui, Mogok, Myitkyina, Pyin Oo Lwin (May Myo), Sagaing, Sittwe, Tachilek, Taunggyi, Taungoo, Pathein, Pyapon

Climate: Tropical monsoon; 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). Seasonal changes in the monsoon wind directions create summer, rainy and winter seasons. Extremes of temperature are rare. The directions of winds and depression bring rain, and although it is always heavy in the coastal areas during monsoon season, it seldom creates hardships.