Myanmar: A Golden Land(By Zar Chi Hlaing)

Golden Land

Location of 7States
and 7 Divisions in Myanmar

Can you imagine why we call Myanmar as Golden Land? Being a Buddhism (89%) country, so wherever we see around we can find many Golden Pagoda temples and she is one of the richest archaeological sites in Asia. Moreover, she is agriculture based country, so we can see the golden paddy field brightly everywhere. My country is located in South East Asia and is the second largest country among the ASEAN countries, and situates between 10 and 29˚ N latitude and 92 and 10˚ E longitude with an area of 676,578 km².Neighborhood countries are Bangladesh, India in West, China in North and North-East, and Laos and Thailand in East. Former name was Union of Myanmar (Burma), and it was changed as “The Republic of The Union of Myanmar” in March, 2011. The capital city is Yangon and administrative capital city is to Nay Pyi Taw. The national flag was also changed in October, 2010.

Although being a tropical country, she has semi-evergreen, dry and temperate weather conditions. She extends about 936 km from east to west and about 2051 km from north to south, and the elevation is sea level to above 10000 ft.  She has also 1930 kilometer coastline along the Bay of Bengal and Andamen Sea in South West and South. There are four famous rivers which flow north to south through the country, namely; Ayeyarwaddy, Sittaung, Than Lwin and Chin Dwin. Among them, Ayeyawaddy River is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway and its drainage area of about 255,081 km². The population reaches about 60 million in 2010, with 70 % agricultural based residences. There are 7 Divisions and 7 States with above 100 ethnic groups. Although there are many different languages according to different races, the national language is Burmese.

Portrait of long-neck-woman,

one ethnic of Myanmar people

There are many natural resources and also many interesting places for tourism such as cultural sites, nature of ethnic groups, pagoda temple architecture, heritage sites and other ecotourism attracting places throughout the country. When you visit to Myanmar, you probably aware that more people live in villages than in towns and cities, and you can imagine what the people’s life without electricity and the real natural life. You can see the festivals and celebrations in almost every month of the year, and we can say that Myanmar is a Land of Festivals. Most festivals are culture and religious. Myanmar New Year is celebrated in April with a 4 day water festival. When you visit to Myanmar, you can meet the stunningly Shwedagon Pagoda and sincerely Burmese pilgrims, and thousands of golden temples, lush scenery, and the happiest, welcoming people anywhere. I am sure that you will be happy and get the unforgettable time.

Flag of The Republic of The Union of Myanmar

(22 October 2010)

Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon