General Information
 

Area

676,552 sq km (261,218 sq miles).

Population

48,852,000 (UN estimate 2002).

Capital

Yangon (Rangoon). Population: 4,504,000 (UN estimate 2001).

Geography

Myanmar is a diamond-shaped country extending 925km (575 miles) from east to west and 2100km (1300 miles) from north to south. It is bounded by China, Laos and Thailand in the east, by Bangladesh and India in the north and by the Indian Ocean in the west and south. The Irrawaddy River runs through the centre of the country and fans out to form a delta on the south coast; Yangon stands beside one of its many mouths. North of the delta lies the Irrawaddy basin and central Myanmar, which is protected by a horseshoe of mountains rising to over 3000m (10,000ft), creating profound climatic effects. To the west are the Arakan, Chin and Naga mountains and the Patkai Hills; the Kachin Hills are to the north; to the east lies the Shan Plateau, which extends to the Tenasserim coastal ranges. Intensive irrigated farming is practised throughout central Myanmar, and fruit, vegetables and citrus crops thrive on the Shan Plateau, but much of the land and mountains are covered by subtropical forest.

Language

The official language is Myanmar (Burmese). There are over 100 dialects spoken in Myanmar.
English is spoken in business circles.

Religion

87 per cent Theravada Buddhist. The remainder are Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Animist.

Time

GMT + 6.5.

Electricity

230 volts AC, 50Hz.

Climate

A monsoon climate with three main seasons. The hottest period is between February and May, with little or no rain. Rainy season exists from May to October and dry, cooler weather from October to February.

Required clothing

Lightweight cottons and linens throughout most of the year are required. A light raincoat or umbrella is needed during the rainy season. Warmer clothes are advised for coolest period and some evenings.

Currency

Myanmar currency is known as ‘Kyat’.
Three currencies are basically circulating in Myanmar: US$, FEC & KYAT.
Myanmar currency ‘kyat’ circulates in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 45, 50, 90, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 notes.

Currency Exchange

US dollars in small denomination notes are recommended to bring in Myanmar. Authorized money changers through out Myanmar will only accept US dollars and will exchange US$ into FEC and Myanmar Kyat.

Credit Cards

Credit cards are not recommended for the time being. Traveler’s cheques are also not accepted and are difficult to transact.

Duty Fee

The following goods may be taken into Myanmar by persons over 17 years of age without incurring customs duty:
200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250g tobacco; 1l of alcohol; 0.5l of perfume or eau de cologne.

Prohibited and restricted items

Playing cards, gambling equipment, antiques, archaeological items and pornography are prohibited. Jewellery, electrical goods and cameras must be declared; failure to do so may result in visitors being refused permission to export it on departure. Video cameras will be held in safe custody at the airport and will be returned on departure.

Passport and Visa