Burma

Burma (i/ˈbɜrmə/ BUR-mə), also known as Myanmar (i/ˈmjɑːnˌmɑr/ MYAHN-mar, /ˈmaɪænmɑr/ or /ˈmjænmɑr/), is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand. One-third of Burma's total perimeter of 1,930 kilometres (1,200 mi) forms an uninterrupted coastline along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. At 676,578 km2 (261,227 sq mi), it is the 40th largest country, the second largest in Southeast Asia and the 24th most populous with over 60.28 million people.

Burma is a resource-rich country and in 2011 GDP stood at $82.68 billion and was estimated to grow at an annual rate of 5.5%. Among others, the EU, United States and Canada had previously imposed economic sanctions on Burma.

The United Nations and several other organizations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations in the country, including genocide, systematic rape, child labour, slavery, human trafficking and a lack of freedom of speech. Nevertheless in recent years, the government has slowly been improving relations with major powers like the United States, Japan and European Union countries.