Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar ({{lang-my|.

The country is bordered by the People's Republic of China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest with the Gulf of Martaban and Andaman Sea defining its southern periphery. One-third of Burma's total perimeter, 1,930 kilometers (1,199 mi), forms an uninterrupted coastline.

Burma's diverse population has played a major role in defining its politics, history and demographics in modern times, and the country continues to struggle to mend its ethnic tensions. Its political system remains under the tight control of the SPDC, the military-led government, led since 1992 by Senior General Than Shwe. The military has dominated government since General Ne Win led a coup in 1962 that toppled the civilian government of U Nu. The country's culture, heavily influenced by neighbours, is based on Theravada Buddhism intertwined with local elements.

The name of the country

On 18 June 1989, the Burmese military junta passed the "Adaptation of Expressions Law" that officially changed the English version of the country's name from Burma to Myanmar, and changed the English versions of many place names in the country along with it, such as its former capital city from Rangoon to Yangon (which represents its pronunciation more accurately in Burmese though not in Arakanese). This prompted one scholar to coin the term "Myanmarification" to refer to the top-down programme of political and cultural reform in the context of which the renaming was done. The action was strictly an executive act, not based on any statutory authority, and the government did not hold a national referendum to have the Burmese electorate ratify the name change.Fact: date=June 2008 Within the Burmese language, Myanma is the written, literary name of the country, while Bama or Bamar (from which "Burma" derives) is the oral, colloquial name.Fact: date=May 2008 In spoken Burmese, the distinction is less clear than the English transliteration suggests.

The renaming proved to be politically controversial on several grounds. Opposition groups continue to use the name "Burma", since they do not recognize the legitimacy of the ruling military government nor its authority to rename the country in English. Various non-Bamar ethnic groups choose to not recognize the name because the term Myanmah has historically been used as a label for the majority ethnic group rather than for the country.<<em>The Burma Road from the Union of Burma to Myanmar, Mya Maung, Asian Survey, Vol. 30, No. 6, June 1990, p 602>

Various world entities have chosen to accept or reject the name change. The United Nations accepts the name Myanmar, since the UN allows its members states to be known by any name they choose. However it has not been recognized by many Western governments such as the United States, Australia, Canada or the United Kingdom, which continue to use "Burma", while the European Union uses "Burma/Myanmar" as an alternative. China has not agreed to change its translations and continues to use 缅甸(miǎn diàn - "distant domain"). Japan uses the name Myanmar (ミャンマー) but calls the people Burmese (ビルマ人). France continues to use Birmanie, and most other countries continue to use their traditional translations.