Myanmar, myahn MAHR, formerly called Burma, is a country in Southeast Asia. It lies along the Bay of Bengal. Mountains border Myanmar on the west, north, and east. They enclose the Irrawaddy River Valley. The Irrawaddy River empties into the Bay of Bengal through many mouths, forming a delta. Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, lies on the delta. Yangon is also spelled Rangoon. Naypyidaw Myodaw, in central Myanmar, is the capital.
The people of Myanmar are called the Burmese. The great majority of them are Buddhists and live in villages on the delta and in the Irrawaddy Valley. They make a bare living farming the land.
People have lived in what is now Myanmar since prehistoric times. Several kingdoms arose and fell in the region from the A.D. 1000's to the 1800's, when the United Kingdom conquered the country. The nation won its independence with the name Burma in 1948. In 1989, the military government announced that it had changed the official name of the country from the Union of Burma to the Union of Myanmar. The United States and the United Kingdom oppose the military regime and still refer to the country as Burma.
