Myanmar

Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and formerly known as Burma, is the largest country by area in mainland Southeast Asia, bordered by India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand, with Naypyidaw as its capital and Yangon as its largest city. It declared independence from the United Kingdom in 1948, and a 1962 military coup began decades of direct military control, briefly challenged by the 8888 Uprising of 1988. The military, the Tatmadaw, seized power again in a 2021 coup, and the country is currently governed as a unitary assembly-independent republic under President Min Aung Hlaing; the coup touched off an ongoing civil war that, according to the UNHCR, has displaced more than 3.5 million people internally and driven over 1.3 million more into refugee status abroad. With approximately 55 million people, Myanmar's government functions through the bicameral Pyidaungsu Hluttaw legislature even as large parts of the country remain contested by armed opposition.