1983 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1983 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Agriculture
accounts for nearly 70% of total employment and about 27% of GDP; main crops — paddy, pulses, sugarcane, beans, and peanuts; almost 100% self-sufficient; most rice grown in deltaic land
Area
678,576 km2; 62% forest; 28% arable, of which 1 2% is cultivated; 10% urban and other
Branches
Council of State rules through a Council of Ministers; National Assembly (Pyithu Hluttaw or People's Congress) has legislative power
Budget
(1982/83) $4.7 billion est. revenues, $5.3 billion expenditures, $600 million deficit
Capital
Rangoon
Coastline
3,060 km People
Communists
est. 15,000 (primarily as an insurgent group on the northeast frontier)
Elections
National Assembly and local People's Councils elected in 1981 Political parties and leaders: governmentsponsored Burma Socialist Program Party only legal party; U Ne Win, party chairman
Electric power
725,000 kW capacity (1981); 1.5 billion kWh produced (1981), 42 kWh per capita
Ethnic divisions
72% Burman, 7% Karen, 6% Shan, 6% Indian, 3% Chinese, 2% Kachin, 2% Chin, 2% other
Exports
$405 million (1982/83); rice, teak, hardwoods, base metals, ores
Fiscal year
1 April-31 March Communications
Fishing
catch 597,000 metric tons (1981/82)
GDP
$5.9 billion (1981/82, in current prices), $180 per capita; real growth rate 8% (1981/82)
Government leader
U SAN YU, President and Chairman of Council of State
Imports
$845 million (c.i.f., 1982/83); machinery and transportation equipment, building materials, oil industry equipment
Labor force
14.19 million (1982/83); 63.6% agriculture, 12% government, 9.5% trade, 9.4% industry, 5.5% other
Land boundaries
5,850 km Water
Language
Burmese; minority ethnic groups have their own languages
Legal system
People's Justice system and People's Courts instituted under 1974 constitution; legal education at Universities of Rangoon and Mandalay; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
12 nm (24 nm security zone and 200 nm exclusive economic zone)
Literacy
78%
Major industries
agricultural processing; textiles and footwear; wood and wood products; petroleum refining
Major trade partners
exports — Singapore, Western Europe, China, UK, Japan; imports— Japan, Western Europe, Singapore, UK
Member of
ADB, Colombo Plan, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IRC, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO Economy
Monetary conversion rate
8.1004 kyats= US$1 (October 1983)
National holiday
Independence Day, 4 January
Nationality
noun — Burmese; adjective — Burmese
Official name
Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
Organized labor
Workers' Asiayone or "association" (1.56 million members) and Peasants' Asiayone (7.83 million members) integrated into sole political party (1983) Government
Other political or pressure groups
Kachin Independence Army; Karen Nationalist Union, several Shan factions (all insurgent groups)
Political subdivisions
seven divisions (predominantly Burman population) and seven states (based on ethnic minorities), subdivided into townships, village-tracts (rural) and wards (urban)
Population
36,196,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 2.0%
Railroads
4,353 km total; all government owned; 3,878 km 1.000-meter gauge, 113km narrow-gauge industrial lines; 362 km double track
Religion
85% Buddhist, 15% indigenous beliefs, Christian, or other
Suffrage
universal over age 18
Type
republic under 1974 constitution