Currency (code):
kyat (MMK)
Currency code:
MMK
Exchange rates:
kyats per US dollar - 5.7459 (2004), 6.0764 (2003), 6.5734 (2002),
6.6841 (2001), 6.4257 (2000)
note: these are official exchange rates; unofficial exchange rates
ranged in 2004 from 815 kyat/US dollar to nearly 970 kyat/US dollar
Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March
Communications Burma
Telephones - main lines in use:
357,300 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
66,500 (2003)
Telephone system:
general assessment: barely meets minimum requirements for local and
intercity service for business and government; international service
is fair
domestic: NA
international: country code - 95; satellite earth station - 2,
Intelsat (Indian Ocean), and ShinSat
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 1, FM 1 (2004)
Radios:
4.2 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
2 (2004)
Televisions:
320,000 (2000)
Internet country code:
.mm
Internet hosts:
3 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
1
note: as of September 2000, Internet connections were legal only for
the government, tourist offices, and a few large businesses (2000)
Internet users:
28,000 (2003)
Transportation Burma
Railways: total: 3,955 km narrow gauge: 3,955 km 1.000-m gauge (2004)
Highways: total: 28,200 km paved: 3,440 km unpaved: 24,760 km (1996 est.)
Waterways:
12,800 km (2004)
Pipelines:
gas 2,056 km; oil 558 km (2004)
Ports and harbors:
Moulmein, Rangoon, Sittwe
Merchant marine:
total: 37 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 429,144 GRT/659,622 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 8, cargo 19, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 3,
roll on'roll off 3, specialized tanker 1
foreign-owned: 10 (Germany 4, Japan 5, United Kingdom 1) (2005)
Airports:
78 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 9 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 69 over 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 16 914 to 1,523 m: 20 under 914 m: 31 (2004 est.)
Heliports: 1 (2004 est.)
Military Burma
Military branches:
Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw): Army, Navy, Air Force (2005)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service for both sexes (May
2002)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18–49: 11,254,374
females age 18–49: 11,303,100 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18–49: 6,512,923
females age 18–49: 6,789,720 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 440,914
females: 427,382 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$39 million (FY97)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.1% (FY97)
Transnational Issues Burma
Disputes - international:
over half of Burma's population consists of diverse ethnic groups
with substantial numbers of kin beyond its borders; despite
continuing border committee talks, significant differences remain
with Thailand over boundary alignment and the handling of ethnic
rebels, refugees, and illegal cross-border activities; ethnic Karens
flee into Thailand to escape fighting between Karen rebels and
Burmese troops, in 2004 Thailand sheltered about 118,000 Burmese
refugees; Karens also protest Thai support for a Burmese
hydroelectric dam on the Salween River near the border;
environmentalists in Burma and Thailand continue to voice concern
over China's construction of hydroelectric dams upstream on the
Nujiang/Salween River in Yunnan Province; India seeks cooperation
from Burma to keep Indian Nagaland separatists from hiding in remote
Burmese uplands
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 600,000 - 1,000,000 (government offensives against ethnic
insurgent groups near borders; most IDPs are ethnic Karen, Karenni,
Shan, and Mon) (2004)
Illicit drugs:
remains world's second largest producer of illicit opium (estimated
production in 2004 - 292 metric tons, down 40% from 2003 due to
eradication efforts and drought; cultivation in 2004 - 30,900
hectares, a 34% decline from 2003); lack of government will and
ability to take on major narcotrafficking groups and lack of serious
commitment against money laundering continues to hinder the overall
antidrug effort; major source of methamphetamine and heroin for
regional consumption; currently under Financial Action Task Force
countermeasures due to continued failure to address its inadequate
money-laundering controls (2005)
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Burundi
Introduction Burundi
Background:
Burundi's first democratically elected president was assassinated
in October 1993 after only one hundred days in office. Since then,
some 200,000 Burundians have perished in widespread, often intense