What kind of country is burma

Richard Coates, a linguistics professor emeritus with the University of the West of England, who has a special interest in the area where linguistics, history and geography meet, told VOA Mandarin that deciding what name to use for the Southeast Asian nation bordered by India, China, Laos and Thailand was a sensitive topic because the choice indicated political allegiance.

The two words mean the same thing, and one is derived from the other. Burmah, as it was spelled in the 19th century, is a local corruption of the word Myanmar, according to the BBC. They have both been used within Burma for a long time, anthropologist Gustaaf Houtman, who has written extensively about Burmese politics, told the BBC. The situation now is that the Burmese verbally refer to their country as Burma, but generally use the term Myanmar in official written documents.

We have to respect the people. We have to respect the will of the people if we truly want to make the transition to a democratic society. After becoming the counselor of the state in , she again emphasized that there is no explicit stipulation in the national constitution on which name must be used, so foreign countries can choose either of these two names at will.

Search Search. Home United States U. Latest show. Most other countries, though, continued to call it Myanmar. Sections U. Science Technology Business U. A newspaper seller points at a front-page of a newspaper in Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday, Feb. Hundreds of members of Myanmar's Parliament remained confined inside their government housing in the country's capital on Tuesday, a day after the military staged a coup and detained senior politicians including Nobel laureate and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Full Coverage: Myanmar. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Please update your payment details to keep enjoying your Irish Times subscription. In pictures: what kind of country is Burma? Click image to view a selection of photographs of Burma and its people by Brenda Fitzsimons. Commenting on The Irish Times has changed. To comment you must now be an Irish Times subscriber.

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