Myanmar is the northwesternmost country of mainland Southeast Asia located on the Indochinese peninsula. With an area of 261,228 sq mi (676,578 km2), it is the second largest country in Southeast Asia and the largest on mainland Southeast Asia. The kite-shaped country stretches from 10'N to 20'N for 1,275 miles (2,050 km) with a long tail running along the western coast of the Malay Peninsula.
Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government relocated the administrative functions to the purpose-built capital city of Naypyidaw in north central Myanmar. With over five million people, Yangon is Myanmar's most populous city and its most important commercial centre.
Kachin State is the northernmost state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east, Shan State to the south, and Sagaing Region and India to the west. It lies between north latitude 23° 27' and 28° 25' longitude 96° 0' and 98° 44'. The area of Kachin State is 89,041 km2 (34,379 sq mi). The capital of the state is Myitkyina. Other important towns include Bhamo, Mohnyin and Putao.
Myanmar is divided into 21 administrative divisions, which include seven regions, seven states, one union territory, one self-administered division, and five self-administered zones.
Yangon Region is an administrative region of Myanmar. Located in central Myanmar, the region is bordered by Bago Region to the north and east, the Gulf of Martaban to the south, and Ayeyarwady Region to the west. Yangon Region is dominated by its capital city of Yangon, the former national capital and the largest city in the country. Other important cities are Thanlyin and Twante. The division is the most developed region of the country and the main international gateway. The division measures 10,170 km2 (3,930 sq mi).
Mandalay Region is an administrative division of Myanmar. It is located in the center of the country, bordering Sagaing Region and Magway Region to the west, Shan State to the east, and Bago Region and Kayin State to the south. The regional capital is Mandalay. To the south of the region lies the national capital of Naypyidaw. The division consists of eleven districts, which are subdivided into 28 townships and 2,320 wards and village-tracts.
Districts are the second-level administrative divisions of Myanmar. They are the subdivisions of the regions and states of Myanmar. According to the Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU), as of December 2015, there are 76 districts in Myanmar, which in turn are subdivided into townships, then towns, wards and villages.
Khin Aung Myint is a Burmese politician and incumbent Amyotha Hluttaw MP for Mandalay Region № 8 constituency. He previously served as the first Speaker of the Assembly of the Union and Speaker of the Amyotha Hluttaw, the upper house of the Myanmar parliament. A senior official of the Myanmar military government and a major general, he was Director of Public Relations and Psychological Warfare in the Myanmar Ministry of Defense and was assigned as Minister of Culture after Kyi Aung in 2006.
The Kokang Self-Administered Zone, as stipulated by the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar, is a former De facto self-administered zone in northern Shan State. The zone is intended to be self-administered by the Kokang people. Its official name was announced by decree on 20 August 2010. It is recognized as illegal by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA).
Shwegyin Nikāya is the second largest monastic order of monks in Burma. It is one of nine legally sanctioned monastic orders (nikāya) in the country, under the 1990 Law Concerning Sangha Organizations. Shwegyin Nikaya is a more orthodox order than Sudhammā Nikāya, with respect to adherence to the Vinaya, and its leadership is more centralized and hierarchical. The head of the Shwegyin Nikaya is called the Sangha Sammuti (သံဃာသမ္မုတိ), whose authority on doctrine and religious practice is considered absolute.
The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is the de jure national-level bicameral legislature of Myanmar established by the 2008 National Constitution. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is made up of two houses, the 224-seat Amyotha Hluttaw, or "House of Nationalities", and the 440-seat Pyithu Hluttaw, or House of People's Representatives. There is no mention in the 2008 Constitution of any ‘lower’ or ‘upper’ houses: both the Pyithu Hluttaw and the Amyotha Hluttaw enjoy equal power to initiate, review, amend, and pass legislation.
The Amyotha Hluttaw is the de jure upper house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the bicameral legislature of Myanmar (Burma). It consists of 224 members, of which 168 are directly elected and 56 appointed by the Myanmar Armed Forces. The last elections to the Amyotha Hluttaw were held in November 2015. At its second meeting on 3 February 2016, Mahn Win Khaing Than and Aye Thar Aung were elected Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Amyotha Hluttaw and Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw as a whole.
The Pyithu Hluttaw is the de jure lower house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the bicameral legislature of Myanmar (Burma). It consists of 440 members, of which 330 are directly elected through the first-past-the-post system in each townships, and 110 are appointed by the Myanmar Armed Forces, under a constitutional provision that has no parallel in the world.
Myanmar is divided into twenty-one administrative subdivisions, which include seven states, seven regions, five self-administered zones and one self-administered division. The regions were called divisions prior to August 2010.
RedLink Communications is a private company headquartered in Yangon, Myanmar. It provides WiMAX broadband internet and other Internet and telecommunications services. Its WiMAX coverage includes areas in Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan Established in 2008, it became the second privately owned Internet service provider in Myanmar.
General elections were held in Myanmar on 8 November 2015, with the National League for Democracy winning a supermajority of seats in the combined national parliament. Voting occurred in all constituencies, excluding seats appointed by the military, to select Members of Assembly to seats in both the upper house and the lower house of the Assembly of the Union, and State and Region Hluttaws. Ethnic Affairs Ministers were also elected by their designated electorates on the same day, although only select ethnic minorities in particular states and regions were entitled to vote for them.
The Patriotic Association of Myanmar, abbreviated Ma Ba Tha (မဘသ) in Burmese and variously translated into English as Association for the Protection of Race and Religion, Organisation for the Protection of Race and Religion and Committee for the Protection of Nationality and Religion is an ultra-nationalist Buddhist organisation based in Myanmar (Burma). Some PAM members are connected to the 969 Movement.
An Ethnic Affairs Minister is a representative elected by an ethnic minority in a given state or region of Myanmar if that division is composed of an ethnic minority population of 0.1 percent or greater of the total populace [roughly 51,400 people]. If one of the country's ethnic minorities counts their state of residence as its namesake, however, it is not granted an ethnic affairs minister. Only voters who share an ethnic identity with a given ethnic affairs minister post are allowed to vote for candidates to the position.
Myo Aung is a Burmese politician and physician who formerly served as an Amyotha Hluttaw MP for Kayin State No. 9 constituency and Chairman of the Naypyidaw Council and Naypyidaw Development Committee. He is a member of the National League for Democracy.
In Myanmar's next general election, voters are expected to elect representatives to both the Amyotha Hluttaw and the Pyithu Hluttaw of the Assembly of the Union. The planned election would be the first after the 2021 military coup d'état. Though the military junta, the State Administration Council, initially promised to hold the election by August 2023, it has since indefinitely delayed the election in the face of increasing violence.
