Myanmar is the northwesternmost country of mainland Southeast Asia located on the Indochinese peninsula. With an area of 261,228 sq mi, 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 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 seven million people, Yangon is Myanmar's most populous city and its most important commercial centre.
Sagaing Region is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and longitude 94° 97' east. It is bordered by India's Nagaland, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh States to the north, Kachin State, Shan State, and Mandalay Region to the east, Mandalay Region and Magway Region to the south, with the Ayeyarwady River forming a greater part of its eastern and also southern boundary, and Chin State and India to the west. The region has an area of 93,527 square kilometres (36,111 sq mi). In 1996, it had a population of over 5,300,000 while its population in 2012 was 6,600,000. The urban population in 2012 was 1,230,000 and the rural population was 5,360,000. The capital city of Sagaing Region is Monywa.
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 twenty-one administrative subdivisions, which include 7 regions, 7 states, 1 union territory, 1 self-administered division, and 5 self-administered zones. Following is the table of government subdivisions and its organizational structure based on different regions, states, the union territory, the self-administered division, and the self-administered zones:
Yangon Region(Burmese: ရန်ကုန်တိုင်းဒေသကြီး; MLCTS: rankun tuing desa. kri:, pronounced[jàɰ̃ɡòʊɰ̃táɪɰ̃dèθa̰dʑí]; formerly Rangoon Division and Yangon Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar. Located in central Myanmar, the division 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.
Khin Aung Myint is a Burmese politician and incumbent Amyotha Hluttaw MP for Mandalay Region № 8 constituency. He previously served as 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. He is also a member of the Central Organizing Committee of the Myanmar War Veterans Organization.
Thudhamma Nikaya is the largest monastic order of monks in Burma.
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.
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.
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.
General elections were held in Myanmar on 8 November 2020. Voting occurred in all constituencies, excluding seats appointed by or reserved for the military, to elect members to both the upper house - Amyotha Hluttaw and the lower house - Pyithu Hluttaw of the Assembly of the Union, as well as State and Regional Hluttaws (legislatures). 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. A total of 1,171 national, state, and regional seats were contested in the election, with polling having taken place in all townships, including areas considered conflict zones and self-administered regions.
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.
