Nearly 90% of the country is Buddhist, and most are members of the majority ethnic community known as Burmans. Ethnic minorities—such as the Chin, Kachin, Karin, and
Buddhism. As much as 90% of the Burmese population practice Buddhism, making it the main religion in Myanmar. Buddhism in Burma is attached to the Theravada branch which is the oldest and more conservative branch of Buddhism, following the Buddha's teachings, without modification.
Religion is an essential aspect of life in Myanmar and central to conceptions of personal identity. Most of the Burmese population identify as Buddhist (87.9%). However, there are also significant minorities of Christians (6.2%) and Muslims (4.3%), as well as some Animists (0.8%) and Hindus (0.5%).
Christians have faced some hostility or even persecution since the 1920s. Christians have not moved to the higher echelons of power. A small number of foreign Christian missionary organisations have been permitted to enter the country to conduct religious conversion work, such as World Vision following Cyclone Nargis.
There are a variety of Burmese Muslim ethnic minorities, including the Chinese-Muslim Panthay in northern Myanmar, Shan Muslims, and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine.
The name Panthay is a Burmese word, which is said to be identical with the Shan word Pang hse. It was the name by which the Burmese refer to Chinese Muslims who came with caravans to Burma from the Chinese province of Yunnan.
The persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar dates back to the 1970s. Since then, the Rohingya people have been persecuted on a regular basis by the government and nationalist Buddhists. The tensions between the various religious groups in the country were often exploited by past military rulers of Myanmar.
The Rohingya conflict is an ongoing conflict in the northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine State (formerly known as Arakan), characterised by sectarian violence between the Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist communities, a military crackdown on Rohingya civilians by Myanmar's security forces, and militant attacks by ...
The official language is Burmese, spoken by the people of the plains and, as a second language, by most people of the hills. During the colonial period, English became the official language, but Burmese continued as the primary language in all other settings.
Buddhism the fastest growing religion and majority religion in the Myanmar.
Since staging a coup on February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military has carried out a brutal nationwide crackdown on millions of people opposed to its rule. The junta security forces have carried out mass killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, sexual violence, and other abuses that amount to crimes against humanity.
National surveys conducted in the early 21st century estimated that some 80% of the population of China, which is more than a billion people, practice some kind of Chinese folk religion; 13–16% are Buddhists; 10% are Taoist; 2.53% are Christians; and 0.83% are Muslims.
Christians in Myanmar are estimated to make up around 8.2% of the population, roughly 5.5% Protestant, 1.3% Roman Catholic, and the remainder members of independent churches. Of these groups, about 2.5% identify as Evangelicals and 2.1% as Pentecostals.
People: Nationality: Burmese. Ethnic groups: according to Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are 8 Major National Ethnic Races in Myanmar, which all comprises different ethnic groups: the Kachin, the Kayah, the Kayin, the Chin, the Mon, the Bamar, the Rakhine, and the Shan.
Previously known as Burma, Myanmar is famous for its Buddhism, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and the intriguing mix of British colonial architecture and gilded pagodas.
As for the country's name, the commission decided to replace the English name "Burma" with "Myanmar", for three reasons. First, Myanma is the official name of the country in the Burmese language, and the aim of the commission was to have English place names aligned with Burmese place names and pronunciation.
The military has shot and killed pastors. Churches cannot conduct services due to fear of the military. Approximately 2.5 million people have fled to the jungle and settled in refugee camps in the forest. Discrimination and violations of human rights are taking place in all areas of the country.
Poverty Data: Myanmar
In Myanmar, 24.8% of the population lived below the national poverty line in 2017. In the Myanmar, the proportion of employed population below $1.90 purchasing power parity a day in 2020 was 0.8%. For every 1,000 babies born in Myanmar in 2021, 42 died before their 5th birthday.
Burma (Myanmar) - Level 4: Do Not Travel. Reissued with obsolete COVID-19 page links removed. Do not travel to Burma due to civil unrest and armed conflict. Reconsider travel to Burma due to limited and/or inadequate healthcare resources.
Outside of these military raids, Rohingya are subjected to frequent theft and extortion from the authorities and many are subjected to forced labor. In some cases, land occupied by Rohingya Muslims has been confiscated and reallocated to local Buddhists.
But the government of Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country, denies the Rohingya citizenship and even excluded them from the 2014 census, refusing to recognise them as a people. It sees them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Since the 1970s, Rohingya have migrated across the region in significant numbers.
The Rohingya is a Sunni Muslim ethnic minority in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Since 1989, China has supplied Myanmar with jet fighters, armored vehicles and naval vessels and has trained Burmese army, air force and naval personnel. Access to Myanmar's ports and naval installations provide China with strategic influence in the Bay of Bengal, in the wider Indian Ocean region and in Southeast Asia.
Many Muslims went to China to trade, and these Muslims began to have a great economic impact and influence on the country. During the Song dynasty (960–1279), Muslims in China dominated foreign trade and the import/export industry to the south and west.
China under the Qianlong Emperor launched four invasions of Burma between 1765 and 1769, which were considered one of his Ten Great Campaigns.