The CIA World Factbook gives the numbers that are behind these maps:Ĭities: Administrative capital–Nay Pyi Taw, near the township of Pyinmana (pop. Much less populated are the mountainous regions in the North of the country. The last royal capital Mandalay, Burma’s second largest city, is the centre of the economically important region of upper Burma which is heavily influenced by trading links to China’s Yunnan province. As a result, Naypyidaw was announced the new capital in March 2006. It had also been Burma’s capital until 2006, when the military government decided to move the capital away from the main population to a less populated region but strategically well situated between Yangon and Mandalay. Yangon (or Rangoon) with a population of approximately 5 million lies on the Eastern edge of the delta region. This explains the impact that cyclone Nargis had in this area that is situated only few metres above sea level. The population map shows the importance of the Irrawaddy delta region which is the most densely populated area of Burma. The following map shows a conventional physical map of Burma (with selected cities labelled) compared to a gridded population cartogram that visualises the population distribution. As this website is all about maps and visualisation, this can be shown with a map to visualise the basic geography of Burma (drawing a map of the election may be less useful given the doubtful nature of these election and the general lack of reliable data). Telling Burmas story does include learning about the country’s geography. Few genuine stories cross the borders, and there are little insights to the life under military oppression available, such as the footage of Burma Soldier which has recently been shown at Sheffield Doc/Fest. Apart from all the political implications, the perhaps most significant implication of this election – regardless of the outcome – is the fact that “ We must keep telling Burma’s story“. Many wonder what impact this year’s election will have – if any at all. The 1990 result has been ignored by the ruling junta and Aung San Suu Kyi the leader of the then-winning party NLD has been under house arrest most of the time since 1989. Now it is back on the news agenda, as the first elections since 1990 have been announced to take place today. Apart from that, few of us now much more about the country, which is ruled by a military regime since 1962. Burma, or officially Myanmar, gains the world’s attention mainly with some sort of bad news in recent years: The suppression of the Saffron Revolution in 2007 and the natural disaster of Cyclone Nargis in 2008 are the most prominent events that brought the country back in people’s minds.
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