Related top topics

Cambodia

Vietnam

Singapore

Philippines

Malaysia

Brunei

History of Burma

Papua New Guinea

East Timor

Republic of China

Did you know ...

• in World War II, the British Indian Army was driven out of Burma at the Battle of Sittang Bridge?
• in 1946 the Red Flag Communist Party initiated a guerrilla insurgency against British rule in Burma?
• an ancient pagoda on the Toe River in Ma-ubin, Burma, fell in 2002 due to river erosion and had to be rebuilt?
• after manual typewriter expert Martin Tytell accidentally inverted a key on a Burmese language typewriter he built, it became the standard even in Burma?
• the Ananda Temple (pictured) in Bagan, Myanmar, with four standing Buddhas facing the cardinal directions, is said to be an architectural wonder titled the "Westminster Abbey of Burma"?
• the Indo-Burma barrier, a 1,624 kilometer-long barrier between India and Burma, is being built to curtail gunrunning and illicit drug trafficking?
• the modern history of aviation in Bangladesh began by meeting the needs of the Royal Indian Air Force for its World War II Burma campaign?
• the government of Burmese Prime Minister U Nu was saved from a parliamentary no confidence vote in June 1957 by the communist Burma Workers and Peasants Party?
• the Yeywa Hydropower Dam is the largest hydroelectric power plant and the first roller-compacted concrete dam in Burma?
• Scottish actor J. Grant Anderson served in both World Wars, founded a theatre in India, and played a clown in a Burmese circus?
• Indian freedom fighter T. S. S. Rajan practised as a doctor in Burma and England before being appointed as the Minister for Health and Religious Endowments of the Madras Presidency?
• China has sought to cultivate strong ties with Burma by providing extensive aid and vetoing a UN resolution proposed in 2007 condemning Burma for human rights violations?
• India has developed close bilateral relations with Burma with the aim of countering China's growing influence and to elevate itself as a regional power?
• gemstones and heroin are traded from Burma to China for motorcycles and household goods across the Shweli River, which forms part of the boundary between the two countries?
• Burmese communist leader H. N. Goshal was executed in an inner-party purge in 1967, after having been denounced as "Burma's Liu Shaoqi"?
• Rakhine State in present-day western Burma was an independent country before it was invaded and annexed by Konbaung Burmese forces led by Thado Minsaw in 1784?
• Irish musicians Lisa Hannigan and Damien Rice dueted on "Unplayed Piano", a Burmese protest song that charted in the UK and was praised by The Independent as "a twinkly and beautiful thing"?
• Maj. Gen. Charles Bond was credited with shooting down nine-and-a-half Japanese planes and was himself shot down twice while serving with the Flying Tigers in Burma and China?
• Cecil Hobbs began his interest in Southeast Asian history after his career as a missionary in Burma was ended in 1942 by the Japanese invasion?
• Bhanbhagta Gurung returned to his farm in Nepal in 1946, after receiving a Victoria Cross for his actions while serving with the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Gurkha Rifles in Burma?
• Australian singer-songwriter Tamas Wells produced his second and third albums while working in Rangoon, Burma, on a community health HIV/AIDS education project?