Myanmar (former Burma) is a South-East Asian country, located between Bangladesh and Thailand. Its coastline stretches one third of its total perimeter (1, 930km) along the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. To the North, India, China and Laos are immediate neighbours.
With over 100 minority ethnic languages spoken, Burma is a linguistically diverse country. Burmese is the official language, and Buddhism the predominant religion (89%). The government recognises 135 ethnicities, with major groups including Burman (67%), Shan (9%), Karen (7%) and Rakhine (4%).