Capital: Rangoon (sometimes translated as Yangon)
Administrative divisions: 7 divisions* (yin-mya, singular - yin) and 7 states (pyine-mya, singular - pyine); Chin State, Irrawaddy*, Kachin State, Karan State, Kayah State, Magwe*, Mandalay*, Mon State, Pegu*, Rakhine State, Rangoon*, Sagaing*, Shan State, Tenasserim*

Independence: 4 January 1948 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 January (1948)

Constitution: 3 January 1974 (suspended since 18 September 1988); National Convention started on 9 January 1993 to draft chapter headings for a new constitution

Legal system: has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state and head of government: Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Gen. THAN SHWE (since 23 April 1992)
State Law and Order Restoration Council: military junta which assumed power 18 September 1988

Legislative branch:
People's Assembly (Pyithu Hluttaw): last held 27 May 1990, but Assembly never convened; results - NLD 80%; seats - (485 total) NLD 396, the regime-favored NUP 10, other 79; was dissolved after the coup of 18 September 1988

Judicial branch: none; Council of People's Justices was abolished after the coup of 18 September 1988

Political parties and leaders: Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), leader NA; National Unity Party (NUP; proregime), THA KYAW; National League for Democracy (NLD), U AUNG SHWE
Other political or pressure groups: National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), headed by the elected prime minister SEIN WIN (consists of individuals legitimately elected to Parliament but not recognized by the military regime; the group fled to a border area and joined with insurgents in December 1990 to form a parallel government; Kachin Independence Army (KIA); United Wa State Army (UWSA); Karen National Union (KNU); several Shan factions, including the Mong Tai Army (MTA); All Burma Student Democratic Front (ABSDF)
Member of: AsDB, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO

Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador U THAUNG
chancery: 2300 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: (202) 332-9044 or 9045
consulate(s) general: New York
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: (vacant); Deputy Chief of Mission, Charge d'Affaires Franklin P. HUDDLE, Jr.
embassy: 581 Merchant Street, Rangoon
mailing address: American Embassy, Box B, APO AP 96546
telephone: [95] (1) 82055, 82181
FAX: [95] (1) 80409

Flag: red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing, all in white, 14 five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a stalk of rice; the 14 stars represent the 14 administrative divisions

NOTE: The information regarding Burma on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Burma Government 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Burma Government 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.