Breaking News

Myanmar Fast Facts

CNN Library

Updated 9:52 AM ET, Sat August 31, 2019

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

A makeshift extension to the Kutupalong camp in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar district, southeastern Bangladesh on April 7.
Photos: The 'silent crisis' of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
A makeshift extension to the Kutupalong camp in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar district, southeastern Bangladesh on April 7.
Hide Caption
1 of 7
Many are living in unplanned and overcrowded settlements in Cox's Bazar, where living conditions are extremely poor.
Photos: The 'silent crisis' of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
Many are living in unplanned and overcrowded settlements in Cox's Bazar, where living conditions are extremely poor.
Hide Caption
2 of 7
Families wait in line to receive new tarpaulins from the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society in the makeshift extension to Kutupalong camp.
Photos: The 'silent crisis' of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
Families wait in line to receive new tarpaulins from the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society in the makeshift extension to Kutupalong camp.
Hide Caption
3 of 7
A family installing their new tarpaulin received from the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) in the makeshift extension to Kutupalong camp.
Photos: The 'silent crisis' of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
A family installing their new tarpaulin received from the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) in the makeshift extension to Kutupalong camp.
Hide Caption
4 of 7
Mohammad Ilias arrived from Rakhine to Bangladesh.<br /><br />"We are surviving mostly with some help from relatives. We would like to return, but it is not safe. Some of our neighbors were killed, and we had to flee to save our lives," he says.
Photos: The 'silent crisis' of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
Mohammad Ilias arrived from Rakhine to Bangladesh.

"We are surviving mostly with some help from relatives. We would like to return, but it is not safe. Some of our neighbors were killed, and we had to flee to save our lives," he says.
Hide Caption
5 of 7
Senuara, 27, says that four months ago she still lived in Rakhine and her due date was fast approaching, but the upsurge of violence forced her to flee to save the life of herself and her family. Soon after arriving, Senuara gave birth. <br />"It is very difficult for me to take care of my small baby here, because we don't have enough clean water to bathe her. We hardly have enough water for drinking," she said.
Photos: The 'silent crisis' of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
Senuara, 27, says that four months ago she still lived in Rakhine and her due date was fast approaching, but the upsurge of violence forced her to flee to save the life of herself and her family. Soon after arriving, Senuara gave birth.
"It is very difficult for me to take care of my small baby here, because we don't have enough clean water to bathe her. We hardly have enough water for drinking," she said.
Hide Caption
6 of 7
Tarniz Sultana Sweety, a volunteer from the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, during a tarpaulin distribution.
Photos: The 'silent crisis' of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
Tarniz Sultana Sweety, a volunteer from the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, during a tarpaulin distribution.
Hide Caption
7 of 7
01 Inside Rohingya camps in crisis02 Inside Rohingya camps in crisis03 Inside Rohingya camps in crisis05 Inside Rohingya camps in crisis06 Inside Rohingya camps in crisis08 Inside Rohingya camps in crisis12 Inside Rohingya camps in crisis

(CNN)Here's a look at Myanmar, a country in southeast Asia formerly known as Burma.

About Myanmar:
(from the CIA World Factbook)
Area: 676,578 sq km (slightly smaller than Texas)
Population: 55,622,506 (July 2018 est.)
Median age: 28.5 years
    Capital: Naypyidaw
    Read More
    Ethnic Groups: Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, other 5%
    Religion: Buddhist 87.9%, Christian 6.2%, Muslim 4.3%, Animist 0.8%, Hindu 0.5%, Other 0.2%, None 0.1% (2014 est.)
    GDP (purchasing power parity): $329.8 billion (2017 est.)
    GDP per capita: $6,300 (2017 est.)
    Unemployment: 4% (2017 est.)
    Other Facts:
    Prono: MEE'-an-mar
    Myanmar shares borders with China, India, Laos, Bangladesh and Thailand.
    The United States officially still calls the country Burma.
    The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there were more than 866,000 stateless and internally displaced people in Myanmar in 2018, up from 849,000 in 2017.
    The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar's Rakhine State thought to number about one million people at the beginning of 2017. Myanmar does not recognize them as citizens or one of the 135 recognized ethnic groups living in the country. According to Human Rights Watch, laws discriminate against the Rohingya, infringing on their freedom of movement, education and employment.
    According to the UN's Inter Sector Coordination Group, 745,000 Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since 2017, bringing the total Rohingya refugee population in Bangladesh to more than 913,000. (As of June 2019).
    Timeline:
    1824-1886 - Burma becomes part of British India