Myanmar
Myanmar, 1988 to today. Draft, not yet reviewed
The 8888 Uprising in 1988 resulted in a transition to a multi-party system two years later, but the country's post-uprising military junta, led by members of the Tatmadaw, refused to cede power and continued to rule the country directly until 2011, when the junta was officially dissolved following the 2010 general election. The 2015 general election led to a transition of power to the National League for Democracy, although the country's treatment of its ethnic minorities, particularly the Rohingya genocide, continued to be a source of international tension. Following the 2020 general election, in which the NLD won a clear majority in both houses, the Tatmadaw again seized power in the 2021 coup d'état. The coup led to widespread protests and marked the outbreak of an ongoing civil war.
Seat of power: Naypyidaw
Rulers
Than Shwe
President of Myanmar, 1992–2011
He ruled Myanmar as the second chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, later as the only chairman of the State Peace and Development Council. In 1992, Saw Maung stepped down and Than Shwe immediately became the new leader of Myanmar.
Portrait of Than Shwe: Government of Thailand, CC BY 2.0, file
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Thein Sein
President of Myanmar, 2011–2016
He served as the eighth president of Myanmar from 2011 to 2016. His government undertook a series of political reforms including some deregulation of the country's censored media, releasing many political prisoners and halting the country's controversial large Chinese-led hydro-power project.
Portrait of Thein Sein: Foreign and Commonwealth Office, OGL v1.0, file
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Htin Kyaw
President of Myanmar, 2016–2018
He served as the ninth president of Myanmar from 2016 until his resignation in 2018. He was the first elected president to hold the office with no ties to the military since the 1962 coup d'état.
Myint Swe
President of Myanmar, 2018–2018
He served as acting president of Myanmar in 2018 and again from 2021 to 2025.
Portrait of Myint Swe: Presidency of India, GODL-India, file
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Myint Swe
President of Myanmar, 2021–2024
Myint Swe was installed as acting president by the Tatmadaw through a coup d'état on 1 February 2021, after which he immediately declared a state of emergency and formally transferred power to coup leader Min Aung Hlaing. Myint Swe's main role in the military government was to formally grant and renew Min Aung Hlaing's emergency powers.
Portrait of Myint Swe: Presidency of India, GODL-India, file
Min Aung Hlaing
President of Myanmar, 2024 to today
He has been the 11th president of Myanmar, having ruled the country continuously since seizing power in February 2021 through a military coup d'état against the elected government. He was appointed the commander-in-chief of Defence Services, the leader of the Tatmadaw, in 2011. A United Nations fact-finding mission found he orchestrated the Rohingya genocide, for which the International Criminal Court is formally considering issuing an arrest warrant against him.
Portrait of Min Aung Hlaing: Zawzawaungthwin, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
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Culture
- SLORC changed the country's official English name from the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma to the Union of Myanmar on 18 June 1989 by enacting the adaptation of the expression law.
- In May 1990, the government held free multiparty elections for the first time in almost 30 years, and the National League for Democracy, the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, won 392 out of a total 492 seats. However, the military junta refused to cede power and continued to rule the nation, first as SLORC and, from 1997, as the State Peace and Development Council until its dissolution in March 2011.
- In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis caused extensive damage in the densely populated rice-farming delta of the Irrawaddy Division.
- The civil war has created a major ongoing humanitarian crisis; according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are over 1.3 million refugees and asylum seekers, and over 3.5 million people displaced internally.
Picture
Naypyidaw is the capital and third-largest city of Myanmar, and officially replaced Yangon as the administrative capital on 6 November 2005.
Image: Thawng, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.