After shutting doors for tourism for a few years, the beautiful country of Myanmar has recently started welcoming travelers to explore its serene beauty! With over 1200 miles of coastline of Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, Myanmar is full of surprises for world travelers, as the country isn't explored yet!
Burma was changed to 'The Republic of the Union of Myanmar' in 1989 by the military junta. Though the move was opposed by most local and world leaders, the name change was later accepted with Burma being the old name and Myanmar being the new one!
The United States still officially addresses the country with its old name, Burma!
The people of Myanmar are still called Burmese!
The capital city, Rangoon was also renamed as Yangon during the military junta rule. However, in 2003, the capital city was changed, moved and rebuilt, with a new name, Naypyidaw!
About 135 ethnic groups reside in the country that are divided into 8 races by the government. Collectively, there are about 60 languages spoken by these groups!
Myanmar is home to about 1000 species of birds, out of which 51 are endangered while 6 are endemic!
The Burmese roofed turtle which was thought to be extinct until 2002 is now a regular inhabitant of the jungles of Myanmar, thanks to the conservation activities. Rhinos, tigers, leopards, elephants and about 28 species of tortoise and turtles are found in the jungles here.
There's a unique technique adopted by the fishermen of the Inle lake! They catch fish while standing on one leg so that they can row the boat using the other while still fishing!
Myanmar is known to have the biggest Buddhist establishments - pagodas, stupas, temples, ruins! During the second century AD, the country had about 10000 Buddhist temples, ruins, stupas and pagodas.
The Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the most sacred sites for Buddhists in the world, still preserves a part of Gautam Buddha. Buddha's eight strands of hair are placed in the temple along with other relics.
Covered entirely in gold leaf, the Shwedagon Pagoda has about 4500 diamonds on the top with the largest one being about 72 carats!
The Mergui Archipelago that is located off the Andaman coastline is inhabited by the Moken 'sea gypsies' which are an array of ethnic groups that still follow a nomadic lifestyle and spend most of their time at the sea.
There was a time when Myanmar ran out of the famous royal pets, Burmese cats! Around the 1930s, the cats disappeared due to non-protection of the species. It was only recently that the cats were reintroduced from the US, and now their numbers are increasing, thanks to breeding.
Astrology is something that the Burmese people take very seriously! There are about 12 Western zodiac signs, 27 lunar mansions and about 8-weekday signs in the Burmese zodiac studies. Astrology is a flourishing business here!
Myanmar doesn't follow the world metric measurement system, instead, they use their own units where weight is measured in viss (peittha). 1 viss is equal to about 1.68 kilograms!
Kyat (MMK) is the local currency used across the country alongside US Dollars.
Men and women both wear the traditional outfit, longyi - a piece of cylindrical cloth that is worn around the waist till the feet. The patterns on longyi are different for men and women.
Rubies are found in plenty in the Mandalay Region and Shan State. These untreated rubies are in high demand due to the 'pigeon's blood' hue!