Myanmar's Geography

Located between Bangladesh and Thailand, with India and China to the north, Myanmar covers an area
of about 675,000 sq km (over 260,000 sq mi).  The capital and largest city is Yangon, an important trade
center is Mandalay located in central Myanmar.  

The country itself is divided into two classifications, Lower Myanmar and Upper Myanmar.  Lower
Myanmar is comprised of coastal areas with thick tropical forests that have valuable trees in them (teak
forests, oil-bearing and timber trees) with Upper Myanmar making up the interior parts of the country.  

A major topographical feature of Myanmar is the Irrawaddy River system.  Since its deltaic plains are very
fertile, it is considered to be the most important part of the country covering about 18,000 sq mi (47,000
sq km).  Hkakabo Razi, the highest peak in Southeast Asia at 19,295 ft (5,881 m), is located in Myanmar. 
A barrier between India and Myanmar, the Arakan Yoma range has peaks that range between 915 m
(3,000 ft) and 1,525 m (5,000 ft). 

Almost half of Myanmar is covered in forests that are comprised of teak, rubber, cinchona, acacia,
bamboo, ironwood, mangrove, coconut, betel palm with northern highlands comprised of oak, pine and
many varieties of rhododendron.  There are many tropical fruits to be found as well, citrus, bananas,
mangoes, and guavas in the coastal region. 

Location:

Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh

and Thailand

Geographic coordinates:

22 00 N, 98 00 E

Map references:

Southeast Asia

Area:

total: 676,578 sq km

country comparison to the world: 40

land: 653,508 sq km
water: 23,070 sq km
Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Texas

Land boundaries:

total: 5,876 km

border countries: Bangladesh 193 km, China 2,185 km, India 1,463 km, Laos 235 km, Thailand
1,800 km

Coastline:

1,930 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate:

tropical monsoon; cloudy, rainy, hot, humid summers (southwest monsoon, June to September);

less cloudy, scant rainfall, mild temperatures, lower humidity during winter (northeast monsoon,

December to April)

Terrain:

central lowlands ringed by steep, rugged highlands

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Andaman Sea 0 m

highest point: Hkakabo Razi 5,881 m

Natural resources:

petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal, marble, limestone, precious

stones, natural gas, hydropower

Land use:

arable land: 14.92%

permanent crops: 1.31%

other: 83.77% (2005)

Irrigated land:

22,500 sq km (2008)

Total renewable water resources:

1,045.6 cu km (1999)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 33.23 cu km/yr (1%/1%/98%)

per capita: 658 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

destructive earthquakes and cyclones; flooding and landslides common during rainy season

(June to September); periodic droughts

Environment - current issues:

deforestation; industrial pollution of air, soil, and water; inadequate sanitation and water

treatment contribute to disease

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification,

Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber

83, Tropical Timber 94

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

strategic location near major Indian Ocean shipping lanes

 Climate: Tropical monsoon; cloudy, rainy, hot, humid summers (southwest

monsoon, June to September); less cloudy, scant rainfall, mild temperatures, lower

humidity during winter (northeast monsoon, December to April)

 Total Area: 261,227 square miles (676,578 square kilometers)

 Highest Point: Gamlang Razi at 19,258 feet (5,870 meters) 

 Lowest Point: Andaman Sea/Bay of Bengal at 0 feet (0 meters)
Myanmar's Geography
The country's lowlands comprise Myanmar's core, centered on the Irrawaddy River Valley. The

river and its valley encompass more than half of the country's territory, with the Irrawaddy flowing

south from the mountains of Myanmar's Kachin state through the central dry zone and then across

the fertile Irrawaddy Delta to empty into the Andaman Sea. The lowlands are essential to the

nation and are home to most of Myanmar's commercial activity, the majority of its population and

its three main cities: Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw. Most exports travel out of Yangon by sea,

and the Irrawaddy Delta and dry zone produce most of Myanmar's agricultural output. The dry

zone is the heartland of the nation's ethnic majority Bamar, who make up 68 percent of the

country's population of approximately 60 million and have controlled the government and military

for most of Myanmar's post-independence history.

The highlands surround the Irrawaddy Valley on three sides. To the west, the Arakan Mountains

run from India's Manipur state into Myanmar and include the lesser Naga hills, Chin hills and

Patkai range. To the north, along the Sino-Myanmar border, the mountains split into two regions.

The 3,000-meter (9,800-foot) Hengduan Mountains — the source of the Salween, Irrawaddy and

Mekong rivers — comprise the northern portion of the border. Farther south these mountains

slope down into a plateau called the Shan hills. From there, the mountains descend south along

the Thai-Myanmar border, becoming the Karen hills and then the Tenasserim hills before ending

as the Central range of the Malay Peninsula.

This horseshoe of mountains around the Irrawaddy core is essential to securing any lowland

power center. The highland region is also difficult, and at times impossible, to centrally govern.

Often, two villages separated by a valley will speak mutually unintelligible dialects. Rugged terrain

makes it hard for lowland states to project force into the region or for a single dominant power to

arise among the ethnic groups that inhabit the region. Instead, highlanders rely on small power

bases, formed along ethnic lines. Worse still for lowland powers, the highland areas are only one

part of a much larger complex of mountains that extends north into China, west into India and east

into Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. This not only allows highland insurgents to flee easily into
neighboring territory, it also leaves Myanmar open to foreign incursions by groups hardy enough to

brave the terrain. The Bamar themselves originally invaded the Irrawaddy Valley from the

highlands, sweeping down on horseback in the 9th century from the Tibetan Plateau.

The rugged terrain of the upland border areas has produced a number of ethnic minority groups

that have not been absorbed into the state. They make up more than 30 percent of Myanmar's

population and are divided between five main highland ethnicities (Karen, Shan, Karenni, Chin and

Kachin) and a number of smaller groups, including the Wa and Pa-Oh. The highland's rough

terrain historically has shielded highland power centers from lowland domination and prevented

the lowland from absorbing them into the population. Today, the highlands afford cover for a

number of ethnic insurgent groups supported by smuggling operations and foreign backing.

A rough guide to Myanmar’s geography, from the temperate Kachin hills to the

rainforests and coral reefs of Tanintharyi. 

By JARED DOWNING

Basics

 Myanmar’s geographic coordinates are: 22°00’N, 98°00’E. It is on the same

latitude as Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Hawaii. 

 It covers 676,578 square kilometers, slightly larger than France, and is the

second largest country in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia.

 It is part of the Greater Mekong Subregion, which also includes Laos, Thailand,

Cambodia, Vietnam and China’s Yunnan Province.

Climate
 Support independent journalism in Myanmar

Myanmar contains several Köppen climate classifications. They include humid

subtropical climate (Kachin and northern Shan) and monsoon climate (Rakhine), but

most of the country – central basin, southeast and southern peninsula – has a tropical

savannah climate.

Myanmar has three seasons. The southwestern monsoon brings the rainy season from

June to September, with especially heavy falls on the Bay of Bengal coast and in

Yangon and the Ayeyarwady Delta.

The cool season is from November to February, with average minimum temperatures in

January falling to 18 Celsius in Yangon and 13C in Mandalay, and much lower in

highland areas. March, April and May are the hottest months, with an average

maximum ranging between 33C and 36C, though temperatures in the low 40sC are

common.

The Ayeyarwady Valley

It’s likely the first thing you’ve noticed from colourised maps of Myanmar is a long, wide

stripe through the centre of the country. It depicts the Ayeyarwady River Valley, or the

Central Burma Basin.

The valley is flanked by Shan Hills and Bago Range to the east and the Arakan Range

and Chin Hills to the west. These mountains soak up the monsoon rains and create a

dry zone in the centre of the country (that includes Mandalay Region). The terrain

resembles the thorny scrub forests of the Australian outback.

As you move south, the basin becomes wetter and greener, although most of its

tropical forests have been replaced with farmland. The coastal swamps of the

Ayeyarwady Delta were once studded with mangroves, though these, too, are quickly

vanishing.

Geography and Climate of Burma

Burma has a long coastline that borders the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Its

topography is dominated by central lowlands that are ringed by steep, rugged coastal

mountains. The highest point in Burma is Hkakabo Razi at 19,295 feet (5,881 m). The

climate of Burma is considered tropical monsoon and has hot, humid summers with rain

from June to September and dry mild winters from December to April. Burma is also prone

to hazardous weather like cyclones. For example, in May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit the

country's Irrawaddy and Rangoon divisions, wiped out entire villages and left 138,000

people dead or missing.

Forests

Although it remains one of Southeast Asia’s most forested countries, Myanmar’s

deforestation rate is the third worst in the world. Forests cover about 45 percent of the

land. However, as recently as 2000 forest cover was as high as 65 percent, show

figures from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Most of the country’s woodlands are mixed deciduous forests, lush and green with

thick broadleaf trees. Forests throughout the country once teemed with teak, though it

is rapidly dwindling as Myanmar continues to lead the world in teak exports.

Tropical rain forests fringe the southwestern coast, the southeast at the Myanmar

end of the Malay Peninsula and the valley of the Thanlwin River. Their classification is

based on the high amount of rainfall they receive rather than the species they contain.

As elevations rise in the hills of Shan and Kachin states, tropical deciduous woodlands

gradually give way to temperate evergreen montane and evergreen lowland forests

that resemble the classic image of Himalayan woodland.

Coasts

Myanmar has 2,832 kilometres of coastline. The Rakhine coast faces the Bay of

Bengal, and the Ayeyarwady Delta and Tanintharyi coast (in the far south) are on the

Andaman Sea.

There are also about 1,700 islands, many in the Myeik Archipelago, and 229,000

square kilometres of continental shelf with an enormous variety of marine ecosystems.

Coral Reefs

These iridescent reef structures are concentrated along the archipelagoes of the

southern peninsula. These ecosystems are as diverse as they are delicate, but they

have been little studied, said a recent report by the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and

Rural Development. Nevertheless, researchers have observed obvious damage from

water pollution and the devastating practice of “blast fishing”.

Mangroves

In common with Myanmar’s coral reefs, these marshy tidal forests along the coast hum

with biodiversity, especially along the Thanintharyi coast. They were thickest near the
mouths of the Ayeyarwady, but 92 percent of the delta’s mangroves have fallen to

property development, logging and irrigation projects, and with them, Myanmar’s

populations of species such as the saltwater crocodile.

River Dolphins

Overfishing has pushed Ayeyarwady river dolphins to the brink of extinction in

Myanmar. A study earlier this year by the Wildlife Conservation Society counted only 65

dolphins, although it was an increase from the previous year.

Tigers

Tigers once ruled forests throughout the country, working their way into Myanmar

culture, language and tradition. Now they have been banished to more or less two

small areas: one in Kachin State and another in the southern peninsula along the Thai

border.

Elephants

Asian elephants were once abundant throughout the country, and in some respects

they still are – Myanmar has one of the world’s biggest populations of captive

elephants, most of them beasts of burden in the logging industry. Deforestation has

shrunk their natural habitat, however, putting wild populations at risk.

Economics and Land Use in Burma

Because of stringent government controls, Burma's economy is unstable and much of its

population lives in poverty. Burma is, however, rich in natural resources and there is some

industry in the country. As such, much of this industry is based on agriculture and the

processing of its minerals and other resources. Industry includes agricultural processing,
wood and wood products, copper, tin, tungsten, iron, cement, construction materials,

pharmaceuticals, fertilizer, oil and natural gas, garments, jade, and gems. Agricultural

products are rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane, hardwood, fish and fish

products.