The history of Myanmar (also known as Burma; Burmese: ) spans 13,000 years, from the time of the first

known human settlements to the current day. Tibeto-Burman-speaking people who formed the Pyu city-
states as far south as Pyay and embraced Theravada Buddhism were the first known occupants.

The Bamar people invaded the upper Irrawaddy valley around the beginning of the ninth century. They
went on to build the Pagan Kingdom (1044–1297), the first union of the Irrawaddy valley and its
outskirts. During this era, the Burmese language and Burmese culture gradually replaced Pyu customs.
After the First Mongol invasion of Burma in 1287, various tiny kingdoms, including the Kingdom of Ava,
the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, the Kingdom of Mrauk U, and the Shan States, came to dominate the
terrain, which was characterized by constantly changing alliances and battles.

In the second part of the sixteenth century, the Toungoo dynasty (1510–1752) reunified the nation and
briefly established the biggest empire in Southeast Asian history. In the 17th and early 18th century, the
Taungoo rulers undertook several administrative and economic changes that led to a smaller, more
peaceful, and affluent kingdom. In the second part of the eighteenth century, the Konbaung dynasty
(1752–1885) restored the kingdom and continued the Taungoo reforms that extended central power in
outlying provinces and created one of Asia's most literate kingdoms. Additionally, the dynasty went to
war with all of its neighbors. The Anglo-Burmese wars (1824–1855) led to British colonial authority in
Burma.

Several lasting social, economic, cultural, and administrative changes fundamentally changed the once-
agrarian civilization under British administration. The governance of the British Empire emphasized out-
group distinctions amongst the country's many ethnic groupings. Since its independence in 1948, the
nation has been involved in one of the longest-lasting civil conflicts between rebel organizations
representing political and ethnic minority groups and successive central administrations. From 1962
until 2010, the country was under different forms of military control, and as a result, it has become one
of the world's least developed countries.