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 Population
and People
Myanmar is a union of over 100 national races with their own
languages and dialects, The major races are Bamar, Chin, Kachin,
Shan, Kayah, Kayin, Mon and Rakhine. The name Myanmar embraces
all the national races. The population of Myanmar is 51 million
with the Bamar, the majority race making up about 70%.
Language
Myanmar (Burmese) is the country's official language, though
English is spoken in large towns and by elderly folk. There
are also many languages and dialects among the 135 different
national races. The modern alphabet consists of 33 letters
(consonants) and 12 basic vowels (sequential extensions result
in 21 vowels) which are combined with various symbols (4 in
basic, 11 in total consonant combination symbols) to indicate
the tones.
 Religion
Buddhism is the predominant religion of Myanmar and Theravada
Buddhism is embraced by about 80% of the population. The local
temple is central to every community, and is also a traditional
place of education. Every male person is expected to temporarily
don the monk's robes at least once in his lifetime usually
as a young man. There is freedom of worship for other religions:
Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Animism.
Note: Information
on this page supplied by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism,
Myanmar.
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