Geography and Environment of Myanmar

Burma (also known as Myanmar), with an area of 262,000 square miles, is the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia. Rangoon (also called Yangon), the capital (population about 5.5 million), is Burma’s largest city. Mandalay (population 700,000) is second. Burma’s population is about 49 million. Rangoon is Burma’s most important port for both domestic and foreign trade. Located on the Yangon River, 30 miles north of the Gulf of Martaban, it serves not only oceangoing freighters and tankers but also river steamers and country craft that ply Rangoon’s major waterways. The city is built on flat lowland bounded on three sides by the Pazundaung Creek and the Yangon and Hlaing Rivers. The surrounding countryside consists of rice paddies, patches of brush, and occasional rubber plantations.

Detailed geography