Myanmar (myän'mär, mēän"mär') [key]or Burma (bûr'mu) [key], officially Union of Myanmar, republic (2005 est. pop. 42,909,000), 261,789 sq mi (678,033 sq km), SE Asia. It is bounded on the west by Bangladesh, India, and the Bay of Bengal; on the north and northeast by China; on the east by Laos and Thailand; and on the south by the Andaman Sea. The traditional capital and by far the largest city is Yangon (Rangoon), but in late 2005 the government began transferring many government ministries to a new capital at Naypyidaw, near Pyinmana, in central Myanmar.
