|  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.
|
